My OFII Experience - Paris

[surfingftw]

Hi - Thanks to everyone who had posted previously on their OFII experience so I had an idea of what to expect. I thought I would repay by sharing my experience with the OFII in Paris.

My appointment was at 14h00 and I was called up about an hour later. I had my eyesight tested briefly, was measured for height and weight and then took the chest x-ray. Very fast and efficient and it was over in about 5 minutes.

Waited another 15 minutes to be called into an interview room - this time I had my blood pressure taken and the interviewer listened to my breathing and heartrate. He asked if I was taking French lessons ( I am - I answered in French as best I could throughout), what i used to work as, how long i was planning on staying in France, if i had all of my vaccinations (i didnt end up having to show my immunization record)

we then spent about 15 minutes talking about my recent travels around the world. All of the other interviews I observed were over in about 5 minutes so it was probably a nice break for him to talk about something he enjoyed/liked.

Anyway, another short wait and then this time I handed over my proof of residency, photo, timbres and voila! I received my vignette and was sent on my way.

No mention of any required lessons/lectures on living in France, civic duties, etc. I am on a long-stay visitor visa. Who knows, maybe I will get something in the mail. But as I left, the fonctionnaire had said, "You are now an 'legal alien', as they say in the United States."

So all in all, pretty painless and i was done in a little under 2 hours. Getting my bank account set up has been much harder - going back a 4th time tomorrow!

[_Sarah_]

Thanks for sharing. As a visitor you don't sign an 'integration contract', which means no obligatory French lessons or civics classes, that's only for spouses of French nationals, so you're done.

[surfingftw]

okay that makes sense - thanks for the clarification!

[carolinem]

You also have the obligation of integration if you have a work visa. My husband and I both have work visas and we had to attend the French civics class (basically a history lesson). The interviewer gave us the certificates for the "life in France" class without making us go to that one. She gave me the language certificate (although my French wasn't great)...I answered most of her questions in French but often had only the vaguest clue what she was saying.

My husband didn't speak any French, so she signed him up for a basic language test about 9 months in the future (she also wanted some kind of proof of the French classes he was taking, otherwise they assign from 100 to 400 hours of classes).

By the way...I'd also like to thank everyone who posted about their OFII experiences. It really helps to know what to expect!

Caroline

[merfadellic]

Originally Posted by surfingftw

Hi - Thanks to everyone who had posted previously on their OFII experience so I had an idea of what to expect. I thought I would repay by sharing my experience with the OFII in Paris.

My appointment was at 14h00 and I was called up about an hour later. I had my eyesight tested briefly, was measured for height and weight and then took the chest x-ray. Very fast and efficient and it was over in about 5 minutes.

Waited another 15 minutes to be called into an interview room - this time I had my blood pressure taken and the interviewer listened to my breathing and heartrate. He asked if I was taking French lessons ( I am - I answered in French as best I could throughout), what i used to work as, how long i was planning on staying in France, if i had all of my vaccinations (i didnt end up having to show my immunization record)

we then spent about 15 minutes talking about my recent travels around the world. All of the other interviews I observed were over in about 5 minutes so it was probably a nice break for him to talk about something he enjoyed/liked.

Anyway, another short wait and then this time I handed over my proof of residency, photo, timbres and voila! I received my vignette and was sent on my way.

No mention of any required lessons/lectures on living in France, civic duties, etc. I am on a long-stay visitor visa. Who knows, maybe I will get something in the mail. But as I left, the fonctionnaire had said, "You are now an 'legal alien', as they say in the United States."

So all in all, pretty painless and i was done in a little under 2 hours. Getting my bank account set up has been much harder - going back a 4th time tomorrow!

Thanks for sharing! I'm getting ready for my appointment and was hoping it'd be this easy. My husband is here on a student visa; I'm here as a visitor. We were told by his school that his OFII stamps would cost about 50 euro, but mine would be about 350(!) So my question is: how much did yours cost?

[surfingftw]

sorry for the late reply but if you are still curious, my stamp cost around 350euros