The final procedure
Once you get the certificate, things should go smooth. At least for us, the ambassy took 2 weeks after receiving the paper to complete their procedure and to ask Nao to come to pick up her VISA.
After she arrived in France, we had to take the health check for the city hall, but globally, we didn’t get anymore pressure (for the wedding paperwork at least). My girl was in France, she had a visa, and the wedding paperwork was over. We almost believed we were done for this, but the final puzzle was still ahead.
The staying permission
At this point, remember we did all this to get this staying permission (“carte de séjour”). The equivalent of the US green card.
On the VISA, it was written “staying permission to ask as soon as you can”.
So after 1 week, we went to the police prefecture of Paris.
If you have to go there for any reason, don’t plan anything else for your day.
It took 2h to be told “ah yes, you have all the papers, but we recommand you to come back after you get married”.
The wedding was schedduled on April 30th. And the deadline of the VISA was may 2nd. May 1st being a national day off here, we had only a 1 day window to start the procedure.
Since we married in Savoie (600km from Paris), no time to waste after the ceremony. We came back as soon as we could, and went back to the prefecture.
This time, we had to wait 5h. If you never experienced this, take a good book (or 2?)
After those 5h, we could talk to a lady who arranged another appointment.
After this second appointment (I had to be present), Nao got the ANAEM appointment. She had to take health checks, to be introduced to french do-and-don’t, and finally, yesterday (Jun, 26th, 2007) she received her staying permission. (It’s valid only 1 year, but what a relief!)
Conclusion
It took us 8 month from the first administrative request to the staying permission. Don’t overestimate the capabilities of administrations, particularly french ones.
Manage yourself a confortable time margin.
Some (many?) people don’t know exactly what you are talking about. Their answer will be from their experience, not from the law texts. If you have any doubt about something a public officer told you, DOUBLE CHECK. In our case, we have been told:
– The french husband/wife needs to provide a “Certificat de Capacité à Mariage”. WRONG, this document is used when french get married abroad
– You need to go to France first, complete your wedding paperwork, then come back to japan, and complete the VISA paperwork. WRONG. (and this was explained by the french ambassy in Tokyo)
– It is impossible to publish anything before 1 month. WRONG (City hall officer)
– You need an official translator for the wedding. WRONG. (city hall officer said so). But I read It depends of the city hall policies.
– Student VISA is enough to get a staying permission: WRONG. (I read this info on many forums.) A student VISA can get you a student staying permission. But at some point, you’ll need a family staying permission. AND since last year, you’ll need a long term VISA. So you’ll have to go back to your country.
In any case, you need patience, and pugnacity. You are stronger than “them”!
References
French Ambassy in Japan, Consulate section
French Public Web Portal