Well, sometimes it really helps to speak and write french when addressing the frech consulate (duh). My husband emailed the los angeles consulate to verify that we can register Cedric's birth and our marriage with the LA consulate. They said no, we must register our marriage with the Chicago consulate.
My husband has been doing a great job of dealing with the various agencies. He has contacted the Ohio secretary of state to obtain the marriage certificate with apostille. $5 plus a self-addressed stamped envelope. His dad is obtaining his birth certificate (they are coming at the end of this month). My mom is getting my birth certificate, but she wants to be sure that my husband has his certificate because the birth certificates must be less than 3 months old.
I've also filled out the paperwork for Cedric's passport. He needs a pic and all three of us need to go to the Post Office to apply. I also need to locate my passport and find out when it expires.
I started filling out the visa application and, as the spouse of a french citizen, it does not look like i will need to show insurance coverage...but i am not sure.
Husband's job prospects are looking better and better, which is why we really need to get moving on this paperwork since it takes a few months to get the visa.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Weekends
I had a productive weekend, but not in terms of gathering paperwork. I cleaned up the house, which, it is hoped, will make it easier to locate and organize said paperwork.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Stressed Husband
I talked to Loic about the various issues related to the livret de famille and getting a visa. He was not thrilled to find out that we have to go to LA to get the visa.
He started feeling the stress that I carried with me a couple of days ago but I am finally letting go of that.
This is going to be a busy weekend!
Extra Copy/Copies of Abstract of Marriage...Allow 4-6 MONTHS for the search!
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/vitalstatistics/mrgdiv.aspx
Extra Copy/Copies of Marriage License...is this any different than the above?? It's still called an abstract of marriage & I have a feeling that this would take less time!
http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/probate/departments/marriage.cfm#How_get_certified
He started feeling the stress that I carried with me a couple of days ago but I am finally letting go of that.
This is going to be a busy weekend!
Extra Copy/Copies of Abstract of Marriage...Allow 4-6 MONTHS for the search!
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/vitalstatistics/mrgdiv.aspx
Extra Copy/Copies of Marriage License...is this any different than the above?? It's still called an abstract of marriage & I have a feeling that this would take less time!
http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/probate/departments/marriage.cfm#How_get_certified
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Consulate Happiness
I spoke with NM's Honorary Consul and he advised me that the Los Angeles consulate deals with the affairs of French citizens living in that consular district, so although we married in Ohio, the LA consulate would deal with the paperwork now because we reside in New Mexico.
HOORAY!!!
Now I've just got to get our documents in order so that we are not sending off our one and only copies of the abstract of marriage and birth certificate(s).
HOORAY!!!
Now I've just got to get our documents in order so that we are not sending off our one and only copies of the abstract of marriage and birth certificate(s).
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
More Consulate Madness
Well now, I am pretty sure that because we married in Ohio we have to register the marriage w/the Chicago Consulate. Which would be fine except...Chicago Consulate has different instructions than Los Angeles. Most importantly, the instruction that states that all civil acts that occur in the US must have an Apostille and it tells you where you can obtain the Apostille, but of course it only lists states within that consular district.
I thought, well this is crazy, we can probably contact New Mexico's Honorary Consul for assistance...but guess what??
English Page: there is none listed on the consulate's website!
French Page: Oh, I am so shocked that there is different information in French!
Here's the contact information from the French site...
M. Perry E. Bendicksen III Consul Honoraire au Nouveau Mexique 201 Third Street NW, Suite 1700, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102-4386 Tel : (505) 244-0770 - Fax : (505) 244-9266 E-mail : pbendickesen@bhfs.com
There has got to be a better way to do this! If not, it means I would have to take the following steps before even thinking about a visa for me or Cedric:
I thought, well this is crazy, we can probably contact New Mexico's Honorary Consul for assistance...but guess what??
English Page: there is none listed on the consulate's website!
French Page: Oh, I am so shocked that there is different information in French!
