France Bulletin No. 3 (B3): Who Can Request It, Processing Times, and What It Shows
The French extrait de casier judiciaire (bulletin n°3), usually called the B3, is requested through a national system. The first practical question is not where you live, but where you were born: birthplace determines the application route, while nationality generally does not. A B3 request is free, but online and postal requests follow different timelines. A blank B3 also has a narrower meaning than many applicants assume.
- Eligibility: Any nationality may request a French B3 for themselves. A legal representative may apply for a minor or an adult under guardianship.
- Route: Most applicants use the national CJN service or apply by post. People born in New Caledonia use the registry of the Court of First Instance in Nouméa.
- Timing: Online issuance can take from about an hour to two working days, depending on birthplace and identity verification. Official postal estimates are around two weeks; the guide gives no separate delivery guarantee for overseas addresses.
- Scope and cost: The B3 lists only specified serious convictions and measures. The official application is free, and a blank B3 is not a worldwide police-clearance certificate.
Rules and service figures checked September 28, 2026. French national rules govern across France; practical differences concern birthplace-based routes, identity checks, and delivery logistics.
Who this French Bulletin No. 3 guide is for
This France-wide guide is for people who need a French criminal-record extract for an employment, administrative, immigration, or other background-check request, whether they live in France or are applying from abroad. It is especially useful to non-French nationals, people born outside France, applicants without FranceConnect, and legal representatives handling a child’s or a protected adult’s request.
A common document set is the B3 plus the applicant’s identity document. A representative may need proof of legal authority, and some routes call for additional identity evidence. French-to-English is a useful planning example when an English-language employer or authority asks for the document, but there is no official data ranking language pairs. The receiving organization decides whether a translation is needed and what form it will accept.
Who is allowed to request a French B3?
You can request your own B3 regardless of nationality. The official Justice.fr application guide explains that the process depends on birthplace. An employer, friend, spouse, or paid agent cannot apply in your place as an ordinary proxy. The exceptions are a legal representative applying for a minor or an adult under guardianship. The criminal-procedure rules provide for a €7,500 fine when someone obtains a third party’s extract using a false name or status.
That distinction matters for employment screening: an employer may ask you to present your B3, but that does not make the employer the applicant. The person concerned obtains the extract and decides how to provide it, subject to the employer’s process.
There are extra postal rules for some representatives. The official guide says a request for a child under 12 or a child born outside France must be sent by post; a request for an adult under guardianship also goes by post and must include the court decision naming the representative. Check the current instructions for the person represented before preparing the envelope.
How birthplace changes the French B3 application route
For applicants, the important dividing line is birthplace—not whether they now live in France, another French territory, or overseas. Use the official birthplace selector because it routes applicants to the correct service and identifies any exception.
| Place of birth | Where to apply | Practical point |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan France | Online through the CJN online service, or by post to the Casier judiciaire national (CJN). | Online is the normal route. A postal request uses Cerfa 10071; no return envelope or stamp is required. |
| Most overseas departments, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna | The current Justice.fr guide directs these applicants to the CJN online service or postal route. | Choose the exact birthplace in the official selector. The listed French territories do not all use a local counter. |
| New Caledonia | Apply to the criminal-record registry at the Tribunal de première instance de Nouméa by email or post; an in-person request is also listed. | This is the geographic exception. The official guide gives an approximate 15-day response for email or post; an in-person request may be issued immediately, otherwise allow about two weeks. |
| Outside France | Apply through the CJN online service or by post. | Without FranceConnect, attach a copy of an identity document. If your identity document does not show your birthplace, the official portal directs you to apply without FranceConnect. |
The New Caledonia route is narrow: it applies to people born there, not everyone currently living there. Likewise, a person born abroad does not switch to a local prefecture or court simply because they now live in France. The official guide and birthplace selector are the best starting point if your birthplace is unusual or is not obvious from your identity document.
Applying from abroad: a short preparation checklist
- Confirm what the recipient wants. Ask whether it needs a French B3, how recently it must have been issued, and whether it wants the French document, a translation, or other authentication.
- Use the birthplace route. Open the official Justice.fr guide and follow its link to the CJN online service, or use the postal route if the instructions require it.
- Match the identity details exactly. Enter names, date of birth, and place of birth as shown in civil-status records. If applying without FranceConnect, prepare a readable identity-document copy.
- Confirm the online request. After submitting, open the confirmation email and click its link. The official guide says the request is taken into account only after confirmation.
