I am so excited right now I can barely contain myself - I received my French visa today, so it's really going to happen .... but my journey to receiving it was quite stressful .....
On June 1st (as you already know) I had my visa appointment in Los Angeles ... there was a problem with my health insurance coverage but I fixed that in the afternoon and on the 2nd received word from them that they accepted my new documents and were processing my application .... they said it would be two weeks ....
So, two weeks goes by - I try to remind myself that their website said June/July and August are the busiest months, meaning there might be a delay ... that of course didn't help my stress level because by now I'm truly only sleeping every other night - I just can't turn my mind off when I try to sleep, so it's one night not sleeping, with the next being dead to the world ....
Then, last Monday (6/15) the FedEx tracking number finally gets a hit and shows that my passport is on it's way back to me (had to leave my passport with the consulate so they could attach my visa to it - of course until it was in hand I had no idea if I was approved or not) ... the tracking shows it will be delivered to my home by 4:30pm on Thursday and that it left Los Angeles and arrived on Tuesday (6/16) in Memphis, TN ..... WHAT???? I beg your pardon - but isn't San Diego just a couple or so hours south of Los Angeles - why in the world was it sent a few thousand miles the wrong way to Tennessee? Okay, sure - I get it, I didn't pay for "overnight" but does that mean that it has to travel around the USA first? .....
So, now on Wednesday (6/17) it leaves Memphis and goes where? Take a guess ...... are you stumped? I'm going to bet you got it right - YES, it's now back in Los Angeles ..... WTF???? (excuse my French - hmmm, I just might have to learn how to say that in French ... LOL) .... per the tracking it doesn't budge from Los Angeles ......
Now it's Thursday (6/18) and the tracking site in the morning still says "by 4:30pm" delivery and that it left the Los Angeles hub before 10:00am ..... I'm excited, never leave the house - didn't want to come home to the little pasted note on the door "Sorry we missed you ....." ... I check the tracking many times on Thursday and notice in the afternoon that the delivery has been pushed to "by 8:00pm" .... I also notice that the tracking still shows it leaving Los Angeles but never shows that it's arrived in San Diego - that should have been clue #1 ...... At 8:30pm I call FedEx to find out where my package is .... and find out it was sent to Rowland Heights, California (Los Angeles area) because "it had the wrong zip code" - I argued that it did NOT have the wrong zip code since I filled out the label myself (ugh!) .... it of course was too late to do anything else and it would be sent to San Diego hub on Friday ..... After much discussion I got them to guarantee that it would be delivered to me personally after 1:00pm on Friday (I had a morning meeting I had to be at) or left under my door mat ....
Okay, now this is going to be hard to believe, early on Friday when I looked up the tracking - instead of sending it from Los Angeles to San Diego - it had a side trip to Oakland, CA .....it arrived on Thursday night in Oakland at 10:51pm and left Friday morning at 4:08am ... any clue as to why it needed to take a turn north before heading south?
As I got home this morning at 10:30am I get a phone call from my neighbor that they had my FedEx package (she knew what it was) .... I'm a tad confused since I hadn't told FedEx to leave it with them .... find out that FedEx left it under the WRONG door mat - they didn't leave it at my house but at my neighbors house (thank god we're friends!!!!!!) ... And, I have to pay for this service???????
But now, none of the above matters - I got it, I was approved, and I'm going to be living in Paris for the next foreseeable future ...... I am way beyond excited!
Friday, June 19, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Mon rendez-vous avec le consulat français
Since October I've been preparing for my journey - my move to Paris. But I could only do so much because I first have to receive a long-stay visa from France. Although I cannot think of any reason I'd be denied the visa - I couldn't do many things because of the "what if" ...
An appointment with the French Consulate (Los Angeles) can only be made, no more than 3 months before you wish to enter the country - so, since my plan is to arrive in Paris on September 1st I made my appointment for June 1st (today) .... of course, just making the appointment was an adventure as it is only done online - and they don't just open up a calendar, I ended up checking everyday for weeks so that I could get June 1st ...
Because you have to "make an appointment" I thought that I'd be meeting with a person and having an interview on why I wanted to move to France - silly me! All the sleepless nights in worried panic were for nothing ... I did speak to a person, she sat on a stool at her desk with a wall of plexi-glass separating us .... she had an open pass through in the plexi-glass and all she wanted were the required documents (3 pages of instructions on what to take, how many copies, etc), my fingerprints, my picture and my money .....
I'd like to say it went well - and it did, to a point .... she rejected my proof of medical insurance ... Although Kaiser covers me anywhere I travel apparently that isn't the kind of insurance they're looking for ..... so she told me she'd take my visa application (and all the associated paperwork) but it would not be processed until I sent them (via e-mail, thank goodness) I don't have to drive back up to Los Angeles) the correct medical insurance coverage ....
I drove back to San Diego determined that I'd get what they need by the end of the week so that I can get a firm "yes" that I've got my visa and I can really start/finish what needs to be done so I can go ...
Long story short (well, maybe) .... I got home in the early afternoon and by 4pm I had purchased the correct medical insurance (hmmm ... really wasn't ready for that expense - ahhhhh) and have already sent them proof .... now, within 2 weeks I should have my answer!
An appointment with the French Consulate (Los Angeles) can only be made, no more than 3 months before you wish to enter the country - so, since my plan is to arrive in Paris on September 1st I made my appointment for June 1st (today) .... of course, just making the appointment was an adventure as it is only done online - and they don't just open up a calendar, I ended up checking everyday for weeks so that I could get June 1st ...
Because you have to "make an appointment" I thought that I'd be meeting with a person and having an interview on why I wanted to move to France - silly me! All the sleepless nights in worried panic were for nothing ... I did speak to a person, she sat on a stool at her desk with a wall of plexi-glass separating us .... she had an open pass through in the plexi-glass and all she wanted were the required documents (3 pages of instructions on what to take, how many copies, etc), my fingerprints, my picture and my money .....
I'd like to say it went well - and it did, to a point .... she rejected my proof of medical insurance ... Although Kaiser covers me anywhere I travel apparently that isn't the kind of insurance they're looking for ..... so she told me she'd take my visa application (and all the associated paperwork) but it would not be processed until I sent them (via e-mail, thank goodness) I don't have to drive back up to Los Angeles) the correct medical insurance coverage ....
I drove back to San Diego determined that I'd get what they need by the end of the week so that I can get a firm "yes" that I've got my visa and I can really start/finish what needs to be done so I can go ...
Long story short (well, maybe) .... I got home in the early afternoon and by 4pm I had purchased the correct medical insurance (hmmm ... really wasn't ready for that expense - ahhhhh) and have already sent them proof .... now, within 2 weeks I should have my answer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)