Hello,
Would you please tell me where one gets married; in the city hall or the prefecture? In our commune or the major city in that region?
Also, we are planning to get married in the winter sometime in November or December, do you think the city hall will be closed during these times since it's right around the holiday season?
And last question, once married, if I am n a tourist visa, will I still have the 3 months to stay and then return to apply for visa, or do I have to return right away. I should probably get married the first week I arrive in France, that way when we wait to get the marriage papers (if it's not handed already to us at the spot), I will have plenty time, not going over the 3 months legal time frame.
And as for translating /notarizing my foreign language documents/birth certificates/citizenship papers into French, will I be OK if I contact my local French Consulate in California and get a list of translator's who can do it for me. Will their French counterparts at the city hall accept this, or do they have their own set of translators they want me to use?
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bevdeforges
Oddly enough, I thought of you when I found this page: France.Diplomatie-Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes There is also this page from the same site: France-Diplomatie - Entrer en France
It don't get more official than this. I don't know who has put out the page you cited. For marriage rules, I'd start with the info from the US Consulate in Paris: http://france.usembassy.gov/root/pdf...s-marriage.pdf
From all of this, it's clear that they now expect you to leave France, return to your home country (in your case, the US) to get a visa after your marriage unless you are already in France on an appropriate visa. If you've got the 19K saved up, I'd just budget part of that for a honeymoon back in California with your husband and get the visa while you're there. With your livret de famille (the document they give you in France when you're married), your visa should take at most a couple of days to process.
BTW, in France you will need to have your documents translated by a "certified" translator - that is, one who can also attest to the validity of the documents. Most of these sorts of translations cost at least 60€ a page, so pick and choose your documents carefully. If you have the documents translated in the US, ask the Consulate for approved translators.
Cheers,
Bev |