Back home blog: May 2008

well, since i last wrote all kinds of stuff has been going on! Some good...some bad. well, i don't want to drag the bad out longer than it have to, but i would like to update you on the situation. Basically, after getting married we needed to go to the Prefecture. This is where all immigrants/foreigners go to apply and renew for visas. Yann & I thought that because we were married that it would be a piece of cake to get my Carte de Sojour at the Prefecture. This is the card that grants me the permission to work, have free health care, and be allowed to stay for as long as i want in france. Well, first let me tell you that the Prefecture is crazy and completely inefficient. In the States, lines move pretty quickly and one can be processed in a reasonable amount of time. In france there is a lot of inefficiency, red tape, and bureaucracy. Every day the Prefecture is open there is long line that has already formed 2 hours before it opens in the morning. Once you get in you wait in even longer lines to been seen. It's easier to be granted a visit by the Pope.

So, anyways, we have all our documents ready and we go to stand in line outside and wait for it to open. We get there at 7:00am and it opens at 8:15am. As soon as it opens we run upstairs and grab a ticket to be seen. We were happy because we got number 12. There are only 35 tickets issued per day, so we thought we did good. We waited to be seen for another 4.5 hours. In 4.5 hours the woman only processed 11 other people!!!! how is that possible? that means each person before us got an average of 25-30 minutes speaking with the woman. What were they doing in there; having tea and biscuits?!

So, finally we get called and literally, I am not joking, she was so rude to us; she gave us exactly 6 minutes to talk with her, and then she buzzed the next person in while we were still talking to her. Yann is polite, so he got up to leave, before getting all our questions answered. But i was so pissed, i just glued myself to that chair and wouldn't move until she explained more. The next people were standing right behind my chair, mad at me for not budging!

So, here is the deal: Basically, i need to go back to the States and go to my local French Consul, which is Miami. Once there, I need to ask for my VISA de Sojour. This is something they stamp on my passport and it allows me to stay in France for 2 months. But in Miami once I ask for this Visa de Sojour, it may take up to 2 months to be ready for me to pick up. So, during this time i have to wait in the US until they notify me by mail that it's ready. Then i go and pick it up and fly back to france. Once in france, i go to the Prefecture again, and stand in that horrendous line again, and ask for my Carte de Sojour. This Carte de Sojour is the thing that allows me to stay in france, have health care, and work. This may take up to 6 months to have!!!!!!!!!! So, during that time i get a card that is a temporary card. It allows me to legally stay in france until i get my Carte de Sojour, but i can't work!! which is something i really need to be doing now! By the way, this temporary card expires every 3 months so when that happens i need to go stand in a 8 hour line again at the Prefecture. And once my Carte de Sojour is ready to be picked up at the Prefecture, I'll of course have to stand in that damn line again!

Basically, it is a nightmare. We had a horrible day when we found all this out. We are pretty devastated by the fact that we are newlyweds and we have to be separated for up to two months. This totally sucks, and it is a bizarre situation. I just want to say to any of my friends, i.e. Meghan K.H., that were considering moving to France, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it will be truly impossible for you to come and work here. They have made it totally impossible. I'm sorry! it frustrates me too. I am married to a French citizen and I can barely live here.

Anyways, as you can see, we are both very tired and annoyed with the situation. I know after things get all ironed out in a couple months, we will be happy! It's just a rough patch right now. My mom and dad are coming to visit soon. Actually, my mom is coming on May 13th and my dad on May 18th. They will be staying until May 30th. We are very excited to all be together and celebrate our marriage.

I have a plane ticket to fly home on June 1st from Marseille to Miami. I will be going straight to the French Consul when i arrive in Miami and dealing with this. I will be staying in Sarasota with my parents until i am notified by mail that i can go pick it up and then i will head back to France. This could take 3 weeks or the full 2 months. So, anyways, I know Steph, Kate D, and Keely will be happy that I'm coming home for a visit!! I can't wait to see you guys! That's about it!! I'll be putting another post up soon!