I recently heard that if a resident of Louisiana is fluent enough in French, he or she can gain French citizenship. What provides this privilege, if any, and what are the requirements?

Joseph Mcintyre

You can't become a French citizen just by speaking the language, but you can bypass a requirement that you live in France for five years before becoming a citizen if you were born in one of the states created from the Louisiana Purchase.

Dear Joseph,

I can't imagine that any country would allow citizenship privileges just because someone was able to converse with the natives. France certainly doesn't.

There are two ways to apply for citizenship in France. One requires being married to a French national. This form of acquiring French citizenship is called acquisition par declaration. In general you must be married for at least 12 months, or have had a child together (before or after getting married), and you should intend to stay married for at least another year or it would be considered a case of fraud. Then you will have to provide the usual documents such as birth certificates and marriage license and prove "spousal cohabitation." And there will be police checks and perhaps fingerprinting.

But if you are not married to a French national and want to become a citizen you must be at least 18 years old. Then you must prove that you have been legally living in France for the five years preceding your application. This waiting period can be reduced to two years if you have successfully completed two years of studies in a French institution of higher education (university or Grande Ecole). In addition to having the required legal papers such as a French visa, you will also be expected to demonstrate that you have been assimilated into a French community. This is where your ability to speak the language would be very useful. And it goes without saying that you must be of good character, i.e. have no criminal record.

There is, however, a little-known French law that can speed the process. According to this law, if you were born in one of the states that was created from the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 or any other former French territory, the five-year waiting period may be waived. This law can be found in the Code Civil, La Loi du Mars 1998 -- La Loi du 29 DŽcembre 1999, Article 21-19.

Hey Blake,

It seems to me that the Vincent Marinello in the attached article is the same Vince Marinello accused recently of shooting his wife. He was 43 in 1981 and 25 years later is 68. Perhaps Liz Marinello had uncovered much more of his hidden background than any of us were aware of. But I'm sure that his close friends in the Sheriff's office are already aware of his history with the mafia.

A Reader

Dear Reader,

The article you sent appeared in the newspaper on March 31, 1981. The headline read "Trial Opens in New Orleans for Reputed Mafia Leader." Carlos Marcello and four other men went on trial that day "charged with conspiracy, racketeering and mail and wire fraud in a scheme to bribe Louisiana officials to give them multimillion-dollar group insurance contracts." As the article points out, one of the defendants was "Vincent Marinello, a New Orleans lawyer who is accused of delivering bribe money."

I can assure you, however, that while the name and the age of the two men are coincidentally close, they are not the same person. Vince Marinello, the WWL radio broadcaster, was arrested on Sept. 7 and charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife. The Vincent Marinello referred to in the article you sent was a lawyer and not a radio talk show host. The Vince Marinello accused of murder has never been an attorney, nor was he involved with Carlos Marcello in the case that was known nationally as BriLab, although he did grow up in a close-knit Italian community in the French Quarter. Marinello was a sportscaster for a quarter of a century and also did a handicapping show from the Fair Grounds Racetrack that was televised to betting establishments nationwide. Before his arrest he was a radio show host for WWL.

Carlos Marcello was found guilty of violating the RICO statute and went to prison, but the conviction was subsequently overturned. Vincent Marinello the attorney was acquitted, but he was shot to death in 1991.