Marrying in the US: the CCAM and the transcription

A French citizen can marry in the United States before the local authorities, and the marriage is then recorded in the French registers. France checks it twice, before and after: a certificate of capacity to marry before the wedding, and the transcription afterwards.

Before the wedding: the CCAM

You ask for the certificate of capacity to marry at the consulate of the place where the wedding will be held.

Each spouse fills out an information form, with ID, proof of address and a birth certificate: less than three months old for the French spouse, less than six for the other, translated and apostilled or legalized if needed.

The banns are posted for ten days, and the consulate can ask to hear the couple before posting them, which adds time. The certificate is issued if the marriage meets French law.

After the wedding: the transcription

The French spouse then asks for the marriage to be transcribed, with the transcription form and the list of documents, and the civil status office can call the spouses for a hearing. For the whole country, Los Angeles or Washington handles it, depending on the district where the marriage took place.

Marriages France does not accept as they stand

The network warns that some American unions conflict with the Civil Code. Pennsylvania, Colorado and the District of Columbia allow self-celebrated marriages, and Texas recognizes informal marriages without an officiant.

France considers them irregular, because consent cannot be proven without a third party: transcription is suspended and the file goes to the Nantes prosecutor.

Marriages celebrated by videoconference, notably in Utah and New York, were sometimes transcribed during the pandemic; they are no longer accepted. The French spouse must also appear in person, be 18 or older, and marry with real matrimonial intent.

Marriage contract and family record book

Without any particular step, French law places the couple under the default community property regime. Another regime needs a marriage contract made before the wedding, by a notary in France or by the competent local authority, and a copy goes with the transcription request.

The marriage gives you a family record book. If you already have one from the birth of your first child, send it with the transcription file: the consular service adds the marriage to it. Copies and extracts of the marriage record are ordered online on Service-Public.fr.

Official sources: Mariage; Démarches administratives : à qui m’adresser ?.

Details checked against the official pages on October 6, 2026.