Just Married - Excited About France

[hulagirl]

Hi Everyone,
I've been following this site for a few days, and I'm impressed by the plethora of information!

I wanted to introduce myself. I'm an American woman who just married a French citizen. I'm from Hawaii, and we had a beautiful oceanfront wedding in Honolulu in March. Sadly, my hubby is back in France because he had to go back to work. I stayed back in Hawaii to get the paperwork done for the visa to reside in France.
Needless to say, I miss him and think of him everyday. I've had a very stressful couple of days when I got hit with a visa snafu. I need to get my birth certificate in order to get a livret du famille. That is one of the visa requirements. And to make a long story short, it is in South Korea. I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen of Korean origin but I was born in Vietnam because my parents were working there at the time. We thought all this time that my birth certificate was missing, and that freaked my out because I thought that little paper would prevent me from joining my husband in France. After several, several phone calls to all different time zones around the world, we found out that my birth certificate is in Korea. So, I'm trying to get that now. Cross my fingers it will come around the same time that the marriage license comes back, which is around six weeks. Then I have to have an Apostille attached to it. Oh yes, after I get the birth certificate, I believe I'm going to have it translated, and then notarized by the S. Korean Consulate in Hawaii. I'd thought I'd add that in for anyone going through a similar situation. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted as to my progress. Hopefully, it won't take too long and it won't be too painful.

Thanks Bev for all the information you've been providing. Very helpful. And thanks again to everyone for sharing your experience.

Aloha,
hulagirl

[bubbz]

Congratulaions and good luck.
This country is awesome.

[Bevdeforges]

Congratulations! I suspect you'll also need to produce your naturalization papers (in translated form?) as part of the process.

Yeah, the paperwork scavenger hunt they subject you to is a real hassle, but once it's over and you have the proper documents, things get significantly easier. The spouse visa is about the only kind there is that is almost automatic, so keep up the good work and you'll be in France before you know it.
Cheers,
Bev

[hulagirl]

Originally Posted by bubbz

Congratulaions and good luck.
This country is awesome.

Thank you. Where in France do you live and how long have you been there?

[hulagirl]

Not sure. The French Consulate hasn't asked us for it. I'll go find out. Thanks for bringing that up. Do you know if I need to buy private health insurance until my husband can put me on his social security health insurance coverage? Or do I get it right away?

xoxo - aloha

[bubbz]

Originally Posted by hulagirl

Thank you. Where in France do you live and how long have you been there?

My wife and I jump between Lille (the city she studies at) and the town near Provins where her parents live. In a few months we'll be settling in or around Foix in the Ariege dept. Looking foward to the south! Been here since may 2010 and never been to the south of france. I've been learning french with a ch'ti accent, will be nice to hear the southern accents

[xchaos777]

Hey, I was born in Hawaii and will trade places with you to get back! Just kidding (well, kind of!), congratulations and keep up the work on getting it all finished. It will happen, but you are already learning the piles of paperwork requirements for negotiating the French systems. It is a good introduction!

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by hulagirl

Not sure. The French Consulate hasn't asked us for it. I'll go find out. Thanks for bringing that up. Do you know if I need to buy private health insurance until my husband can put me on his social security health insurance coverage? Or do I get it right away?

xoxo - aloha

He should be able to put you on his health insurance as a dependent right now (since you're married) but he may need your livret de famille to satisfy the paperwork. If he has a mutuelle at work, he should ask his employer how to add you to the coverage (it will be deducted from his salary). Probably easiest to do once you get to France and you have your visa to prove you're "legal."
Cheers,
Bev

PS On the naturalization papers, you may not absolutely need them for the visa filing, but it will make life a bit easier if they record you as having US citizenship (or US and Korean) rather than just Korean. Though they may just go with the passport you submit. (Don't offer extra paperwork - but do have the naturalization papers handy just in case they ask about them.)

[hulagirl]

Thank you. Yeah, I know what you mean. It would be great to spend half the year in France, and the other half in Hawaii. Are you in France or in UAE? xoxo

[hulagirl]

Merci beaucoup. I'll have the naturalization papers in hand. aloha