Thus far I've had several frustrating, hilarious, confusing administrative situations. And thus far I've neglected relating them. However, I feel it is my duty to give a very quick run down of a few of them for anyone reading this that might someday decide to live/study in France.
1) OFII - Can't tell you what it stands for but basically the OFII has power over my 'Titre de Sejour'. That 'Titre' is the piece of paper accompanying my visa that allows me to live here for the duration of my studies. Even though there's an office here in Toulouse, I was supposed to mail copies of important papers to OFII. After a month, I receive a piece of paper in the mail telling me they received my papers and are reviewing them. One month after that I receive the seemingly same piece of paper, except this time my birthday is wrong and there's a fancy stamp on it. I go to the OFII office today. They set me up with an appointment for December 4th and have no idea why I received two almost identical papers. Furthermore they tell me that my address is bizarre. They don't say why, and no one else has mentioned this little tidbit to me, but yes, my address is bizarre.....
2) Vittavi - When you come to France you are required to get health insurance. It's also smart to invest in Traveler's Insurance for when you flit off to other countries sight-seeing. Supposedly when I signed up for school on October 4th they forwarded my paperwork onto my chosen health insurance company, Vittavi. However, one month and one cold later I had received nothing in the mail assuring me of coverage. I visit the Vittavi office here in Toulouse. "You need a pink paper from your school." I go to my school but they assure me my white paper will do. I return to Vittavi. "No, this one doesn't have 'proof of health insurance payment'. We need proof to process your request." Back to my university and this time the woman circles something on my white piece of paper. Back to Vittavi - "Okay. Perfect. We'll give you a provisional social security number for now and an attestation, but you have to mail us some documents." UGH! Okay so I ask which documents they need..."Copy of birth certificate in English and French. Bank account number." Luckily I had my birth certificates on hand. Unfortunately I didn't have my account number. Back to Vittavi the next day with my number - wait for twenty minutes just to hand the secretary my number.....
3)Caf - In France, if you're a student, and depending on other various factors, the government will reimburse part of your monthly rent payment. I filed the Caf in early October. In early November I receive 5 different pieces of paper telling me that I'm missing a social security number, copies of my birth certificate in English and French, and my "Titre de Sejour" - TWO OF THOSE WERE DEPENDENT ON OTHER ORGANIZATIONS!!!! - With little patience I went to the Caf office and handed over my OFII letter saying I had an appointment, my attestation of provisional social security number from Vittavi, and copies of my 'act de naissance'.... "Maybe this will work. Wait for something in the mail..." says the secretary. I foresee another letter telling me that I'm missing things....
The moral of these 3 situations is....always visit the organization at their headquarters - always bring every single important document that you needed to get into France (passport, photos, birth certificates, attestation that you are here on bourse (grant), etc) AND bring any that you received here (attestation of residence, bank account number, proof of housing insurance, proof of university registration, insurance attestation, etc...).
You're going to stand in line, you're probably going to be sent to 5 different offices in 5 different parts of the city, and you're probably going to be told that you are missing some document, number, or form that you didn't know you needed. C'est la vie! C'est la France!
~Tam in Toulouse
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