We went to the préfecture in Blois yesterday for an appointment with the people at the Service des migrations et de l'intégration ("integration" means language requirements, basically — how you will "fit" in French society). In France, the préfecture is the building or complex where the administrative offices and services of a département or "county" are located. It takes us nearly an hour to drive up there from Saint-Aignan. Our département, the Loir-et-Cher, has a population of 330,000 or so, and no big cities, only big towns.
Getting an appointment at all was a fairly bumpy ride. We hadn't had to go to the préfecture in a decade, because in 2009 we were both successful in obtaining residence cards that were valid for 10 years. It was time to renew them. When we were granted the residence cards in 2009, we were told, or I read somewhere, that renewal in 2019 would be automatic unless some big problem or issue came up in the meantime (like being convicted of committing a crime, which neither of us has been...).
Here's your North Carolina postcard for the day. The current hurricane has starting moving northward up the coast, and N.C. is in the path.
In the spring, when we starting looking into the current rules and administrative procedures for renewing our residence cards, we found information on the official French government web site explaining the process. There was an application form to fill out, and there were several documents to be gathered up — copies of passport pages, copies of electricity or phone bills to prove our current address, a "tax stamp" costing 300 euros to buy, ID photos to be taken — and then turned in. Applicants need different sets of documents depending on whether they are citizens of a European Union country or a country outside the EU.
That made sense, because people from EU countries, or at least most of them, don't even need residence cards except in special cases. A lot of British expats are busy applying for residence or citizenship right now, with Brexit looming, in an effort to stay ahead of the game. Non-Europeans like us definitely do need residence cards, no matter what. Requirements are different, too, if you are requesting a new card or are asking for a change in your residence status. Simple renewals are less complicated.
There are many different titres de séjour — "extended-stay permits" is the broad administrative category for all sorts of residence cards — including short-term permits for U.S. students or tourists, for example, who want to stay in France for more than three months, and long-term permits for people who, like us, live here, and so on. You have to be sure you've figured out your category before you start filling out forms and preparing your documentation.
I was fifty percent right!
ReplyDeleteI should have added, it was one or the other!
Delete300 euros is an expensive stamp. They probably wouldn't have known you were American if you hadn't told them.
ReplyDeleteComme Donnie, tous les Ricains sont des milliardaires, c'est bien connu!
DeleteI think it's not just Americans who have to pay the 300 euros for a resident's card.
DeleteYes, this is probably a standard fee for that kind of document, no matter who you are and where you come from outside of the EU.
DeleteI was answering to my percieved David's suggestion that they charged you more when they knew you were Americains!
I don't know what Diogenes meant. Maybe that, maybe something else — only he can tell us. Stay tuned for more of the saga.
DeleteOh, I just meant that 300 euros is a lot for anyone. As for them not knowing you're American, I meant because you speak French so well, a different thought. That said, I do wish I was a milliardaire, but a real one, unlike Donnie!
DeleteThat's what I thought you meant, D. 300 euros is a lot, but it's only once every 10 years. In fact, I don't remember if we paid anything for our 10-year residency cards in 2009. Walt thinks we did, but I don't remember, and he doesn't remember how much it might have been. As for people mistaking us for French-speakers, well... we have our accents, which people here pick up on right away. I think most people around here have never encountered foreigners who speak French well, so the accent takes them off guard even if not immediately. I often tell people I'm interacting with that I'm American, so they'll know why I might say something that sounds funny to them.
DeleteI wondered if this wasn't the reason that you needed to both go to Blois, without Tasha :)
ReplyDeleteIt was the longest we had ever left Tasha alone — though Bert was here to keep Tasha company — since we brought her home 2+ years ago. She waited patiently — no problems.
DeleteShe's such a sweet thing! ♥
DeleteTasha is a very good dog.
Deleteno citizenship for yall?
ReplyDeleteFairly complicated. Not sure it's worth it at my age.
DeleteThis all sounds complicated to me, but you've been dealing with things like this for many years now. I bet you will accomplish your goal! I will go to Huntsville some time this year to get approved for global entry in and out of the country. It will make it easier to travel overseas.
ReplyDeleteYou have to drive that far for that? Wow.
DeleteKind of surprised you weren't going for citizenship. At this point, I should think you'd have all the requirements covered.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Global Entry thing isn't in every airport, only in some. Fairly accessible on the coasts, don't know about inland.