Titre de Séjour -- I'm official!!

This is a post from Holly:

Yesterday was a big day for me.....I picked up my titre de séjour. I learned so much about the process from other Americans who have gone through it -- mostly that no 2 people have the same experience -- & I wanted to share my experience here, in the hopes that it will help someone else.

A little background: I am a U.S. citizen, & my husband has dual U.S.-Irish -- hence EU -- citizenship.  Before leaving the States I went to the French consulate in San Francisco to submit my long-stay visa application. A couple of steps into the process (fingerprinting, photo, payment), they reviewed my application & noticed that my husband has Irish citizenship & I was told that because of a recent change in the French laws, I did not need the visa. I was elated, but repeatedly asked the guy for confirmation. He must have thought I was crazy, but I wanted to be absolutely sure. He asked a colleague & confirmed, gave me a refund, & handed most of my paperwork back to me. In hindsight I realized I should have asked him for a letter (in French, of course) stating that I had applied, but they determined that I did not need the visa. Lesson learned: Get it in writing!

So, I happily went about the rest of my preparations for the move to France.

Upon arrival here I went to the mairie in Pézenas, registered my arrival & picked up the paperwork for the titre de séjour. They questioned my lack of visa, but when I told them what I had been told at the consulate, they shrugged & said OK. Here's where having a letter from the consulate would have come in handy.

When I submitted my titre application at the mairie (a very friendly, patient & helpful mairie by the way), she again commented on my lack of long-say visa, & again shrugged when I told her what I was told in SF. She said that it was up to the sous-préfecture, & we should wait to see what they say. By the way, someone had told me that the sous-préfecture in Béziers was tough & not helpful, but I did not find this to be the case.

Then, about a month later, I got a notice to appear at the mairie. When I showed up, I was told 2 things:
1) I needed to pay 110€ (in timbres fiscaux) for the visa, even though the consulate told me I didn't need it. Actually, they were letting me off easy here, as by this time, I had exceeded the 3-month legal stay for a non-EU citizen (though as the spouse of an Irish citizen, I'm sure I had a bit more leeway). I did not have to submit visa paperwork, just the payment.
2) I needed to get my fiscal/income/tax documents translated by an official translator. They did not need translations of birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc. I'm glad I didn't spend the money unnecessarily here. Note: I decided not to get any documents translated into French before my first submission. One thing I learned from others is that there is absolutely NO consistency in this requirement, so I decided to pay only for the translations I was told I needed.

A few days later I went back to the mairie with the newly translated documents & the payment. She reviewed everything & said that because I did not convert the dollar amounts into euros, she is not sure that the sous-préfecture would accept the paperwork, but suggested that she send it on anyway, as one never knows.

Then, 2 days ago, just 2 months after I started the process, I got the great news in the mail. My titre was ready! All I needed to do was bring 230€ in timbres fiscaux & my passport, show up at the sous-préfecture, & the card is mine. Yippee!!

I had read so many stories of struggles,uncooperative bureaucrats, etc., so I was prepared for a nightmare. In reality, everyone was helpful & patient, & it all went smoothly & took less time than I expected. I don't know whether having a spouse who has EU citizenship made it any easier, or whether I was just lucky, but I'm certainly not complaining.

Now, of course, I have to start working my way over other bureaucratic hurdles, but today I am breathing a big sigh of relief.

Foray Into French Bureaucracy.....My Paperwork Has Been Submitted

Today was a big day for me (Holly) because I submitted my paperwork for my titre de séjour (residence permit). The dossier (file) was dropped of at the mairie (city hall) who reviewed the contents to ensure everything necessary was included & will send it on the the sous-préfecture in Béziers for processing. Now the waiting begins....Waiting to either receive my titre or find out what else I need to submit. I'm sure there will be something. We've read a lot about the process & have found that many things are inconsistent. For instance, so far nobody has asked to have documents (birth certificate, etc.) translated into French by an officially certified translator, but the paperwork has not yet reached the sous-préfecture. At some point they will no doubt let me know how much I need to pay for the titre; time will tell. Our fingers are crossed. By the way, if all follows what we've read, the process will have to be repeated yearly, at least until I am granted a 10-year titre.  Update: Just got a call from the mairie & they said that they think my titre won't be granted yet because we only have a 7-month rental contract while we are looking for our permanent residence, but it's up to the sous-préfecture to decide. She made a note on my paperwork stating that we are searching for our new/permanent home.

ANOTHER UPDATE: It's 2 weeks since I submitted my paperwork & today I received a letter from the mairie, asking me to appear in person. There is no mention of a specific date or reason, nor did they request additional paperwork (the section asking for additional documentation was crossed out), so my guess is that they either have a question, or will ask me to provide official translations of several of the English-language documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.) submitted with my application. This isn't a huge problem, but it will cost a fair amount of money. I heard about one person who was called back to the mairie because his signature on the application wasn't exactly within the black lines, & he had to sign a new form. Fingers & toes are crossed that it's nothing more drastic than that, because my mind is swimming with scenarios...They won't process the paperwork until we have proof of our permanent address, & this will delay things for several additional months.....They want some sort of paperwork/documentation that I am unable to provide....They reject my application outright........They want me to pass a French language proficiency test.....I could go on, but I'm starting to scare myself.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE:

Just got back from the mairie regarding my carte de sejour, & here's where I stand:
1) I need to get translations for my US financial/bank/income information -- but not for my birth certificate, etc. Am busy researching official translators.
2) It appears that either the French Consulate in San Francisco was wrong, or the sous-prefecture in Beziers has a different opinion, but it turns out I DO need a long-stay visa after all, at a cost of 110€. In hindsight, I wish I had asked the guy at the consulate to give me something in writing saying that I did not need a visa because my husband has EU citizenship.

Once I get those things taken care of, they will review my application. The woman at the mairie was patient, helpful, & sympathetic.

Next on the bureaucratic agenda are: completing the car registration process (still driving with California license plates) & health insurance.

We're having a cold spell here. It's noon & according to weather.com the temperature is only 31°F, but with wind chill it feels like 19°F. This is not normal for the south of France & we wish it would get warmer. Brrrrr.....

Some good news:

We've written in an earlier post about the abundance of dog poo here, which seems to appear out of nowhere & multiply with alarming rapidity & which seems to escape the daily street cleaning machine. This morning we saw a guy with a broom sweeping up the poop. Of course, it had little effect on what's been driven over or stepped on, but at least the newer "packages" were removed. Also, the major construction project on the street around the corner from our house seems to be nearing completion. Much of the heavy equipment is gone & it looks nearly ready to pave. Once it's done, walking on Rue Anatole France won't resemble an obstacle course that is dangerous, difficult to navigate, noisy & makes your shoes dirty.