Why? Well! Yesterday, I got the all-important text from my préfecture - my Carte de Séjour, my legal French ID that says I can live and work here, was ready and waiting!
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| My Text! |
What led up to this miraculous event? I will tell you; a *lot* of paperwork, and a *ton* of waiting! I got my visa in December 2016, came to France at the end of January, 2017, and applied for the 10 year residency card in December, 2017. I could only do that (the longer-than-1-year card) because of my long-term marriage to a French national - but that also added a few steps :-)
In December, I got a récépissé (sort of a receipt for having submitted my request, as well as a temporary residency card). Well, it is only temporary, so I had to ask for another one in April. And that one was going to expire in July (em, you know, soon!). So, I went in and asked about it... Ah, well, see the whole story here.
ANYWAY! I got to the Montpellier Préfecture...
1:22, got in line
1:48, showed my stuff at the desk and got a ticket:
- passport
- old titre (in the passport)
- récépissé, and
- timbre (proof that I paid the fee)
My ticket showed that there were 40 people ahead of me (I had #49). Anyone superstitious? The 49ers are my favorite American football team ;-)
2:40, there's my number! I go to the window, pass in my small pile, and wait a minute for the agent to check through it. Then I get my passport back, and my brand new card! I checked it for correctness,* and signed a receipt.
2:45, I walked away with ***THIS!***
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| 10 whole years! |
5:15, home sweet home!
AND! There's a nice bottle of bubbly in the fridge!
:-D :-D :-D
~~~
* our street name is very long, and it doesn't all fit on the card; when I mentioned this, my agent said "pas grave" (no problem), the record is correct.
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6 comments:
Congratulations - got mine today too!
Congratulations - got mine today too!!!
Congratulations! It is nice to read about things working out well and fast in the end. We moved to France 4 years ago (Dutch/American) and although there was plenty of paper work buying a house, titre de séjour for my husband, buying a car, getting our cartes vitale, etc, we never had any trouble or difficulties. Yes, lots of paperwork, numerous visits, and some waiting, but people were friendly and helpful most of the time. And we hardly spoke French at the time. Enjoy your success! (I'm a Long Duck Lady ;)
Yeah! Congratulations.
Congratulations! I’m American, too, married to a Brit, so EU laws actually made it easier for me. I got my 10 year residency card this year after living here since 2012.
We’re living in Charente but we are interested in moving to Beziers or surrounds. We’re coming for a little exploratory stay in early October and hope we like it as much as we did on previous visits. Hope you’re happy here.
Congrats to you too, Katherine!
Definitely check out Sète while you're in the area - it certainly suits us :-)
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