Register a birth in France

The declaration that records a birth with the état civil. The registrar draws up the acte de naissance from it, which is the child's legal identity for everything that follows.

Yes. Declaring is compulsory for any child born in France, and it is done by someone who was present at the birth.

Within 5 days of the birth, not counting the day of birth itself. The window is 8 days in certain communes in Guyane, and it rolls to the next working day if it ends on a weekend or public holiday.

At the mairie of the place of birth. Many maternity units file the declaration for you on site.

The registrar draws up the acte de naissance straight away.

Asking for a copy of the acte de naissance is free — beware of third-party sites that charge for it.

• The acte de naissance is recorded and your livret de famille is updated.
• You can request copies (copie intégrale or extrait) from the mairie of the birthplace, by post or online, whenever another procedure asks for one.

The acte itself does not expire, but some procedures want a recently issued copy — a marriage dossier, for instance, asks for one less than 3 months old.