REZE / ministerial number: format, where to find it, how to use it for the Official Journal

The ministerial number, often called the REZE number, is the identifier assigned to a naturalisation-by-decree file: it is what lets you match your application to a publication in the Official Journal.

REZE / ministerial number: what it is for, where to read it, how to check the Official Journal

You may be looking for a “REZE number” to see whether your decree has come out. The official term, used by Service-Public, is ministerial number. The nickname comes from where the sub-directorate for access to French nationality (SDANF) sits: 12 rue Francis-le-Carval, 44404 Rezé.

This page covers naturalisation by decree only. Nationality declarations (marriage, ascendant, sibling of a French national) do not appear in these decrees. The search path is different, as the page on finding your decree makes clear.

📌 The official name, and why people say REZE

When the instructing service records your application, it assigns a ministerial number. Service-Public says you then receive an email telling you that number has been attributed. That is the official channel.

The number stays with the file until a decision. In Official Journal decrees, it is the file identifier. A public, indexed search by name is not the intended way to find your decree.

For the vocabulary of the process (SDANF, JORF, ANEF), see the AlertJo glossary. For how the product uses the number, see REZE number and ministerial number.

📝 Where to read it: official email, ministry mail, often the receipt in practice

Service-Public does not say the ministerial number is printed on the filing receipt. It says: an email when the file is recorded.

In practice, AlertJo users also find it on ministry correspondence during instruction, and often on the receipt. That is not a rule of law; it is what many files show. If you do not have it yet, start with administration emails (your ANEF personal account if you applied online), then ministry letters.

The receipt has another, fully official role: it starts the administration’s decision clock. That clock is not the Official Journal publication delay. It is 18 months at most from the receipt for a complete file, 12 months if you show habitual residence in France for at least ten years on that day, and it may be extended once by three months with reasons (Civil Code article 21-25-1, as restated by Service-Public).

🔎 How AlertJo looks up this number

The ministry does not document, on Service-Public, an “official” format for the ministerial number. AlertJo searches the number as it appears in decrees, in the form year + series letter + six digits. The example used on the product is 2026X 012345.

The letter (X, A, B, C…) identifies a processing series. It does not predict delay, or an Official Journal date. AlertJo watches all series.

That description is product behaviour, not a ministry specification. For a check, paste the full number exactly as it was attributed.

Do not confuse it with a prefecture number or an internal personal-account identifier. What AlertJo matches against decrees is the ministerial number. A missing digit, a dropped space or a swapped letter is enough to miss a match: copy it without “correcting” it.

⚖️ Decree signature and Official Journal publication: two dates

The naturalisation decree takes effect on the date it is signed. That is not the date it appears in the Official Journal.

The Official Journal provides publicity. It is how you download the extract on Légifrance. It also starts the period during which the decree may be withdrawn: two years from publication in the Official Journal, after a conforming opinion of the Conseil d’État, if the administration finds the conditions were not met. Another two-year period runs from the discovery of fraud.

At the end of the procedure you receive an email with the decree date and the Official Journal publication date. Those are two distinct pieces of information. Since 1 February 2023, the Official Journal date also appears on the personal account.

Unmarried minor children who habitually live with you also become French if they are named in the decree. Minority is assessed on the signature date, not the Official Journal date.

📢 What the “protected access” PDF actually contains

For a decree published in 2016 or later, Service-Public sets out four steps:

1. Search the Official Journal by publication date
2. Open the link “Extrait du Journal officiel contenant les informations nominatives (accès protégé)”
3. Solve the captcha
4. Download the document

So you need the Official Journal date. The extract contains nominative information: that is why access is protected. A public or indexed search by name is unreliable. AlertJo does not bypass that framed publicity: it matches the ministerial number as it appears in the decrees.

No certified copy is required to give the file legal value: Service-Public states that the PDF has an authenticated electronic signature (decrees from 2016 onward).

⏳ No official calendar after the interview

There is no official delay between the interview and the Official Journal, and no announced calendar after a favourable opinion. Publications are irregular. The Official Journal goes online at midnight, Paris time.

The AlertJo archives show that rhythm, without turning it into a forecast. As of 31 August 2026, the latest analysed issue is decree no. 198 of 26 August 2026 (298 naturalisations). Volumes swing sharply: 57 people on 14 August 2026, 986 on 6 August, 1,239 on 14 May, 1,185 on 20 June. Two issues can fall on consecutive days (28 and 29 July 2026) or leave several weeks without a publication.

A related article explains how to know whether a decree is in the Official Journal in 2026.

✅ Check the ministerial number on AlertJo

Search by ministerial number is free. AlertJo analyses each new Official Journal from midnight, Paris time, all series, and compares that number with the issues. If the decree is not out yet, you can turn on the alert instead of rereading PDFs by hand.

Conclusion

Four points to keep. The official name is ministerial number; “REZE number” is a nickname tied to Rezé. The administration sends it by email when the file is recorded; many people also see it on ministry mail, and often on the receipt. AlertJo looks it up in decrees as year + series letter + six digits, product example 2026X 012345. The decree takes effect on signature; the Official Journal is for publicity, download and the withdrawal clock.

FAQ

Is “REZE number” the official name?

No. Service-Public uses ministerial number. People often say REZE number because SDANF is in Rezé.

How does the ministry communicate it?

By email, when the instructing service records the file and attributes the number. In practice it also appears on ministry correspondence, and often on the receipt.

Can I search for my decree by name on Légifrance?

The nominative extract exists, behind protected access. A public indexed name search is not the intended path. You need the Official Journal date. AlertJo matches the ministerial number.

Does the Official Journal make nationality “official”?

No. The decree takes effect on the date it is signed. The Official Journal publishes the decree and lets you download it.

Do nationality declarations have this number in these decrees?

No. Marriage, ascendant, sibling: a different procedure, not in naturalisation decrees.