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My grandmother married her second husband many years before I was born and he is from Martinique, which means he has French citizenship.

To make it clear, my father is the child of my grandmother's first marriage. My grandfather from Martinique came into the family by marriage, we have no blood relationship with him. However, he has been in the family for decades.

I was wondering, can my father and I possibly apply for french citizenships since he is technically my step-grandfather and his step-father?

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    Unless the step-grandfather adopted your father so that he's the parent-by-law, I think it would be unlikely.
    – mkennedy
    Commented Jul 16, 2016 at 14:00

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While French nationality can be acquired in a number of ways, what you're describing would be jus sanguinis (right of blood) through a French parent.

At the time of a child's birth, a parent must be French. In the case adoption, it would need to be a full adoption, under French nationality law.

For your father to be French, he would have had to be adopted before he was still a minor (under 18) by his stepfather. If that didn't take place, then neither he nor you would be French citizens by descent.

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  • The OP is not describing ius sanguinis as he asked about his father applying for French citizenship! That's not possible and the conclusion is therefore correct but framing it that way makes little sense. Also, even in that scenario, there is absolutely no need for the French grandfather to have adopted the father, that's just flatly wrong. If the mother became a French citizen herself while the father was a minor and living with her, he could have become French himself (that's called effet collectif), a much more likely scenario.
    – Gala
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 16:01

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