Let's learn about "la carte de séjour"!

Living in France means that I need to acquire a residency card, in French, une carte de séjour. I've been through the process before when I lived in Toulouse. It was not the most pleasant process, but when compared to what some of my friends went through! Paris is different, however. It's a lot bigger and filled with many more foreigners (like moi!). My point is that things take longer (in an already long process and very bureaucratic system) in the Paris area because of the thousands upon thousands of people trying to get their carte de séjour.


Here is a quick break-down of what I've done and need to do to get mine:
1.) I applied for a work visa at the Chicago French Consulate in July. It was issued that day.
2.) After arrival in France, I mailed in a special letter to the French immigration office saying I was on French territory and awaited a letter for a required medical visit.
3.) I finally got the letter for my medical visit and it was on November 18th. The medical visit consisted of getting my lungs x-rayed (to check for TB), an eye exam and a general physical. I am now the proud owner of the x-ray of my lungs (they really do give you the copy!)!
4.) This week I went to the préfecture (administrative offices) to wait in line to get an appointment for the carte de séjour. You must go in person, and where I live, it's normal to wait in line for 1-3 hours just to get the appointment. Sometimes it's longer.
5.) I will return to the préfecture according to my scheduled appointment (February 18th at 11AM). I must have a dossier with all the necessary documents...this is vital!

That hopefully gives you a good idea of what it's like to get a carte de séjour. The good news is that I experienced a miracle the other morning at the préfecture. It only took 15-20 minutes to wait in line and get my appointment! It was a huge blessing. I'm also very thankful that my rendez-vous is in February and not March or April!