Carte de séjour renewal processing time
Having just picked up our "carte de séjour temporaire "visiteur"" after living our first year here with the visa (issued in the US) that we converted into a titre de séjour shortly after arrival, I wanted to share the experience in case it might be useful for others.
The first step was to view the Service-Public website https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F302 that said to visit our local Préfecture two months before our current titre/carte expired to obtain an appointment to bring in the documents required for renewal. This same website listed the necessary documents and the fee of 106 euros.
We went to the Préfecture for our department, Aude, in Carcassonne at the end of November 2016 and got an appointment for 7 weeks later in January 2017. They gave us a printed list of the required documents that matched what we had seen on the Service-Public website. When we returned with our paperwork, it was examined and accepted but the fee had increased to 269 euros in the new year. We were told to wait for an SMS saying that the cards were ready and that we could bring the additional tax stamps with us at that time. We were each issued a receipt, valid for 4 months, showing that we had applied for the renewal.
Somehow we missed the SMS, so 9 weeks later (today) we went back to the Préfecture and happily discovered that our cards were ready. We dropped off the additional tax stamps and walked out with the cartes de séjour, valid for one year. If the same process is in place next year, we will follow a similar timeline, but if we miss the notification to pick up our renewal by the time our current cards expire, we'll go in at that point rather than waiting another month. Apparently you cannot have 2 valid cards at the same time; they must wait until your current card expires before handing you the renewal. Count us happy in Carcassonne
Having just picked up our "carte de séjour temporaire "visiteur"" after living our first year here with the visa (issued in the US) that we converted into a titre de séjour shortly after arrival, I wanted to share the experience in case it might be useful for others.
The first step was to view the Service-Public website https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F302 that said to visit our local Préfecture two months before our current titre/carte expired to obtain an appointment to bring in the documents required for renewal. This same website listed the necessary documents and the fee of 106 euros.
We went to the Préfecture for our department, Aude, in Carcassonne at the end of November 2016 and got an appointment for 7 weeks later in January 2017. They gave us a printed list of the required documents that matched what we had seen on the Service-Public website. When we returned with our paperwork, it was examined and accepted but the fee had increased to 269 euros in the new year. We were told to wait for an SMS saying that the cards were ready and that we could bring the additional tax stamps with us at that time. We were each issued a receipt, valid for 4 months, showing that we had applied for the renewal.
Somehow we missed the SMS, so 9 weeks later (today) we went back to the Préfecture and happily discovered that our cards were ready. We dropped off the additional tax stamps and walked out with the cartes de séjour, valid for one year. If the same process is in place next year, we will follow a similar timeline, but if we miss the notification to pick up our renewal by the time our current cards expire, we'll go in at that point rather than waiting another month. Apparently you cannot have 2 valid cards at the same time; they must wait until your current card expires before handing you the renewal. Count us happy in Carcassonne
