Prefecture Worries

I know it may seem that I like to talk a lot about the prefecture and it's defaults, but I only talk about it to inform those of you who are like me or who will be like me of France's problems.

For those of us who decided that it would be fun to live in Paris and arrived in Paris ready to accomplish our dreams, I imagine that 95% of us realized that our decision to move to the City of lights or one of the most beautiful countries in the world was made a little too fast. Because after sending mountains of paperwork to the Prefecture, the CAF, LMDE/CPAM, and finding out they somehow "misplaced" or "lost" them, is very annoying and nerve racking. Well at least for me, it seems like this.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy living here, I love the culture and the people I have met and those that I meet each day. But, I dislike the fact of going to every administration place at least once a month or having to call to get information usually negative on why they lost my paperwork or my photocopies.

One such example is this past week. I discovered last Friday that the Prefecture supposedly lost my dossier that I had given them on 17 May concerning my status change. Apparently according to my reliable source, the Prefecture said I never showed up for my rendez-vous. So, I was furious, as you could probably tell.

This morning I went to the Prefecture, calmly explained to the woman at the help desk (who didn't give any help imagine that!) that I was there and needed answers on why they couldn't find it.  After having to sit for an hour, I was able to get a ticket for a rendez-vous which meant sitting for another hour to get the date and time. The woman who was setting up the rendez-vous was the same, who was in charge of my dossier on the 17th and she remembered me and my 30 page dossier.  So,I was given a recipisse which is like a prolongement of my card, and  the information concerning my dossier, which was sent off to reviewed by the Public Treasury (hopefully this will not be another headache!) I left the prefecture happy to at least know that I was not going to be forced out of France; a situation all too common in here.


For the moment, I am ready to keep living this dream until the next roadblock comes, but let's hope that is not for a long time. My husband and I have had way too many roadblocks and not enough luck. It seems like people who cheat the system have more luck than us, but that is another post in itself.

If you have questions concerning moving to France or you are currently here and are dealing with their un-organized system, do not hesitate to contact me.