French Citizenship: How to Track Your Application Online (ANEF Timeline)

To track your application, you will first need to sign in to your ANEF account and navigate to your homepage “Mon Compte” (see the screenshots below). Scroll down to the bottom and click on “Demande d’accès à la Nationalité Française”. At the very bottom of the page, you’ll see a timeline with 13 different steps.

The step that your application is on will be highlighted – here you can see I’m currently still on the “Entretien d’assimilation” stage. You can also see the last time that your dossier was last viewed by the authorities by looking at the “Dernière sauvegarde” (Last saved) date – you can see that mine was last saved on 14/11/2024 at 11.07am, which was the morning after my interview at the prefecture.

As your application moves through the different stages, you can track your progress here. Be aware that you won’t be notified of any updates (unless additional action is required from you), so it’s up to you to log in and check regularly if you want to follow your progress.

Let’s take a look at what each step means.

As you can see on the timeline, there are 13 different steps. Here’s a breakdown of what each step means:

Demande envoyée

“Request sent” – once you’ve put your dossier together and sent your application online via the ANEF site, you’ll be able to access this page, and your timeline will pop up with this step highlighted.

Examen des pièces en cours

“Review of documents in progress” – this next step means that someone at the préfecture has opened your file and looked over the documents. Note that it can take a few weeks or months after sending the application for it even to be looked at, so this is the first “real” step of the process.

At this stage, it will usually be a lower-level staff member (not an immigration agent) checking your application, and they are checking that your files are ‘legible, usable and conform to what was requested’. At this stage, you might be asked to resend a corrupt file or blurred photo, or submit a different document or a translated copy if required.

Demande déposée

“Application filed” – It’s only at this step that your application has officially been filed. Importantly,  this is the date considered the official start date for your application, even if it’s several months after you filed online.

Traitement en cours 

“Processing in progress” – This “processing” step is when your dossier is assigned to an agent who will look over your dossier in more detail. This time, they are not just checking that you have the right documents, but they are assessing whether you meet the criteria for citizenship.

You may be asked for further documents at this stage, such as tax declarations or financial and business records. Your application could also be rejected at this stage if it is incomplete or if you do not meet the criteria for citizenship.

Réception du récépissé de complétitude

“Reception of the receipt of completion” – Congratulations, your dossier has been verified and marked as “complete”! The next step will be to receive your summons for the interview at the préfecture. Some préfecture move quite quickly once you’ve reached this step, so it’s a good idea to start preparing for your French citizenship interview now if you haven’t already.

Traitement en cours

“Processing in progress” – Another “processing” step, this time between your dossier being marked as complete and the interview itself. At this stage, you might also receive a summons for a police interview or a home visit.

Note that different préfecture and even different agents at the same préfecture seem to use these processing steps slightly differently. Some timelines seem to move straight away to “traitement en cours” and stay there until the next step is achieved; others seem not to bother with moving the application to “traitement en cours”, resulting in your application suddenly jumping two steps to the next one. While it’s always a good sign if your application moves forward, don’t read too much into it.

Entretien d’assimilation

“Assimilation interview” – otherwise known as the all-important interview at the préfecture. This step is when you’ll receive your ‘convocation’  (summons) for your interview, arguably the most crucial step in the entire process. Follow our guide for preparing for your French citizenship interview. Good luck!

Traitement en cours – Plateforme

“Processing in progress” – Processing again! This is when the agent at the préfecture will validate your interview and make a decision on whether they think it should be approved or not. This decision will be made by the agent who conducted your interview, then validated by another agent at the préfecture. If your application is going to be refused or rejected for any reason, this is the most common time that it will happen.

This is the final step that your dossier passes through at the préfecture before it moves to the interior ministry.

Traitement en cours – SDANF

“Processing in progress” – Your application has now arrived at the interior ministry, or rather SDANF, Sous-direction de l’accès à la nationalité française (the Sub-directorate for Access to French nationality) in Nantes, for them to validate the opinion of the préfecture. You may receive an email at this point, and sometimes you will be contacted for additional documents.

Traitement en cours – SCEC

“Processing in progress” – Next, your dossier is sent to the SCEC or Service Central d’État Civil central (the civil status service of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs), also in Nantes, who are responsible for drafting your new French civil status documents. While it’s not unheard of for an application to be rejected after this point, it’s a very good sign. You may also be asked for more documents at this stage.

Traitement en cours – SDANF

“Processing in progress” – One final processing step! This time, your dossier will be transferred back to SDANF to make their final decision.

Décision statuée

“Decision made” – The moment you’ve been waiting for! Usually, if you’ve made it this far, it’s a positive result, but nothing is guaranteed. When your citizenship application has been approved, your name will be inserted into a decree and appear in the Journal Officiel. This is the moment you officially become French; often names appear before you are officially informed or invited to the ceremony, so keep a look out once you make it to this stage. Once your name appears, you can begin applying for a French ID card or French passport; there’s no need to wait for the ceremony.

Cérémonie de naturalisation

“Naturalisation Ceremony” – Congratulations! If you made it here, you’re officially French and will be invited to a ceremony to receive your citizenship certificate in person.

Disclaimer: Please note that any screenshots or specific details of my own French nationality application apply to my situation only and are provided only to give you an insight into the process and what to expect. These are not intended as a blueprint for your own application, as your situation may be completely different to mine! 

Also, please remember that I am taking you through the process with me in real time! This means there is the possibility that I have made errors on my application form, or will be asked to submit extra documents as I continue in the process. There is also (unfortunately!) no guarantee that my application will be accepted and that I will be granted French citizenship.