[yshek]

Hi,

I recently moved to Paris with my wife to work for a French employer. I received a long-stay visa under the frame of Carte Bleue Europeene which was approved by OFII. The actual visa we got from the consulate were for three months with a not stating that we should submit our request for a carte de sejour within two months after our arrival to France.

Once we were here we (and my employer) made the necessary steps with OFII who then transfered our file to the prefecture (within the two month period). We are waiting for developments from the prefecture but in the meantime realized that our visas will expire in a few days.

What does this mean? do we have to renew our visas? should we go to the prefecture? (note, we have not been to the prefecture until now since the process is managed by OFII for Carte Bleue Europeene).

Any help/advice will be highly appreciated!

 

[violette2583]

Hi,

Something similar happened to my husband when we first arrived (we are both American). Don't panic; I think it's quite normal for visas to expire before the CDS (carte de sejour) is received. I'm assuming that is what the next step will be for you.

You may consider going down to the Prefecture to check that they've received your dossier, but unless it's been at least a month since it's been submitted, I wouldn't expect them to have processed it. Just to give you an idea, my husband finally received his real titre de sejour about 6 months after his visa had expired. We did have a small issue with the spelling of his name, but know that this can happen.

Unless you have pressing travel plans or have any other administrative issues that immediately require the CDS, my advice is just to sit tight and wait for the Prefecture to contact you.

Best of luck!