Jamie's Blog

So today I became a real French boy ! Well, kinda-sorta. I had my meeting with the OFII (L’office francaises de l’immigration et de l’integration) IE: Immigration. Left my house at 11:30, after twenty minutes on line 23 which brought me to the airport, I had to take another 23 to get the centre administratif. There, I asked a nice man about OFII, and I got there about 12:50, my appointment was at 1:30..

So sitting outside the door reading, I patiently waited. Then they let people in, and I was the first one they called to make sure I had all of my paperwork. I did, and I thought, YES I’ll be the first one in, first one out. Perfect. HAHAHA Silly American! This is France, nothing makes sense! (Post office not having envelopes remember?) So after everyone else checked in, I waited patiently for my name to be called, yeah, after about 10 people! Apparently first come, isn’t first served. But once they finally did call my name, I got my x ray, brief medical exam (reading letters and answering questions) I waited again. Then they went over my stuff, and I’m healthy! Woot! And the best part! I’VE LOST TEN POUNDS!

After the medical BS was done, then they called me in to actually get the Carte de Séjour (residency card). They took out a little sticker and put it in my passport, just above my visa. All in all, after 4 hours, and a lot of waiting, I am now legally allowed to stay here for an entire year! Yaay!