Dealing with OFII as an assistant

One of the most frustrating aspects of living in France for months at a time is the infamous French Bureaucracy. There are loads of red tape and waiting periods, including the immigration office.! As a TAPIF assistant, living in France for 8 months, I had to go through the process of obtaining a long-stay work visa.  This visa application includes Part One of the OFII process.

Included in required documents to apply for a visa is the OFII form. It can be found on the French consulate website. You have to fill out the top portion of the form- which is clearly marked- in order for your visa application to be approved. Once that happens, when you receive your visa and passport back, you will also get back the form you filled out with the precious official French consulate stamp on it.

Do not lose this piece of paper. 

Seriously, don`t. This form is the key to establishing legal residency in France- and if you don`t do that you`ll be an illegal resident after 3 months and could get kicked out!

Initial TAPIF tasks

There`s a lot to do as soon as you arrive in a foreign country to work! I arrived in Oyonnax almost a month ago and am still going strong with paperwork and administration. Its France after all! Here are some of the tasks Ive been working on:

• get a phone: this was the first task checked off my list. Since I really had to get a phone after my computer crashed, I bought a cheap flip phone and a refillable French SIM card so I could communicate with my contact teacher. So far I`ve put 20 euros on the card and its lasted me this long! Update: I received my new SIM card in the mail today from the French cell phone provider B and You. I`ve signed up for the cheapest plan possible, 4 euros a month for unlimited texts and 2 hours of calling within France!