Hi Bev and others

Yep, I have indeed received my visa and am relatively (emphasis) unscathed, hehe!

I submitted my initial visa application trying to be honest and open about the relationship between my fiancé and myself, included a long covering letter with an explanation of all items and documentation I had included and even included some extra items regarding financial security.

One of the visa requirements were return plane tickets; so even though I am applying for a 12 month visa to stay in France, they wanted to see that I had fully booked and paid for a return ticket to Australia. This was sooo ridiculous to me! However, I did what they wanted and booked flights back to Australia, so essentially wasted $700 of my money as we are getting married next year and I won't be going home for at least 15 months. Grrr...
Lesson: Book cheap flights back to your home country, even if you know you will never use them. The Consulate just wants to see that you have a back-up plan in case you become destitute in France, as I was advised on this forum

Secondly, another visa requirement was "a letter from your financial adviser or bank manager stating that you have sufficient funds to stay in France". I don't have a financial adviser so I went to my bank and asked what they could do. They stated that bank managers are too busy for things like that etc etc, so I turned to the local French embassy to ask advice. They advised that in addition to my own bank statements proving sufficient funds (essentially AU$4,000 at minimum) I include a financial guarantee from my parents. So I sent my official bank account statements, along with 2 financial guarantees from my mother and stepfather promising to send AU$1,500 a month to my bank account directly. Well, after the Consulate received my visa application with this guarantee, they phoned me stating that they could not accept this because, and this was the ensuing exchange with regard to that point:

Consulate: "What if you have a huge fight with your mother and she refuses to send this money?"
Me: "I have a very good relationship with my parents and that will not happen."
Consulate: "We cannot accept financial guarantees for any visa application."
Me: "Just out of interest, why do you have them on the visa website and why did the embassy suggest I do this?"
Consulate: "Um, I'm not sure."

Okay! So that seemed like a big waste of time. The Consulate then proceeded to advise me that since I had disclosed that my reason for moving to Paris was my fiancé's job, they now needed a copy of my fiancé's French passport, a letter from him detailing his job and his commencement date, a letter from his employer stating all sorts of details about his job and proof of his own financial situation!! So despite the fact that a long stay without work has nothing to do with spouses or partners, because I tried to be honest and open about why I was going to France on a long stay visa, they added all this crap that I needed to provide! I found this really stupid; if I was applying for a fiance visa, naturally I would understand, but they are very clear that this visa has nothing to do with fiances or partners. Seemed very hypocritical to me.

They also asked for quite a lot of proof of our relationship - photos, joint bank accounts, past leases or utility bills from shared houses etc. We provided a number of photos with dates and descriptions, directed them to our personal photo website and photocopied our joint credit cards, and that info obviously sufficed as they didn't request anything further.

Lesson: DO NOT tell the Consulate more than absolutely necessary. Had I have not mentioned that I was going to France for my fiance, I would have saved myself having to procure a whole lot of extra documentation.

Something else I would like to add is with regard to the requirement of an apartment/house already being set up and proof thereof, because we don't have oiur own accommodation sorted out yet (and won't have done so until we get to Paris and find an apartment) we had my fiance's brother who resides in Paris do up a letter stating that he would house us. The Consulate phoned me about this and said that it was fine, but that they needed a new letter stating that the situation was only temporary and that my fiance and I would be finding our own accommodation upon arrival in Paris. The Consulate also asked for a copy of the "papier notaire" which is provided when you purchase property in France. This was not any great hassle but I thought it to be valuable information for other people who want to move to Paris but don't have an apartment set up yet; find someone who can house you temporarily, get them to write a letter stating that they are happy to do so, and include a copy of their papier notaire and a utility bill in their name, as well as their passport.

Really, that was about it. In terms of health insurance, I purchased the "prestige" cover from AXA which the Consulate was fine with. They said that it was good that I purchased such a comprehensive plan, whatever that means!

Something to mention is that while the French Consulate in Australia notes a minimum of 1 month to process a visa, they took only a few days with mine. Perhaps that is because I am Australian born and bred and not an immigrant with more complex papers to go through, more detailed checks etc but I was pleasantly surprised with that.

Bev, I actually have two questions that maybe you can help me with again! I had to fill out a form called "Demande d'attestation d'OFII" and send it with my application. Neither my fiance nor I have any idea what it is about. The Consulate sent it back with my passport, so I am guessing I will need it at some point (perhaps at the local prefecture?).

What is the situation also with language requirements? I am semi-fluent in French - do you know if I will be required to sit exams or prove my language ability?

If there is any more advice I can provide or questions I can answer, please let me know!

alana