Carte de sejour query

Hi Stella, I do feel relieved, and I am also grateful to the French authorities and the French people for their willingness to open their country and their culture to a couple of elderly foreign inactifs. I wish more British had the same impulse of hospitalty to outsiders.

Berlina and I shall do what we can to repay the kindness of our lovely hosts. We can do no less. We shall take nothing for granted. You are right to remind me.

PS The card’s actual expiry date is 5 May 2023, so it must have been issued in May last year, after we applied in April, which was a very quick turn-around. When I said valid for a few weeks I was thinking of a cliff-edge Brexit, with no ‘deal’, and no transitional arrangements for Brits in France when we lose our EU citizenship.

Aha… good to hear it has a decent date… there will be clear routes for you to follow to ensure the easy transition after UK leaves the EU… :hugs:

I also have been unable to get a Rdv at Perigueux!

I believe from another website that Perigueux aren’t issuing any more rdv until after B day.

Hi Sue… which website is that ?? … always good to swap info… :grin:

RIFT on facebook or I think the webpage is www.remaininfrance.org

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Just in case there are still Brits in La Manche that still need a Titre de Sejour, the process is simple.

  1. Arrive at the doors of the Prefecture in St Lo before 0830 with your prepared dossier (basic requirements listed on prefecture website), completed formulaire, photographs, and your passport. NB no need to prebook RDV, it’s first-come first-served. Join the assembled self-organising throng. A cheerful doorman will let people through the ‘air-lock’ entrance, one at a time after a quick fouille of bags and pockets.

  2. Once inside head straight for the ticket dispenser (like those at the butchery counter in Leclerc) and punch the menu to get a Demande Titre ticket that shows your order of service displayed at the guichets. Hold your ticket tightly beteeen finger and thumb and…

  3. Gallop up the stairs to the first floor where the service for Étrangères is signposted, sit down or mill around anxiously until your number comes up on the screen and which is your guichet. Say bonjour nicely to the clerk and hand over your precious dossier which the fonctionnaire will give a quick once over and photocopy your passport unless you’ve already done it, but she needs to handle it. She may ask a question or two, but not necessarily and not to test you.

  4. Er that’s it. On the ground floor the loo is right by the ticket dispenser and you exit through the air-lock door you used to get in.

  5. If you arrive at about 0815 at the prefecture there is free parking in the courtyard and you can usually find a free spot to nip into.

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I wish I’d read this a few months back as they told us we had to make a rendezvous so one was booked for last week, (The day of the Greve Nationale) so that was cancelled until mid March. Do you think it’s worth turning up anyway?

Absolutely!

I’d take up the offer of an appointment… and go armed with anything and everything…

good luck

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I’d agree with just turning up, but would strongly advise getting in the sort-of queue on the steps of the Préfecture before they roll the shutters up at 0830 sharp, so you can grab a ticket before you gallop up the stairs etc.

The first time we went they were turning people away because the bureau was ‘bondé’ (heaving/chocabloc) and the situation was getting dangerously overcrowded. “Come back tomorrow before we open” was the concierge’s tip, and it worked.

Early bird=worm etc. :bird::+1:

Just surfing the Perigueux Prefecture and see that they are finally allowing appointment’s for foreigners, yay!
Only two clicks and then, There is no longer a free time slot for your appointment request. Please try again later.
Continues drumming fingers.

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When you applied did they not give you an informal copy of the future card with a receipt?
I went yesterday for my final rdv and they said I can have a card 10 years no worries, I have a formal copy of the card with photo saying that I can only pick up my card with the passport. They will contact me by post when it arrives at the prefecture .

:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

No, Ann, the fonctionnaire didn’t offer us anything. She was a young woman and it was our impression that she was flustered. The printed information we got from the Préfecture said that we would be advised by telephone or courriel when the application had been processed. We presented our fixed line telephone number, our separate mobile numbers our email addresses and of course our postal address. All at the time of first depositing our dossiers which were examined at the time in front of our eyes.

When I later chased up the applications I was told they didn’t have our contact details, which was patently untrue. When I pointed this out to the clerk, she pointed to the cardboard file into which our dossiers had been placed by herself, and indicated with her forefinger that the telephone number should appear on the outside, obviously a clerical job not mine.

I’m not one to argue the toss with a clerk over a minor lapse on their part I was just happy to get the card, and the associated paper facsimile it was was fixed to with a paper clip. :grinning:

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The way I saw it, was like a “colonial style” visual representation of the “power” of fonctionaires over normal people. I didn’t consider it a race/racist thing for one moment, still dont. I thought he was supporting you.

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@Peter_Goble In Bourgogne Franche-Conté the process is even simpler than La Manche…

It’s market day today in town where our prefecture is, and we needed to get more bread flour. So decided to pop into prefecture while we were there to enquire about their process for britanniques. We have dossiers prepared anyway, so took them with us. Arrived having brought our bread flour at around 10’ish, got seen about 20 minutes later, and back on the street about 15 minutes after that having had dossier checked over, finger prints taken etc etc…Permanent cards should be ready in about 10 - 15 days or so. Most likely on 29th March when could be instantly invalid, but hey hoh just the cost of a photo and some photocopying.

Sounds very laid-back and French, Jane, and hope you get delivery of your cards soon. I think the fact that you applied before Brexit Day dawns should mean that you get your cards, even if you take possession in April.

We went to Saint Lo to get my wife’s card this morning, it was delayed because her photo was ‘trop sombre’ and had to be replaced. When we arrived we were turned away from the entrance by the security man who pats everyone down prior to admission through the one-at-a-time air-lock. As ever he was very genial. “Trop d’étrangers!” “Anglais?” “Ah, non, des autres”.

So we go back tomorrow early, it’s a 100 km round trip, but what the heck, it’s all good fun!

No fingerprinting at St Lo tho’…:thinking::blush: