I need a carte de séjour (residence permit) to stay in France for more than 90 days. So off to the prefecture we went. I had read many horror stories about the experiences of others at different prefectures and was not expecting too much from this first meeting.
It started off on the wrong foot when the clerk said I had no right to live in France if my wife didn't work. Au contraire said the misses! She said she was "inactif" (the not working, but allowed to stay if one has the resources category), and that we had the resources to provide for us both.
He said he was like the police and she couldn’t argue with him and that she had to adjust her attitude! She held her ground and showed him our resources and the email from the French government indicating that the entire family's resources were to be considered and not just the resources of the EU citizen sponsoring the spouse. He decided to process the paperwork and then went back to talk to someone. He came back and his attitude was much better😀. I was very lucky that my lovely bride speaks French!
Then he said we needed to translate one of the financial documents (because not everyone speaks English!) and I had to write an attestation as to why I wanted to move to France. I got my receipt showing I had filed the paperwork. The clerk said to turn in the translation and attestation, and that it would take about 2 months. Au revoir, merci beaucoup!
6 weeks later I picked up my 5 yr carte de séjour. Better than expected!!
We then walked over to the CPAM (French health care) office and my wife was told that I could get health insurance, but that she, because she was not working, could not. This is not true, so the saga continues...
Peace my friends!
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