Frustration, Anticipation, & (finally) Immigration!

What seems like a billion years ago, I started the process of French immigration. Let's take a walk down the paperwork-paved memory lane that led me from the beginning to where I am today.

1) January 15, 2012: Online application to TAPIF due online (actually submitted three weeks earlier, because I'm me)

2) April 4, 2012: TAPIF Acceptance email received

... and there was much rejoicing!

3) May 1, 2012: Demande d'autorisation de travail (request for work authorization) submitted by mail to CERFA (Centre d'enregistrement et de révision de formulaires administratifs (Center for Registration and Revision of Administrative Forms))

4) June 16, 2012: Approved Demande d'autorisation de travail received in the mail, along with the arreté de nomination (work placement) - This is when I found out I'd be teaching high school in Narbonne!

First thing to receive in the mail from France, the BEST day!

5) July 5, 2012: Visa appointment at the French Consulate in Houston, Texas

             Form to turn in: Demande de visa pour un long séjour (request for long-stay visa).
             Form to have stamped: Demande d'attestation OFII (long-stay visa - request for OFII certification) - first OFFICIAL immigration form. OFII: Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration
             Treasured item to be left: Passport (gulp!)

Leaving your passport is terrifying. The fact that the guy told me they'd lost four passports the previous week wasn't comforting. Also, driving 9 hours in one day is not the most fun ever.

6) July 11, 2012: Received passport with brand-new long-stay visa inside. This is where it gets real!

Remember this? Ta-da! Visa-ed.

You'd think that'd be it, right? Check out my visa, I'm legit?

You'd think so.

But you would be very wrong.

7) September 18, 2012: Passport stamped in Charles de Gaulle airport proving entrance to France

Yes, later I will have to prove I am indeed in France with this stamp.

8) October 8, 2012: Application for Sécu (social security) completed and mailed in to the MGEN (Mutuelle Générale de l'Éducation Nationale (general healthcare for employees of the National Education)), along with proof of residence and a copy of my birth certificate, translation, and apostille

BTDubbs, I so did not pay to have my birth certificate translated by an official translator like they tell you you have to, and everything was fine. Because I'm sneaky. And smart.

9) October 11, 2012: Demande d'attestation OFII (request for OFII confirmation) completed (including French address and phone number) and mailed to the regional OFII office (with trace and delivery confirmation), along with copy of passport and visa showing entry stamp

Yes. This is where I prove I'm in France. From France.

10) October 23, 2012: Attestation de droits (confirmation of rights) and temporary numéro INSEE (social security number) received from the MGEN

Why is there a temporary social security number? Why not just skip ahead to the real one? This just seems like an extra step to be ridiculous on purpose.

11) October 24, 2012: Convocation à la visite medicale received from the OFII

Get excited. This is indeed a formal invitation letting you know you're cordially invited to wait in line with all the other immigrants to take your shirt off and get your lungs photographed. ALSO! This is where I found out I needed my shot records, which NO ONE had told me before this point (and I read everything possible this summer). Dad to the rescue with the scanner and email.

12) October 25, 2012: Demande d'autorisation d'absence (request for absence authorization) submitted to school office

They didn't really have a choice.

13) November 13, 2012: Visite medicale in Montpellier, France

             Examen radiologique at 10:30

This is pretty quick and efficient. It's also pretty weird because you're all "Oh hey, Bonjour!" and they're all "Take your shirt off, s'il vous plaît." and then you're definitely 100% topless, and then three minutes later it's all over and you've got an hour and fifty-seven minutes until your next appointment. Hmphf.

However, this is all okay because at the end they hand you a picture of your own lungs. 

Hello, free souvenir!

And the best news is that now all the French people can rest safely knowing that I don't have tuberculosis. A good two months after I arrived in their country. (?!?!)

             Examen clinique général at 1:30

Height, weight, eye exam, investigation of shot records, general health questions. I'm thankful I don't understand kilos because that way I didn't have to pay attention to how much weight I'd gained due to pain au chocolat.

14) November 13, 2012: Titre de séjour vignette (basically a green card in sticker form that goes in your passport) received at OFII

This was a bit tricky. At the end, the lady was all "Okay great, here's a piece of paper, you have to take it to the préfecture to get your carte de séjour," but I KNEW that I was supposed to receive the vignette (passport sticker) right then and there, because I'd talked to Kimberly (remember her?) who already had hers. And so I brought this up to the lady, who insisted on the form and the mailing. And then I did some more insisting, actually describing the vignette because I'd already seen it. Luckily, this other lady showed up and was all "Oh yes, of course, you can't leave without your vignette," and so we (me and the other 6 or 7 assistants with appointments at the same time) were rescued from not having our vignettes.

It should be mentioned that without this vignette, we'd all be illegally living in France and could get kicked out while traveling.

Yeah, OFII lady #1. 'Cause THAT'S what I need.

Look Mom, I'm legal!

15) January 9, 2013: Correction de numéro INSEE (correction of social security number) received from the MGEN

Here's your permanent number! See #10. This is a ridiculous step.

16) January 11, 2013: Request for documents (signature, serial killer photo, copy of passport/visa/vignette) for the Carte Vitale received from the MGEN

The Carte Vitale is a fabled card which is said to be your key to the socialized medicine system. Basically, it's the national insurance card. Up to this point, I'd thought it was kind of just a joke to mess with us assistants or an urban legend, as I'd been here for four months and had yet to see any sign of my card (or any other assistant's for that matter). But alas, here is at least something with the words Carte Vitale on it, so I must be headed in the right direction. 

Also, I say "serial killer photo" because they don't let you smile at all. Seriously, France. Come on. You can still identify people if they smile.

17) January 30, 2013: Documents necessary to receive the Carte Vitale sent to the MGEN

... it took me a while to find time to go get that serial killer photo taken.

18) February 20, 2013: Carte Vitale received from the MGEN

Achievement unlocked: 

CARTE VITALE. 

(Just in time to have medical insurance for the last quarter of my contract time. Oh, la douce France. Typical.)

And now, after a paper trail seemingly wide enough to flatten the Amazon, I now declare myself fully française!

.... kind of. ;)