- Plan the delivery step. A clean B3 may be delivered digitally or by ordinary mail; a B3 with a conviction entry is sent by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt under the standard route.
- Prepare the document for its destination. Once the B3 arrives, follow the receiving authority’s requirements for translation, issue date, and any separate authentication.
If you apply by post, the official application instructions specify Cerfa n°10071 and explain that a return envelope and postage are not required. Do not confuse a paid translation service with the free government application.
French B3 processing time, postal delivery, and cost
Separate the time needed for the CJN to issue the document from the time needed for a physical letter to reach you. The official figures below are estimates for particular routes, not a single guaranteed timeline for every applicant.
| Application route | Published timing | What the timing means |
|---|---|---|
| France-born applicant, online | About 1 hour to 24 hours through FranceConnect or email | A clean B3 can be downloaded or sent electronically. Check email for the confirmation link. |
| Born outside France, online without FranceConnect | Up to 2 working days after identity review | The CJN checks the identity document. Missing or unreadable documents can require follow-up. |
| Postal request through the CJN | About two weeks, including postal time in the published estimate | The guide also describes roughly 15 days for foreign-born postal requests. It gives no separate delivery guarantee for each overseas destination. |
| Born in New Caledonia | About 15 days by email or post; possibly immediate in person | If the registry cannot issue it immediately at an in-person request, the guide says to allow about two weeks. |
For people applying from another country, fast online issuance does not mean a paper original will arrive just as quickly. If the recipient needs a physical document, confirm whether it accepts the downloadable version and build in extra time for international mail. If a conviction entry is present, registered delivery can also mean someone must be available to receive the letter.
There is no standard appointment step for a normal online or postal CJN request. New Caledonia-born applicants have a separate in-person option listed by the Nouméa registry. The application itself is free. The official B3 guide confirms there is no government application fee; a payment request is not part of the official application process.
What appears on a French Bulletin No. 3?
The B3 is the least comprehensive of France’s three criminal-record bulletins. The Justice.fr comparison of B1, B2, and B3 describes the B3 as limited to the most serious entries, including:
- Unconditional prison sentences exceeding two years.
- Unconditional prison sentences of less than two years when the court specifically orders that the conviction appear on the B3.
- Unconditional disqualifications, prohibitions, or incapacities, such as certain professional bans, while the measure remains in force.
- Socio-judicial supervision and certain bans on professional or volunteer activity involving habitual contact with minors; the page says these entries are removed when the measure or ban ends.
Convictions and decisions from a person’s juvenile period do not appear on the B3. A blank result, sometimes described as bulletin néant, means there are no entries that the law requires to appear on this particular extract. It does not mean that the person has no record in every French record system, nor does it replace police certificates from other countries where the person has lived.
That is the counterintuitive point: a clean B3 can be accurate and still be narrower than the background check requested. If an employer, visa authority, or licensing body asks for certificates covering several countries or a different period, ask whether it needs additional national certificates. Do not treat the B3 as a global clearance.
What to do if an application stalls or a paid site appears
First, check that you selected the correct birthplace and clicked the email confirmation link. If you were born outside France and applied without FranceConnect, make sure your identity-document scan is readable and includes the details requested. Keep the submission confirmation and any response from the CJN together; they make it easier to explain the issue if you need to contact the service.
For a technical problem, a missing confirmation, or an application question, use the contact options on the official CJN site. Services Publics+ publishes service indicators and accepts feedback about a public-service experience, but a public review is not a way to obtain an individual application update.
Watch the web address before entering identity details or paying. The official application is free. If a site asks for payment to submit a B3 request, that charge is not part of the French government application; use the Ministry of Justice’s official CJN portal instead. A paid translation after the B3 is issued is a separate service.
