Carte de séjour experiences

I’ve just read the Diary of a Carte de Séjour application [online]. I am appalled. I have recently collected my carte de séjour, valid for ten years, and had no problems at all.

I followed the Connexion guidelines and collected all my documentation. When I arrived I only needed to wait for ten minutes. The person interviewing was very polite, cheerful and efficient. I was told I had too much paperwork, was issued with a temporary card/receipt and told to come back in a month to collect my carte. All my experiences at the Prefecture have been positive and the staff have always been very helpful.

Perhaps it helped that my French is quite good and I’d previously had a carte.

R. TOMCZAK, Vaucluse

I see that some people are having problems obtaining their carte de séjour. This is my experience: I marched into the Prefecture in Saint-Lô and asked the girl behind the desk what documents she wanted for a carte de séjour application. She took a piece of paper and wrote down a short but definitive list. I thanked her, and came back a week later with all said documents.

She took the documents, filled out a couple of forms (one each for my wife and I) and told me they would contact me in three weeks. Sure enough, they emailed me to tell me that the cartes de séjour had arrived and were ready.

Greg POWELL, Manche

My wife and I both applied for these cartes. At the interview, the woman at Rennes Prefecture refused outright to deal with my wife, saying the RDV was for me, we never deal with two at the same time. However, they kept all my wife’s documents! I was informed I was not entitled to a permanent carte de séjour, even after 10 years in France.

I insisted she check with her boss. Same reply: you must hold five temporary ones before a permanent one can be issued. I told them my rights to one, but I was told to accept an annual one. After some months it came, and expires in December.

A French ex-army colonel friend wrote to the Prefecture, stating our case, and that he was ashamed of the way we were treated. He never got a reply.

Kevin HAWKINS, Ille-et-Vilaine

Like many other longstanding expats (40 years in our case) my wife and I plan to take French nationality. One concern is the need to provide copies of birth, marriage and other certificates translated by “traducteurs assermentés”.
Quotes were averaging a little under €1,000, but I found one who did the job for €340.

Richard CHANDLESS, Saône et Loire