The one thing that lasted past the end of the semester was the process of my spring 2015 student visa.
I'd been accepted to the GW Paris Sciences Po program, and since I jump at an opportunity to return to France every time it's offered to me, I accepted my offer of admission and then awkwardly explained to George Washington University's study abroad office that I couldn't go to the pre-departure orientation meetings because I was not in the country. I also asked immediately for any and all paperwork that I needed, because I hadn't planned earlier for my spring semester and my fall visa expired on the first of January, 2015.
GW sent me my acceptance letter and told me to start the process for the visa extension as soon as possible. So obviously, I put it off for about a month and a half.
I finally asked IES and was told to head over to the prefecture, and after a little searching, I found the prefecture and walked right in and said I was there to extend a student visa. I was told that the visa office was closed and I would need to come back the next day, at either 8 in the morning or about 1pm, to wait for it to open again.
My next attempt at extending the visa came several days later when I walked back to the prefecture with the intention of getting a list of required materials. Just a list, I told myself. I just need that list of papers that I need. I'd looked online for lists, and all of them involved OFII applications and copies of my birth certificate and official translations of said birth certificate. I emailed my parents with the lists and asked them to send scans while I tried to organize the real list.
I arrived in the prefecture and was told to come back the next day because the office was closed. I insisted that I just wanted a list of materials. Just a list, nothing more. The woman at the desk repeated that I would need to come back the next day.
When I arrived the next day, I had a plan in mind. I walked into the prefecture, took a number, and waited. After just a few minutes, my number was called and I explained that I wanted.
The woman very gently informed me that I was in the office for car registration.
As I left, I asked again what time the office opened. The woman at the desk told me with a smirk that it was already open, but then when I clarified that I wanted to know what time it opened the next day, I was told 8am or 1:30pm.
"What time does the line start for the one thirty opening?" I asked.
"About noon."
The next day, I got to the prefecture at 11:20am and navigated a police barricade before settling myself at the head of the line for the visa offices. I sat there, with a freshly downloaded album from Noisetrade on repeat, and waited until the office door was opened at 1pm. With the rest of the line, I rushed into the second waiting room before being allowed to draw a number at 1:30pm.
At 2pm, I finally reached the desk, operated by the nicest embassy/prefecture/DMV worker I've ever encountered. He'd been around for the past hour, organizing the line and yelling at people who weren't letting a woman with her tiny baby through the line.
I explained to him that I needed to extend a student visa, and after examining my passport, he told me that it was impossible to extend the sort of visa that I'd been given. He took a fresh piece of paper and started writing down lists and addresses--he told me that I had to apply in writing to an address in Rennes--probably the consulate--because my visa required that I return home before it expired. I assured him that I was indeed going home, and with a relieved sigh, he tore his list in two and told me to just apply for a new visa in the embassy in the states.
"It's so much simpler," he told me three times, and I ran out of the prefecture and made it to my 2:30pm theatre class in time.
I had already done this deal before--going from being abroad with a ticket home to being abroad with a rearranged ticket to DC so I could get that visa appointment. I booked my appointment and my parents and I started sending things and submitting money orders. CampusFrance took time and I started to get nervous when they didn't send me confirmation emails, but otherwise it was straightforward--I'd already done it all before.
My flight was changed from Nantes-->Paris-->London-->Seattle to Nantes-->Paris-->Detroit-->DC and my mom sent all the necessary papers to the hotel.
On the 22nd, I found myself standing outside the French embassy at 8:30am, waiting for the embassy to open so I could get to my 8:45am appointment. I was let in just a little late and then grabbed the first number, popped up to the window when I was called, and then handed my papers to the man at the window just as fast as he asked for them. I remembered my first visa appointment, where processing took time and I had to wait for maybe two hours in between being called to the window, being given another number, and waiting again.
I was given a form to sign, one that said that I acknowledged my passport could take up to three months to be processed, especially for the long stay visa.
The man took all of my papers, handed back a few of them, and stapled my picture to the application form.
"All right, you're good to go," he said.
"That's all?"
"That's all."
He pressed a button and someone else was called to the window. It was 9:15am.
I broke the embassy's door handle on the way out.
The day after Christmas, my passport arrived in the express envelope I'd provided at the embassy. It had taken a mere two days. (I assume no one was working on Christmas).
So I guess the whole message of this very long process (and very rambling blog post) is that you 1. shouldn't delay getting your visa, ever, and 2. shouldn't worry too much if you have all of your paperwork.
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