Here's the contact information from the French site...
M. Perry E. Bendicksen III Consul Honoraire au Nouveau Mexique 201 Third Street NW, Suite 1700, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102-4386 Tel : (505) 244-0770 - Fax : (505) 244-9266 E-mail : pbendickesen@bhfs.com
There has got to be a better way to do this! If not, it means I would have to take the following steps before even thinking about a visa for me or Cedric:
- Contact Ohio's Secretary of State to get an Apostille for our abstract of marriage/marriage certificate
- Get extra copies of the abstract just in case.
- Contact Chicago Consulate to register our marriage and get a Livret de Famille.
- Send Cedric's birth certificate (and the Livret?) to Los Angeles Consulate
It doesn't sound like a lot of steps, but this could easily take 3 months!
I know that we can get help from someone in Albuquerque to streamline the process! So I'm not going to fret, I'm going to contact the Honorary Consul tomorrow and see what I can find out.
Passport for our Son
Another thing we have to do as soon as possible is to get a passport for Cedric.
The US Dept. of State has a nifty application generator. Be sure to have your social security number, address, etc. You may say "duh," but I am at work and don't have his SSN at my fingertips.
Since it's a first time passport, we have to apply in person. There are about 9000 application centers in the US so I think it won't be too hard.
The US Dept. of State has a nifty application generator. Be sure to have your social security number, address, etc. You may say "duh," but I am at work and don't have his SSN at my fingertips.
Since it's a first time passport, we have to apply in person. There are about 9000 application centers in the US so I think it won't be too hard.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Considering a move to France
My husband is french and I'm american. We've talked about moving to France a few times in the last couple of years, but nothing serious. Now he may have the opportunity to open a store in Paris.
We've been married for over 8 years and have an almost-three year old. All of this time has been spent in America; we haven't been to France since 1999. So while we wait to see if this is going to happen (I'm about 80% certain), I'm occupying myself with paperwork details so that if it does happen, we'll be a bit more ready than not.
The first thing I discovered is that we should have registered our marriage and son's birth with the French Consulate. Our closest consulate is in Los Angeles, which really stretches the definition of "close" considering that we are in New Mexico.
Etat Civil / Civil Registry:
Note that the English version actually refers you to the french version without a hyperlink!
If your French isn't that great, ask your partenaire to assist you! However, my husband isn't very good at this kind of stuff or we wouldn't be trying to do it 8.5 years after the fact!
Another tricky issue is that we got married in a different state, so do we register the marriage with our nearest consulate or with the consulate for the state in which we married (Chicago - which ONLY has a french page concerning etat civil). If that's the case, then we'll register our marriage with one consulate, but our son's birth with another!
As far as I can understand, after we've registered this info we should get a "livret de famille"/a legal family record book - seems similar to the way that people write marriages, births, deaths in a family bible.
We've been married for over 8 years and have an almost-three year old. All of this time has been spent in America; we haven't been to France since 1999. So while we wait to see if this is going to happen (I'm about 80% certain), I'm occupying myself with paperwork details so that if it does happen, we'll be a bit more ready than not.
The first thing I discovered is that we should have registered our marriage and son's birth with the French Consulate. Our closest consulate is in Los Angeles, which really stretches the definition of "close" considering that we are in New Mexico.
Etat Civil / Civil Registry:
Note that the English version actually refers you to the french version without a hyperlink!
If your French isn't that great, ask your partenaire to assist you! However, my husband isn't very good at this kind of stuff or we wouldn't be trying to do it 8.5 years after the fact!
Another tricky issue is that we got married in a different state, so do we register the marriage with our nearest consulate or with the consulate for the state in which we married (Chicago - which ONLY has a french page concerning etat civil). If that's the case, then we'll register our marriage with one consulate, but our son's birth with another!
As far as I can understand, after we've registered this info we should get a "livret de famille"/a legal family record book - seems similar to the way that people write marriages, births, deaths in a family bible.
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