About losing French nationality by 'not-using'

Question

I have a question to those who knows the "article 30-3" well, Do you wether the law applies to every French citizens or just for the former colonies? And do you know if death of one of the French parents who was the "source" of the french nationality stops the counting of the 50 years?

The case is about my grandmother (still alive) She was born in 1946 in Tunisia to two French parents (the mother was born in Tunisia and naturalised when she was 8 years old with her family in 1928, and the father was part of the Jewish community in Algeria which naturalised collectively in 1870 by Cremieux Decree.)

They left north-africa in 1951 and they were living in Israel continuously since then, my grand-mother's father passed away in 1983 and her mother passed away in 1998, they have never done anything regarding their French nationality since they came to Israel in 1951, her father was serving in the French army and was POW in WW2.

From what I understood is that the law says that it start's counting 50 years backwards from the date of the death of the father which is 1983 which means 1933. Am I right?

P.S. we've already applied for CNF in the name of my grandmother in the end of 2018 and still waiting for an answer.

Answer 1

Do you wether the law applies to every French citizens or just for the former colonies?

It applies to all French citizens, no matter where they live(d) or how they became French.

And do you know if death of one of the French parents who was the "source" of the French nationality stops the counting of the 50 years?

If someone leaves France and passes away less than 50 years later then, indeed, they never met the conditions listed in article 30-3. That means that their children (your grandmother in this case) can retain their nationality for as long as they live. In this decision, the court used this exact reasoning and found in favor of one of the plaintiffs (but not his children).

It doesn't necessarily completely ”stop the clock” as it were, at least as far as grandchildren and great-grandchildren are concerned. By 2001 at the latest, your grandmother would have spent 50 years out of France so that condition would apply to her and could prevent her children (your mother or your father?) from proving their French citizenship.

From what I understood is that the law says that it start's counting 50 years backwards from the date of the death of the father which is 1983 which means 1933. Am I right?

It took me quite some time to understand what you meant but I think your reasoning is correct here too. It would be easier to check that we have the same understanding if you would specify when the father was born and where he lived prior to 1951 as I suspect this is what you are trying to get at.

Note that while Algeria, colonies in West and Equatorial Africa and Cochinchina are considered French territory until the date of their independence for this purpose, Tunisia and other protectorates like Annam and Tonkin are not. So if your French ancestors lived all their life prior to 1951 in Tunisia, they did in fact meet the 50-year threshold a long time ago and your grandmother's CNF application is highly likely to be rejected. If your grandmother's father grew up in Algeria and moved to Tunisia later, the exact date of this event could make a difference.