Those in our Facebook group know that for some time I have been seeking an updated version of my 2013 article on how I got my original visitor visa. While that article was one of the cornerstones of this site … Continue reading
covid-19
USPS to France? Be Prepared to Wait
Covid-19 has shaped many parts of our lives in the last 12 months. One way that wasn’t entirely expected (at least not by me) was the performance of the United States Postal Service. While the USPS has never been a … Continue reading
Flying During Lockdown
While many of my planned trips this year evaporated in the spring, there were still some trips I chose to take for business and personal reasons. During a brief window in the summer when PCR tests weren’t required, I went … Continue reading
The Covid Location Test
The arrival of autumn last week was underlined by rain and punctuated by cold: summer is officially over in the City of Light. It was, by all accounts, one of our quietest summers in recent history, as we were bereft … Continue reading
Traveling Without My French Resident Card
So in an earlier post I shared that I had been pickpocketed late last year and hence no longer had my physical four-year carte de séjour, which was perhaps the hardest-earned French document in my possession. In that same article … Continue reading
Mailbag: the Non-Existent “American ban,” Work Possibilities with the PL Visa, & Snake Oil
In the last eight weeks I have received an avalanche of questions from those hoping to immigrate to France. In the past when I received a lot of questions I would collect them into a post like this and call … Continue reading
My First Flight Since Lockdown (and Ten Things I Learned)
“You are?” my European friends responded, bug-eyed, to my disclosure that I was flying to America this week. They had been watching CNN or some other similar network, in which the impression was being given that the country was burning … Continue reading
The Old Normal is Alive and Well in Paris
I’ve spent my entire life in countries with unrestricted freedom of movement. Not only did those countries let me go where I wanted, whenever I wanted, as long as I wasn’t breaking laws, the countries were indifferent to my location … Continue reading
Cracks in the Quarantine
Two weekends ago the weather was particularly lovely and while I was out for a Sunday stroll in my neighborhood what I had already been sensing over the previous weeks became crystal clear: many Parisians were not abiding by the … Continue reading
Coronavirus Financial Aid for Small Businesses Arrives
This is the time of year when I often have to remind non-EU nationals who live in France most of the year that they need to file taxes. With all that has been going on I was particularly glad that … Continue reading