Am i gonna have to go back to France?

Question

Ok i'm a french citizen because i was born there, but i've been raised my whole entire life here in California. Now that i'm 18 years old I've recieved a letter from the French Consulate about having been drafted for some type of service. Would anyone have any insight as to what this might be about? i'm excited!!

Answer 1

I'm assuming that you have dual US and French citizenship like me. Mandatory military service was done away with in France a few years ago. However, Frenchmen in France are supposed to report to some administrative building- I don't know if it's an actual military base or not- once they reach the age of 18, if I'm not mistaken. I think it lasts a couple days or so, and it's more symbolic than anything else. It's comparable to registering for the emergency draft here in the US- you'd only be drafted in the event of some dire and highly improbable emergency. The only way you could feasibly be under any obligation to take part in that (and indeed return to France) is if you only have French citizenship- i.e. if you're staying in the US with just a visa or green card. (And even then, I'm not sure you'd actually have to go.) For more detailed and knowledgeable information, however, you should probably just contact your nearest French Consulate. Here are the two in California:

http://consulfrance-sanfrancisco.org/som...

http://consulfrance-losangeles.org/spip....

Answer 2

G-D I wish  could go for you! I'd love to be there na would do THAT necessity to have dual citixenship! It's a powerful thing to have a pas port that makes u an EU citizen

Answer 3

this is a one day compulsory thing, which can take place in either a military base of in high school; they have tests to check if you can write & read, very basic tests, really, that kind of stuff.

Considering your situation, I'm pretty sure that the consulate will give you correct information as to not having to travel all that way for one day!