After submitting my paperwork to our local mairie to switch to a French spouse visa, I was told that I would receive a confirmation of receipt from the Caen prefecture within 3 weeks, or by July 26. This receipt would be proof that my visa is processing and that I am here legally since my student visa expires July 22. I would then receive notice from Caen’s prefecture before August 16 to make an appointment to pick up my new visa. (See: Switching from a Student to Spouse Visa – Part I)
Today is August 10 and still no receipt from Caen’s prefecture! My husband called on July 23 to check in and verify the status of my application. The man that answered the phone said that the more calls he gets, the further he is behind in processing. An excuse we have heard from him before.
He said that they are between one to two months behind processing visas and that it is normal to take this long. If an officer asks for my passport and sees the expired visa, he can check with my local mairie to confirm that a spouse visa was filed. I would not get into trouble since everyone knows it can take up to 3 months for a new visa to process. Of course, no one told us this earlier. He also made a comment on how Americans always try to rush things… hmmm.
I am not worried about being approved for the visa; it is just that I cannot move forward until it arrives. I need it for opening a bank account, registering an auto-entrepreneur business and receiving social maternity benefits. I was prepared for a long wait to receive the spouse visa but was not considering that it would take over 5 weeks for the prefecture to even send a confirmation letter.
To make problems worse, it is now August – the month where everyone is on vacation. The process time of my visa will extend even further. I cannot even call the prefecture for information since the man taking care of this department is reluctant to provide any. So I will just sit, hope and keep checking the mail.
Timeline
– May 21, 2011: Married in Bordeaux.
– June 6, 2011: Called Lantheuil’s mairie to start application process.
– July 4, 2011: Filled out paperwork with Lantheuil’s mairie.
– July 5, 2011: Lantheuil’s mairie mailed out paperwork to Caen’s prefecture.
* Estimated date of prefecture’s confirmation: July 26th, 2011
* Estimated date of receiving my spouse visa: August 16th, 2011
– July 23, 2011: Call for the status and found the Caen prefecture is 1-2 months behind.
– August 10, 2011: Have not received anything from the Caen prefecture yet.
I will keep you updated with what happens as this adventure continues.
[…] " "))]); }); Over the past 9 months you may have read my posts about switching from a student to a spouse visa. My husband took charge of getting this and I have to commend him for all the work he did. It was […]