Making Headway: French Visa Renewal

I am drunk with semi-sucess!

So after quite a run-around (see French Visa Renewal 1 through 4), in conjunction with preparing to send off a request via post (snail mail) I have been diligently calling Phone Number B everyday three to four times a day for about 20+ minutes each time. I even have an alarm set that I know I have to have the cats fed and coffee brewed because at 9am, I’m there on the call!

I stopped keeping tally of how many times I called at 8. Day Four calling. Today I called at 9:14, because– well, heck, why not, no one would answer anyways.

Someone did.

Yeah, I know. Someone answered, on the second ring. It rang and I already had it on speaker phone so I went to go get my cup of coffee when I heard something unexpected and wholly unfamiliar — a human voice, “Bonjour! Bonjour!” I asked if I was at the right place. Yes.

I explained I wanted to make a rendez-vous (RDV). She said OK and that she would ask me some questions to make sure she got the whole thing right. She even let me explain what turned-about adventure we had been on. She asked the one question, “Do you have sufficient resources?” I explained yes.

I will take a moment because perhaps you are a fellow foreign student reading this, perhaps you are my mom, perhaps you are my former co-worker, perhaps you are a fellow traveler, and, well, you just want to know WHAT the French authorities are asking for. I have been told the same thing time and time again: you must have the equivalent of SMIC (minimum wage), which after taxes is 1,121.93 euros.  [Note: they say to have at least a month’s worth in your bank account, or as a student 615 euros. I say more.]

What documents will I be providing? The same ones that got me in this country! They are as follows:

-USA bank account statement (I’m getting a notarized one for the renewal, but I just used a copy initially)

-USA investment account statement (investments, retirement, etc)

-French “Attestation Bancaire” that proves that you are a customer and that you have money (hopefully more than 615 euros) in your account

-USA anual taxes (I’ll provide two years to prove what we made for two years before and during living in France)

-proof of University loans and grants; proof of employment in France

The one thing I would add to this is that because one of my friends was asked to do this for her husband and child, the French authorities can– and will– reject your application if you do not have a “sponsor” that will vouch via notarized letter that they will sponsor you for about 2,000 euros a month (or an equivalent to a starting salary of a college graduate of a cool $31,000 a year).

So that’s that. Today I will make some copies and go say hello to our neighbors. Then I’m not doing a friggin’ thing until Friday, 26 July 2013 when the appointment is scheduled.

Until then, I can go back to reading for my thesis. Ironically, yesterday I started reading about something I love– immigration policy. If anything, this experience is giving me more interest for my topic of international education and student immigration policy. Touché, France.