Who does not sit the examen civique, and who is exempt from the B2 instead

Two proofs, and they are exempted separately

Article 21-24 of the Code civil says nobody can be naturalised without showing assimilation à la communauté française, which it defines as a sufficient knowledge of the language, of the history, culture and society of France and of the rights and duties of a French citizen, plus adherence to the values of the Republic. The décret n° 2025-648 of 15 July 2025 turned that article into two documents for applications filed from 1 January 2026: proof of French at level B2 and an attestation de réussite à l'examen civique.

They are two things. One is a language level, shown with a diploma or a test certificate. The other is a pass in a 40 question paper on France. An exemption from one has no effect on the other, and the two exemption lists were written for different reasons.

The examen civique: who does not sit it

This list is short and service-public.gouv.fr's fiche F39426 is explicit that it is short.

• People whose disability or state of health makes the assessment impossible. Fiche F39426 says a full dispense is possible when a medical certificate shows that your état de santé rend impossible l'évaluation de vos connaissances. The arrêté of 30 December 2025 sets how that certificate is produced.
• People whose condition calls for adjustments rather than a dispense, for example more time. The same fiche says aménagements are granted on a medical certificate showing the need.
• Nobody else. Fiche F39426 lists no exemption by age, by nationality, by years in France, by schooling in France or by diploma. The ministry's site says the same for naturalisation applicants.
• Children who become French with a parent do not sit it. They acquire nationality by effet collectif when named in the parent's decree, and the exam is a condition on the applicant, not on them.

The B2: who does not have to prove it

From fiche F11926, which lists two grounds for a dispense and the documents that count as proof.

• People whose disability or state of health makes a language assessment impossible, on a medical certificate. The ministry can order a second medical opinion.
• Political refugees and stateless people who are over 70 and have lived in France lawfully for at least 15 years.
• Everyone else proves the level rather than being excused it. Fiche F11926 accepts the diplôme national du brevet, any French State diploma at level 3 or above of the national qualifications framework, any diploma certifying a level of French at least equal to B2 and a TCF or TEF attestation less than two years old.
• That is where schooling in France matters. It does not exempt anyone from the B2, but a brevet, a baccalauréat or a French degree is the proof, so a person who went to school in France usually has nothing to sit.

Which routes require the exam, and which do not

Fiche F39426 is precise about the scope. The examen civique is a condition of naturalisation and of réintégration, the two ways of acquiring French nationality by decree. It is not a condition of any acquisition by déclaration.

The déclaration by marriage under article 21-2 of the Code civil is the one that matters most. It does not require the examen civique. It does require French, and since 1 January 2026 the level is B2: fiche F11926 applies the same requirement and the same proofs to the déclaration de nationalité par mariage as to naturalisation. The spouse still has an interview on the couple's communauté de vie and on assimilation, but there is no paper.

The residence permit exams are a different exam again. The same arrêté creates a mention carte de séjour pluriannuelle and a mention carte de résident with their own exemptions, and the ministry says a pass with the mention carte de résident counts as a pass for the carte de séjour pluriannuelle. Neither of those attestations is the naturalisation one, and the exemptions on the residence side, for instance for beneficiaries of international protection, do not carry over to the naturalisation exam.

Exemptions, in short

More on the examen civique

• Examen civiqueSample questions and what the exam is
• The 40 questionsForty multiple choice questions on a screen, forty-five minutes at most and a pass mark of thirty-two.
• The official materialThe ministry publishes three things and charges for none of them: the fiches that cover the whole référentiel, the list of knowledge questions the paper draws from and the livret du citoyen, rewritten in July 2026.
• Booking, fee and centresTwo organisations are approved to run the exam, you book on demand rather than waiting for a session date, you can sit as many times as it takes and the attestation de réussite never expires.
• After the examA pass gives you an attestation de réussite that never expires.
• Practice paperNot a random selection.

See all French nationality requirements

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