French Citizenship – At last

A Dream That Changed Everything

I thought about this moment for years.

The feeling of holding a French passport in my hands and officially becoming a dual citizen.

It started as a dream. I saw myself living in France, sitting at a long table surrounded by people from all over the world. It stayed with me enough to disrupted my everyday life and eventually set a series of events into motion.

I made a list of everything I would need to make the move possible. I needed savings in the bank, furniture to sell, a place to live, and a plan for work. Finally, I needed the courage to leave my stable job in the marketing department of a scientific imaging company.

Within six months, every item on the list was checked off.

With a plane ticket to France in hand, I knew I was embarking on something life changing.

Starting Over in France

Moving across the world alone was terrifying.

I still remember when the phone number for my only friend in France wasn’t working as I landed at Orly. I struggled to find her home on the outskirts of Paris with too much luggage and exhausted from the journey. Or eating alone in a Paris restaurant for the first time. I felt awkward and uncertain.

One of the biggest surprises was realising how much French I had forgotten. I had grown up speaking the language, yet I found myself struggling to ask for simple directions near the Champs-Élysées.

It wasn’t long before I rebuilt my confidence.

I was loved everything about France and who I was becoming. Then I fell in love with someone who lived here.

What followed were years of travel between Canada and France. For four years, I moved back and forth every other month while balancing work, relationships, and the dream of eventually settling here permanently.

The Long Road to Citizenship

The administrative side of immigration tested me in ways I never expected.

There were visa renewals, missing documents, contradictory information, language exams and endless waiting. I felt as though my future depended entirely on a single appointment or a single signature.

I was once sent back to Canada because my renewal could not be processed in time. During another application, I was required to undergo an X-ray for tuberculosis screening while pregnant in order to maintain my right to stay.

Every renewal brought uncertainty.

Even when I knew my paperwork was complete, I worried something would go wrong. One missing photocopy or one misunderstanding could send me back to the beginning.

The hardest part was the lack of control.

When your right to stay in a country depends on decisions made by others, it can feel impossible to relax. Each application period left me emotionally exhausted.

Yet somehow, one step at a time, I kept moving forward.

Becoming French

2025 was the year I decided I would stop talking about it and apply for citizenship once (okay twice) and for all. (*find that story here) I set in motion the fingerprints, the criminal record checks and endless translations.

My husband and I had to go through a police visit to our home to ensure we truly lived together. I laugh as they showed up and I had a backpack just as my in-laws had arrived for a weekend stay. At the prefecture we also underwent an hour and a half interview asking everything about us, even down to how we divide up the household chores. Then the waiting began.

Oh the waiting. It feels endless.

In October 2025, I officially became a French citizen.

I didn’t learn the news until December, which made it feel like an unexpected Christmas gift. I could exhale

Thirteen years had passed since I first arrived at Orly Airport in January 2012.

The dream that once felt impossible had finally become reality.

A Ceremony of Unexpected Grandeur 

In June 2026, our region held its citizenship ceremony at the Château de Fontainebleau. A first time outside of the usual administrative building.

The setting could not have been more meaningful.

The president of the château spoke about its history and the people who shaped it. She mentioned François I, Napoleon, Leonardo da Vinci, and Primaticcio. She charged us with writing our part of that continuing story.

The Sous-Préfet shared his own parent’s experience with naturalisation. He spoke about carrying our cultures and experiences with us while helping build a diverse and evolving France.

The atmosphere was warm and welcoming.

As if the day were not already special enough, my village presented me with flowers. When my name was called, I heard an audible “ohhh” from the crowd. I was the recipient of the only bouquet presented.

I felt completely taken.

For the first time in years, there was no paperwork waiting for me. No renewal date circled on a calendar. No uncertainty about whether I would be allowed to stay.

There was only gratitude.

A closed loop

I will always be Canadian.

But France has shaped me in profound ways. I have re-learned a language, adapted to the culture, I’ve made friends in both languages. I’m forever continuing to weave the different aspects of who I have been and who I am becoming into the person I am today.

For thirteen years, I asked permission to stay.

Today, I no longer have to.

I am a French citizen.