CDS Interview

I had my CV 20+ years before my WA CdS :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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5 years for CV and awaiting CdS in the post… our local postlady has never been so popular :rofl:

Indeed your case is highly usual as you were therefore before January the 1st 2021 :wink: My comment was mostly about newcomers :+1:

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they aren’t indeed but now you need a VISA before you can apply for CdS and the policy you’ll get for the VISA will also be used for the CdS… unless one wants to pay to 2 different policies which would be quite a lot of money wasted :wink:

That comment is incorrect. The CdS requires the health insurance as it’s a legal requirement to be insured until you get your carte vitale (or more precisely until you receive your letter of acceptance). The prefecture is merely checking that you meet the legal expectation but that doesn’t mean you can void your policy once you get the CdS, quite the opposite as the legal obligation remains. To match these legal obligations you won’t find any insurer in the EU that will accept an early cancellation of the policy for CdS acceptance whereas I have plenty of solutions with insurers that will accept an early cancellation once you’re accepted into the French CPAM as per legal possibility :wink:

I don’t see why my comment is incorrect. I did not say health insurance was not required. I said that I was afraid the person who started this thread would see no need for it.
I am sorry but I am getting a little tired of being accused of making incorrect comments, and saying things I did not say, and having to explain my concerns when I saw the post. I am very glad to see that the lady in question has confirmed in her most recent post that she has taken this on board so I do actually feel justified in raising it.

you said that once you get the CdS there is no need for health insurance anymore which is incorrect by law :wink:

No. I said

I then added “I found that rather horrifying to be frank”, i.e. it horrifies me to think that a person does not recognise the need for health insurance.
I was not talking about the legal aspect.

Perhaps something got lost in translation.

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I think translation can cause misunderstandings… as per the CdS for 2nd home owners…

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Agree completely, which is why I tend to think when it comes to threads like this sometimes the key is to get the important information to the OP then :zipper_mouth_face:. (not meant to you personally at all @Stella, meant entirely generally) Otherwise what can happen while we banter back and forth discussing the intricacies of this and that is that the OP who came for advice ends up more unsure or confused than they started.

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Thankfully, I think @louiseinfrance does know exactly what to do re her Interview…
that was settled before the conversation went for a midnight stroll… :rofl:

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@Stella …what interview was that, we just rocked up, handed over passport and pic, put fingers on scanner, lady said thanks, your card will take four weeks and we left, probably didn’t take more than five minutes!

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Same.

While folk might not consider it an “interview” as such…

I’m talking about the occasion when one is called to the Prefecture to finalize the Application for CdSWA… and give fingerprints (although someone… I think… reported not needing to give those as they were already on file).

We had a pleasant chat about Brexit and France, while “our” clerk disinfected everything on and around her workstation (very thorough).

then she settled down to business.
I’m vaguely recalling the questions each of us was asked…

Name
Address
Children
Date of Birth
Parents’ names
I think she may have asked if I was working or retired
(all the while she was tapping into her machine)

Handed over passport and photos

Signed a document which had one of the photos attached to it.

Then the fingerprinting…
OH and the fingerprint machine… a doddle…

Me, I was a nervous wreck… my hands/fingers don’t work very well… and eventually both Clerks got involved… using both machines… doing their best to help me and brushing aside my worries about keeping others waiting…

Phew… eventually all was well… or so I presumed.
No matter, we exchanged final pleasantries and off I struggled with OH trying not to laugh.

It seemed to have been hours, but was only about 15 minutes…
Cards arrived swiftly and with style (although mine has no fingerprints recorded… I failed)

Hello everyone! A little update…

I am the proud new owner of a Carte de Séjour! Well, I will be when it arrives in the post.

As some of you suggested, they didn’t ask ANY questions and only wanted the exact things they had requested in the email.

This may have happened anyway, but I also printed the email requesting only those two items, and neon highlighted that part of the email, then placed just those things on top of the email on her desk leaving my backup docs out sight. Might be a good tip for anyone else worried about complexity tripping them up.

Thanks for all your responses, I’m off to find some champagne! 🇫🇷

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Well done Louise! I was thinking about you earlier and wondering how you were getting on today :smiley:

So glad to know that it all went as they said in their email. Champagne is definitely called for and then you can get another bottle in for when the card actually arrives (I am into injury time on my wait for the post but at this stage of theprocess, I am not at all surprised. Last minute rush and all that…)

Just tried to change appointment at St Brieuc and was told it wasn’t possible. Luckily I was able to change my other plans.

Heavens … are they really that busy now …

re other departments, I know of folk (perhaps stuck in UK, ill, whatever…) and the appointment has been changed without any problem/query.

In fact the email (in those days) asked you to inform xxxx if you were not able to accept the appointment which was being offered …

best of luck

Well done Louise. Now a big sigh, feet up and enjoy the wine. Good luck for the future.To Fabien it is not a legal requirement in France to have health insurance. Many many French people do not have it. They ask for proof of insurance, a Carte vitale, at the 1st non Brexit interview as part of the proof you will not be a drain on the state. Louise has obviously passed all the necessary tests and just needed to produce the things she was asked for. Which she has done with the desired outcome.Taking a top up insurance later or now is obviously sensible. If you are the expert you say you are you know the level of cover you can get varies alot from paying just a part of what the CV does not cover all the way up to over 100%, private rooms, prescriptions etc etc. Just depending on what premium you wish to pay. The nice thing about a majority of these Policies is that you are covered from the moment the Insurers accept you, with no health checks.

Thank you Stella. I expect it’s getting so near the new deadline that they haven’t got time to pander to us.