Just Married

[Sunshine Dandelion]

If anyone can help me on this one I would be VERY grateful!
I am American and just married my french man in New York and am now back in Paris on my tourist visa.
I am sending all the documents to the consulate in NYC to get the 'livret'. Once we get the 'livret' do I need to apply for a long stay visa to come to Paris or can I enter on a tourist visa and go to the prefecture and apply for my 'carte de sejour'?
I just read that I have to be in NYC for three months BEFORE they will give me a long stay visa. I am trying to find any way around having to stay in NYC for three months.
Also is there an interview process when applying for the visa and is it grueling?
Thanks anyone!

[Bevdeforges]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Been there, done that - mostly the "wrong way" and have the scars to prove it! Your best option (IMO, naturally) would be to make a run back to NYC, preferably with your DH (dear husband) to get that livret de famille. They are supposed to give you one virtually on the spot (ok, it might take a day or two) and with that, they should be able to give you a visa, again almost on the spot. One thing you will find about France is that they don't generally do this sort of thing by mail or phone. They really do expect you to turn up in person.

For a normal long-stay visa, there is an interview process and all that jazz, but as the spouse of a French citizen, you're very nearly automatically entitled to the appropriate documents. It would be a whole lot easier if you went in person to the consulate in NYC (with DH, if at all possible) and you should have all the papers you need within about a week.

Then you can re-enter France, get that visa stamped and only have to go through the "usual" hassle to get your carte de séjour and all the other good stuff in order. (There is always a hassle when it comes to paperwork in France. Your DH will no doubt confirm this.)

If you stay in France on the tourist visa and try to change your status from there, you can do it, but it will be a long and very aggravating process. Make a short "honeymoon" trip back to the Old Country and get yourself through the paperwork. In the long run you'll be very glad you did.
Cheers,
Bev

[Sunshine Dandelion]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Been there, done that - mostly the "wrong way" and have the scars to prove it! Your best option (IMO, naturally) would be to make a run back to NYC, preferably with your DH (dear husband) to get that livret de famille. They are supposed to give you one virtually on the spot (ok, it might take a day or two) and with that, they should be able to give you a visa, again almost on the spot. One thing you will find about France is that they don't generally do this sort of thing by mail or phone. They really do expect you to turn up in person.

For a normal long-stay visa, there is an interview process and all that jazz, but as the spouse of a French citizen, you're very nearly automatically entitled to the appropriate documents. It would be a whole lot easier if you went in person to the consulate in NYC (with DH, if at all possible) and you should have all the papers you need within about a week.

Then you can re-enter France, get that visa stamped and only have to go through the "usual" hassle to get your carte de séjour and all the other good stuff in order. (There is always a hassle when it comes to paperwork in France. Your DH will no doubt confirm this.)

If you stay in France on the tourist visa and try to change your status from there, you can do it, but it will be a long and very aggravating process. Make a short "honeymoon" trip back to the Old Country and get yourself through the paperwork. In the long run you'll be very glad you did.
Cheers,
Bev

Bev,

Thanks so much! I think I also have to be in the states for 3 months before I can apply for the visa. I want to avoid this but have no idea how.

Do you know what they will ask me in the interview? Did they come to your home in Paris to interview you to make sure it wasn't a sham marriage also? Our place is so small I don't know if three people will even fit! haha. I always feel like I am in the principals office with things like this.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Dandelion

Bev,

Thanks so much! I think I also have to be in the states for 3 months before I can apply for the visa. I want to avoid this but have no idea how.

Do you know what they will ask me in the interview? Did they come to your home in Paris to interview you to make sure it wasn't a sham marriage also? Our place is so small I don't know if three people will even fit! haha. I always feel like I am in the principals office with things like this.

AFAIK, there's no 3 month requirement - only that you must apply for your livret de famille and visa at the consulate that covers the area in which you are legally resident at the time you apply. Since you haven't "officially" moved to France yet, that means the consulate that covers wherever you were living when you got married (i.e. in the US).

To get your livret de famille and a spouse visa, I don't believe there is an interview - but if there is, it's at the consulate where you apply. (Get used to it - in France there are lots of administrative things that can only be done in person. No mail-in, no phone-in.) The main thing of any interview is to determine whether or not you speak French.

It used to be possible (up until a few months ago, I think) to simply go to your local préfecture with your livret de famille and all your other paperwork and get a sort of visa, plus apply for your carte de séjour all while living in France. Somewhere I read that this option had been withdrawn and they are now requiring spouses to apply for their visas back in their home countries - but this being France, you may want to inquire at the préfecture before you book your flight home.

Even if they accuse you of having a "mariage en blanc" (fake marriage), no one will come out to your house to interview you. We submitted a bunch of sworn statements (in French, of course) from friends and family members stating that we'd known each other for several years, had visited each other, etc. etc. but in the end that wasn't the problem at all - I was simply missing a stamp in my passport to show when I had entered the country. Problem was that I had entered from Germany (where I was living) and there was no one at the border in the early days of Schengen to check my papers.

In your case, you really need to get that livret de famille - and you can't do that by mailing in the documents. Go with your husband to the préfecture and ask them what you need to do - both to get a livret de famille and to apply for that carte de séjour. Chances are you'll have to make a trip back to the US to visit the consulate, but in the long run that will go much quicker than fighting it out from this side of the pond.
Cheers,
Bev

PS I know it's too late now, but you really should have gone to the consulate immediately after getting married in the US. Marriage with a foreign national is supposed to be reported to the consulate of the foreigner's home country - as are births and deaths.

[frenchie]

The livret de famille is all by mail, you mail all necessary documents to your consulate. For the visa, you need to apply in person and the turn-around is one to two days. In regard to the livret de famille, I was warned that I might have an interview as I didn't do "la publication des bans" but it never happened. The livret just showed up in the mail one day after 5 months, but no worries my consulate was just slow (San Francisco). Most of the other consulates take few weeks.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by frenchie

The livret de famille is all by mail, you mail all necessary documents to your consulate. For the visa, you need to apply in person and the turn-around is one to two days. In regard to the livret de famille, I was warned that I might have an interview as I didn't do "la publication des bans" but it never happened. The livret just showed up in the mail one day after 5 months, but no worries my consulate was just slow (San Francisco). Most of the other consulates take few weeks.

I suppose the big question is whether they'll mail the livret de famille to someone now living in France. I'm assuming that you were living in the US when you applied for your livret de famille (based on having been married in the US).

I only raise the issue because I have heard that they are getting a bit pickier lately about your having to work through the consulate that covers the area in which you are resident.

Oh well - I guess we'll find out. Sunshine, please do let us know what you hear from the Consulate on the livret.
Cheers,
Bev

[frenchie]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

I suppose the big question is whether they'll mail the livret de famille to someone now living in France. I'm assuming that you were living in the US when you applied for your livret de famille (based on having been married in the US).

I only raise the issue because I have heard that they are getting a bit pickier lately about your having to work through the consulate that covers the area in which you are resident.

Oh well - I guess we'll find out. Sunshine, please do let us know what you hear from the Consulate on the livret.
Cheers,
Bev

Ah, I see. The only way for Sunshine to know is to call the consulate. They send it certified so she definitely needs to ask.

[whitelilac]

Hello,


I also wanted to ask what about an American naturalized Citizen who wants to get married in France with a French national while visiting as a tourist (less than 3 months )? Do I have to return home also ? And when you say there is all that jazz still when it comes to obtaining my long term visa, but it's pretty much automatic. Then what exactly does 'all that jazz' include?

BTW Congratulations to the original poster. Are you going on a honey moon? Where??

Thank you kindly!

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Been there, done that - mostly the "wrong way" and have the scars to prove it! Your best option (IMO, naturally) would be to make a run back to NYC, preferably with your DH (dear husband) to get that livret de famille. They are supposed to give you one virtually on the spot (ok, it might take a day or two) and with that, they should be able to give you a visa, again almost on the spot. One thing you will find about France is that they don't generally do this sort of thing by mail or phone. They really do expect you to turn up in person.

For a normal long-stay visa, there is an interview process and all that jazz, but as the spouse of a French citizen, you're very nearly automatically entitled to the appropriate documents. It would be a whole lot easier if you went in person to the consulate in NYC (with DH, if at all possible) and you should have all the papers you need within about a week.

Then you can re-enter France, get that visa stamped and only have to go through the "usual" hassle to get your carte de séjour and all the other good stuff in order. (There is always a hassle when it comes to paperwork in France. Your DH will no doubt confirm this.)

If you stay in France on the tourist visa and try to change your status from there, you can do it, but it will be a long and very aggravating process. Make a short "honeymoon" trip back to the Old Country and get yourself through the paperwork. In the long run you'll be very glad you did.
Cheers,
Bev

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by whitelilac

Hello,


I also wanted to ask what about an American naturalized Citizen who wants to get married in France with a French national while visiting as a tourist (less than 3 months )? Do I have to return home also ? And when you say there is all that jazz still when it comes to obtaining my long term visa, but it's pretty much automatic. Then what exactly does 'all that jazz' include?

BTW Congratulations to the original poster. Are you going on a honey moon? Where??

Thank you kindly!

If you get married in France on a tourist visa, yes, you will have to return to the US (i.e. to your "residence" - you can't claim French residence on a tourist visa). They seem to be cracking down on this lately.

"All that jazz" means doing the interview and filling out the forms. I'm not sure how much of the documentation they'll ask you for, since you will have already provided that in order to get married in France, so you'll have to find that out for yourself. The key element is your livret de famille.

The fact of your being a naturalized citizen just means you'll have to provide a certified translation of your naturalization papers. (Preferably just your "certificate" of naturalization... those translations are expensive.)
Cheers,
Bev