October 2006: Apply for first Carte de Séjour at Seynod mairie December 2006: Receive récépissé #1 in Seynod February 2007: Receive first CDS travailleur temporaire due to being a language assistant; but need to change adress on it already since I had moved. Since I stayed within the same département, a sticker with the new [...]

ME!!! I got my carte de séjour vie privée et familiale today! It says “autorise son titulaire à travailler” right on it. And it’s good until May 2009. I am beyond ecstatic!!! It has taken me almost two years and a lot of months wondering how I’d make it financially in France. I hope EU [...]

So remember that list of documents needed to obtain a vie privée et familiale carte de séjour due to being PACSed for a year? Let’s review and see if it was what I really needed. 1. Copy of passport & visa2. Copy of ID card of French partner Ok, these were fine. Except they also [...]

I love that I just now received my travailleur temporaire carte de séjour for being an assistant when I have five weeks of work left. Really, what was the point?? Anyway, I got the list of documents that I need to provide for my first vie privée et familiale card due to being PACSed. For [...]

Annecy in winter I tried to pick up my new carte de séjour today. Except the people in Paris had made a mistake and sent an exact copy of the card I already have – visiteur that expires at the end of March. It’s supposed to be travailleur temporaire that expires in May. ::sigh:: By [...]

I went to Grenoble today for a medical visit required by the préfecture (or else no new carte de séjour). I had done the exact same thing last year when I first arrived in France, so at least I knew what to expect. But still, wasting 20 € and an entire day just to get [...]

Is it weird that I actually don’t mind going to the préfecture? Since I had finally received my new arrêté de nomination and procès-verbal (six weeks late, but no biggie, right?!?), I had to head back to the préf and do another changement du statut from visiteur to travailleur temporaire. I was a tiny bit [...]

I would just like to say I’m sorry to everyone else in France who is having problems with their préfecture and getting/renewing their cartes de séjour. I went to pick up my new carte today, and it was very easy and painless. It expires when I thought it would, and I was also able to [...]

I received notice from the préfecture that my new CDS is there! Except they’re closed on Wednesdays, so I can’t get it today. Of course. It should be a CDS visiteur that expires at the end of March. But we’ll see if they screwed that up… However, I need to do another changement du statut [...]