Translation and provider choices after the B3 is issued
The French authority issues the B3 in French. The CJN FAQ says applicants seeking an authenticated translation should use a traducteur assermenté. For a document going to another country, however, the receiving authority’s instructions determine whether it wants a French court-listed translator, a destination-country sworn translator, or a certified translation with a signed accuracy statement. These labels are not automatically interchangeable.
| Translation route | When to consider it | Check before ordering |
|---|---|---|
| French court-listed sworn translator | When the recipient explicitly asks for a French-approved translator or an authenticated translation. | Confirm the required language pair and whether the recipient needs a paper original, signature, stamp, or further authentication. |
| Online certified translation provider, such as CertOf | When a foreign employer or authority accepts a certified translation in its required format. | Ask whether its rules accept the provider’s certification statement. CertOf translates documents; it does not request the B3 or provide legal representation. |
There is no nationally designated commercial translation company for every B3 use. A court list is a way to check a translator’s listed status, not a government endorsement of an individual provider. For a U.S. family-immigration packet, see our guide to French civil records and the B3 for U.S. family immigration. For other uses, the police-clearance translation overview covers general document-preparation questions. Keep apostille and EU multilingual-form questions separate from the B3 application route; our France B3 authentication and multilingual-form guide addresses that adjacent issue.
Official resources and public service signals in France
| Resource | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Justice.fr B3 application guide | Birthplace routing, current application steps, delivery estimates, and the link to the CJN online service. |
| CJN FAQ | Questions about identity checks, foreign nationals, delivery, translation, and record content. The FAQ itself is in French. |
| Services Publics+ CJN page | Published service indicators and public feedback. Use the CJN contact route for an individual request. |
The national system means that a city-level directory of B3 offices would be misleading for most applicants. The relevant local difference is the birthplace route, especially the separate New Caledonia registry. For translation, the relevant distinction is the receiving authority’s standard rather than the city where you live.
What applicants report—and how much weight to give it
The CJN page on Services Publics+ includes recent individual reports of both clear, quick online submissions and friction with FranceConnect, identity details, or CAPTCHA. These are self-reported experiences, not a measure of how often each issue happens. A traveler-forum thread on a South Korea working-holiday application shows a different kind of uncertainty: the applicant had received a B3 quickly but was unsure whether apostille or translation was required, and later posters described a destination-specific missing-document issue. That forum discussion is not official guidance; it is a reminder to separate French issuance from the recipient’s acceptance rules.
France B3 service data: issuance is not delivery
Services Publics+ reported an average of about one day to transmit an online B3 for applicants born outside France in the second quarter of 2026, and about one day on average to issue a postal request. Separately, 96% of 159 respondents to the first-half 2026 survey said they were satisfied with processing times. These figures help explain why an application may be issued quickly once the CJN has the right information; they do not measure the time for a paper letter to cross an international postal network. Treat them as service indicators, not individual guarantees.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreign national request a French Bulletin No. 3?
Yes. The B3 can be issued regardless of the applicant’s nationality. Whether a French B3 is the certificate required for your particular check depends on the organization requesting it.
Does my birthplace change where I apply?
Yes. Most applicants use the national CJN service, but people born in New Caledonia apply through the Nouméa court registry. Your current home address does not replace the birthplace route.
How long does a French B3 take if I was born abroad?
Online applicants using FranceConnect may receive it in about one to 24 hours. Without FranceConnect, the official estimate is up to two working days after identity review. Postal applications take about two weeks or 15 days in the published guidance; overseas delivery may add time.
Do I need FranceConnect to get a French criminal-record extract?
No. A person born abroad can use the online route without FranceConnect, but must provide an identity-document copy. If the document does not show the birthplace, the official portal directs the applicant to use the route without FranceConnect.
What convictions appear on the French B3?
Only the categories specified by law, including certain unconditional prison sentences, prohibitions, and measures. The Justice.fr B1/B2/B3 guide lists the categories; juvenile convictions do not appear on the B3.
Does a blank B3 prove I have no criminal record anywhere?
No. It means there are no entries required on the B3. It is not a worldwide police-clearance certificate and may not satisfy a request for records from other countries.
Is the French B3 issued in English?
No. France issues the B3 in French. Ask the recipient whether it wants a sworn translation, a certified translation, or no translation before ordering one.
Is the French B3 free, and does it expire after three months?
The official application is free. French law does not set a universal B3 expiry period, but an employer or receiving organization may ask for a recently issued copy, such as one dated within three months.
Certified translation options for your French B3
If the receiving organization has confirmed that it accepts a certified translation, submit the French B3 to CertOf for translation support. You can also review how to upload and order a certified translation and which electronic or paper delivery format to request. CertOf handles document translation and preparation; it does not apply for a French B3, obtain an apostille, or guarantee acceptance by a particular authority.
Disclaimer: This guide provides general document-preparation information, not legal advice. The requesting organization’s current checklist controls the required certificate, issue date, translation format, and authentication. Confirm those points before applying or ordering a translation.