Visa Vis
Applying for our first resident visas.
Roberto and I like to think we are organized people. We like to think we are intelligent people who have thought of all possible obstacles and complications. Problem solving is the lion’s share of Roberto’s job as an architect and contractor, and the job of a novelist it to construct obstacles and then have a character overcome them. So we should be experts. The problem, of course, is that no one can foresee every twist in the road, and when they appear we can both get very, very grumpy, both at the situation and at each other.
Last week Roberto and I applied for our first French visas. We’re hoping to obtain one year resident visas which will allow us to come and go as we please for one year. For the foreseeable future, we plan to spend only three months in Montpellier at a time, but this visa helps us work towards permanent residency,1 our ultimate goal.
To submit the one year visa application we had to drive to Houston to visit the only French consulate in Texas. We’re lucky it was an option. It’s only 2.5 hours away and during Covid the only open embassies were in DC and Chicago.
We felt nervous but prepared. We’d gone over our checklist2 many times, but French bureaucracy can be so impenetrable that we knew we’d missed some detail somewhere.
We had. But it was a detail you’d never guess.
Roberto had done the preliminary application on-line, which involved providing our basic personal information and an explanation of why we were applying for the visa. He paid the application fee (around €100 each) and made an appointment, which took around a week to book and then our appointment was three weeks later. The only appointment available was 8:30 a.m.
To be safe, we decided to book a hotel for the night before. I did my research and made sure we were within one mile of the French consulate. We had an easy drive from Austin with no traffic and had a lovely dinner with old friends at the Houston Galleria. (Janet and Terry are artists, and Terry is now making sculptures using 3D printing, which I’ll be discussing in my other weekly publication This Memoir Will Be Written by Robots.)
The next morning Roberto and I were awake and drinking our coffee at 7am, speculating about whether we were the only people with an 8:30 appointment or if everyone that day had to show up at 8:30 and then we’d be given a number. I went online to see if perhaps I could find an answer. This is when I discovered that one does not go to the French consulate to apply for a visa. You have to go to a private company called VFS. All it said on our application was “France Visa Application Center.” We had just assumed that meant an embassy!
With a sinking stomach I checked our confirmation email and saw that sure enough, the address there was different than the consulate. Thank God it was in Houston. I did a map search, and can you believe it? It was across the street! Even closer than the embassy. Our hearts started beating again. We would not miss our appointment. We showered and got dressed. We packed up, got in the car, drove the two minutes to cross the highway, and entered the building fifteen minutes before out appointed time. Winning!
As we were walking towards the VFS office on the fifth floor, a janitor called out to us. “You here for visas?”
He could see our folders of paperwork. “Why, yes we are.”
“They moved. Front desk should have told you.”
Park’s closed. Moose outside should have told you.
Are you freaking kidding me?
We ran back downstairs. A woman who had not been there earlier showed us a piece of paper that said (in a much too jaunty font) “VFS has moved! 1001 Texas Ave.”
We asked how far away it was and she answered with the tone of a teenager being asked to clean her room: “Fifteen minutes.”
It was 8:25! It was rush-hour. We were going to be late. We dashed back to the car, jumped inside, and yelled at each other about the best way to get back on the highway. I tried to call the visa center to explain the situation. I looked AGAIN at their site and this is the ONLY THING it says on their home page:
There is no mention of “and by the way we are f***ing moving our entire business to an entirely new location in July so maybe don’t drive to the old address smugly thinking you are arriving on time.”
I tried calling the center to explain our situation. We figured this same scenario had to have happened to lots of people. But I only got an unsympathetic guy in New York who told me it would be up to the individual agent to decide if we would still be seen. We pictured the angry agent waiting for us:
We finally arrived downtown. I jumped out of the car and ran for the front door while Roberto parked. I had to sign in at the desk and show proof of our appointment. I was sweating bullets (it was 105 degrees in Houston). I’d been hoping to arrive looking 10% as good as a French person, and I was failing.
When I got upstairs a very kind security guard told me to relax, we were fine, and yes, many people had been late since they moved. I texted Roberto to tell him the good news, but he didn’t see it, so he came bursting out of the elevator with the same frantic look that I’d had five minutes before. He checked in with the security guy and sat down next to me.
We told each other to take deep breaths so we wouldn’t start out interview with steam coming out of ears or bickering about the paperwork or who had put paperclips in the wrong place (Roberto).
(I like being able to blame petty things on Roberto when it is my turn to write the blog.)
We were seen quickly by an American woman who processed our application, going carefully through the checklist of paperwork. She was not allowed to give an opinion or advice on anything. VFS is purely a private third company who will make sure your application is complete and then pass it on to the French consulate.
That said, the woman and staff were very friendly and patient.
We were in good shape except for the required proof of “Purpose of Stay” and the travel insurance. We had both written and signed letters promising not to work in France, but we ended up needing to provide proof that we both run our own companies in the U.S. (incorporation letters). They allowed us to email those while they waited.
It also turned out our health insurance policy was only good for emergency evacuation, and we needed additional emergency medical coverage while in France. We were able to go have lunch downstairs, buy a better policy online, and email them the proof within 45 minutes. So that was lucky.
We paid a second fee of $216. And that was that.
When we returned to the parking lot I spotted this on the ground.
Women will recognize this as a bra insert. I imagined a woman reaching into her bra and throwing it on the ground in triumph: “They fell for it! My enhanced breasts have gotten me into France!” or the opposite: “Those a**holes moved their business and I was running so late that I didn’t even have time to stop and pick up half my boob.” Either way, it seemed like a fitting final image to our exhausting and weird morning at the Visa Application Center.
And now we wait. It is supposed to take about ten days for the consulate to make their decision and then they overnight our passports back to us (an extra service we paid for). Please croisez les doigts pour nous! (cross your fingers for us!)
Jusqù’a la prochain fois (until next time),
Carolyn & Roberto
Becoming a resident:
Back in June we had a meeting with a French consultant who helps Americans and Brits with visas and paperwork, and he gave us the following process for becoming permanent residents (which please note is different than becoming citizens. As residents we will not be able to vote):
Apply for a one year visitor visa.
Renew the one year visa.
Renew the one year visa again.
Now we qualify for the five year resident visa.
At the end of the five year visa, we may apply for the ten year resident visa and will be considered permanent residents.
At any time we can apply to enter the French healthcare system; however, we are required to relinquish our American health insurance when we do, so we won’t be doing this until we are ready to live in France full time (unless we find an adequate French travel policy that could cover us while back in the US - we’ll keep you posted on this possibility).
Phew! Sounds like you've checked all the boxes. Twice. With cookies.
Bonne chance!