[S--H]

Okay, so a week ago I arrived in France on my long stay visa. I know that I have to register with OFII within 3 months, but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet mainly because I forgot to bring my form with me and now need my parents to find it in my room and mail it over.

Now, I'm hoping to visit Spain for the Easter weekend, and while I never read anything about this online the people at the consulate mentioned something about OFII registration and leaving the country when they gave me the visa. I wasn't entirely clear.

So, my two questions are:


1. Do I really need my old OFII form to register? Yes, it has a stamp from the Sydney consulate on it, but what do they do with people who forget their forms? I'm lucky that I can have someone dig it up for me, but for others who live alone surely they can't say that they have to fly back home and get it? Is there anything I can do just in France to get the registration done?

2. Is there something border control related in the OFII registration? Will I not be able to leave the country without it? Or not be able to get back in? I can't seem to find anything online, so does anyone have experience?


Thanks!

 

[Bevdeforges]

It depends a bit, I suspect, on precisely what sort of visa you're on and what the OFII requirements are for that type of visa. But yes, they do expect you to have the form with you. What would they do if you had "forgotten" your passport (with the visa inside)? But practically speaking, there is probably a work-around.

If you head for Spain, it's very likely you won't encounter any sort of "border control" at all, so no big deal. But let's see if anyone here has some recent experience of ducking out to Spain shortly after their arrival in France.
Cheers,
Bev