long term stay visa

​​How to Get the APS (Autorisation Provisioire de Séjour) Visa in France

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When I first came to live in France in 2014, I originally planned on staying for one year as an au pair. One year quickly turned into 2.5 years with the same family, which turned into three more years at a French university. The first was an intensive 20-hour per week program to learn French, and the last two years were to complete my master’s degree. 

At that point, I knew that I wanted to stay in France for the long haul, but I was at a loss as to how to do so legally. I didn’t want to be a student anymore, but I also didn’t have any major job opportunities lined up yet, at least, not with a company willing to sponsor a work visa for me.

Enter: the Autorisation Provisioire de Séjour (APS) visa. This type of visa is basically an extension of a student visa after obtaining a higher education diploma. In other words, the perfect visa for someone like me! 

Requirements to obtain an APS visa

The APS visa allows foreign students in France to stay in the country for one year after they graduate for a variety of different reasons. If you’re granted the visa, you have all of the rights that you had as a student, which means you can keep that student job of yours in the meantime as well!

Here are the requirements to obtain an APS visa:

  • Graduated with a licence professionelle (an undergraduate degree)
  • Graduated with a master’s degree, or equivalent. This can include an engineering, political science, or accounting degree
  • Graduated with an undergraduate or master’s degree with the desire to open your own company in France

How to apply for an APS visa

There are two situations in which you can apply for an APS visa:

  • You need an extension on your student visa to finish your final exams
  • You need an extension on your student visa after you have already passed your final exams

You can apply for an APS visa with your local prefecture. As usual, you’ll have to come prepared with a pile of paperwork. 

If you need an extension to finish your final exams, get in touch with the prefecture at least 15 days before your visa expires. This type of extension is free. You’ll need to physically go to the prefecture with the following documents (don’t forget to make copies, too):

  • Official letter from your university stating the date of your final exams
  • Your passport
  • Your residence permit (carte de séjour — étudiant)
  • Proof of address less than three months old

If all goes well you’ll receive a récépissé de prolongation de droit au séjour en qualité d’étudiant, which will give you the right to stay in France until you’ve finished your exams. As a note, if you want to stay even longer once you’ve obtained your degree, you’ll have to follow the procedure below.

If you need an extension to look for a job after you’ve obtained your degree OR you want to open your own company in France, you also need to physically go to the prefecture before your visa expires. This type of extension costs 75 € in “timbres fiscaux.” You know what that is if you already have a visa to be in France. Bring the following documents (and those copies!):

  • Your passport 
  • Your residence permit (carte de séjour — étudiant)
  • Proof of address less than three months old
  • 3 photos
  • Your diploma
  • Proof of health insurance
  • If you hope to open a company in France, a business plan

If you have all of the correct documents, you’ll receive a récépissé while the prefecture goes over your application. If you’re approved, you’ll be called back to the prefecture to pick up your new APS visa!

What to do when your APS visa expires

When your APS visa expires and you’ve either obtained a job or created a French company, you’ll have to change your status and ask for a new residence permit. Here is what you’ll need to have accomplished in order to change your status and stay in France for even longer:

  • If you’ve landed a CDD (a contract for a set amount of time, for example, six months or one year) or CDI (a contract for an indefinite amount of time, also known as the Holy Grail in France), it must be validated by the DIRECCTE (Direction régionale des Entreprises, de la Concurrence, de la Consommation, du Travail et de l’Emploi — Regional Department of Competition, Consumption, Work, and Employment). You also must earn 1.5 times the minimum wage per month. If you meet these requirements you can apply for a “temporary employee” resident permit.
  • If you’ve created your company and can prove its viability, you can apply for a “temporary freelance entrepreneur” residence permit or a multi-year “freelance entrepreneur — talent passport” resident permit.
  • If you are a researcher and have landed a research gig, you can apply for a multi-year “researcher — talent passport” resident permit.

It’s important to note that if you do land a job or your company takes off that you change your status as soon as possible. Don’t wait until your APS visa expires! And, of course, if you haven’t obtained a job or opened your would-be company, you must leave France. 

As for me, I was lucky in that I met my now-husband by the time my APS visa ran out and I was able to change my status thanks to my relationship with a French person. I didn’t find a job with the requirements above, but I did open my own small business in France and officially became an auto-entrepreneur. I’m not sure what I would have done if I hadn’t met my husband in the meantime, but believe me, I’m glad I did. The moral of the story is that if you have a desire to stay in France legally do some serious digging well before your current visa expires. There is usually a way to do so if you go through the correct processes and have a passion for paperwork.

Molli offers private consultation services which range from help with visas and adjusting to life abroad to Paris travel itineraries. Fill out the contact form to learn more.

Photo by Seyi Ariyo on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this article?  TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping.  If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated.  These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment.  Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.

How to Get a Long-Stay Visa for France Through French Lessons

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While it would be nice if Americans were able to live in Europe visa-free, it’s not the case (one can dream that it will be someday, right?). If you’re from the US and want to live in a country like France for more than 90 days, you’ll need to apply for a long-stay visa (known as the VLS-TS) first.

If you don’t have family or a French spouse, there are (to really simplify things) two ways you can live in France legally as a non-European: through work or school. 

I’ve already touched on how to obtain a student visa for France, but this “hack” is for those of you who are more interested in improving your French skills rather than going to a university.

What Kind of French Classes Get You a Long-Stay Visa for France?

If you’re like me, you cringe at the thought of going back to school. Maybe you finished your undergraduate degree and thought to yourself “Never again!” Or, maybe you’ve gotten as far as your master’s or doctorate and there isn’t much university-level schooling out there for you. Or, hey, maybe after high school you decided to go straight to work.

As someone who never thought she would ever go back to school after my undergrad, I eventually did get my master’s degree here in France. But, that’s another story for another day. In between being an au pair and enrolling in my master’s program, I did one year of intensive French classes. And, those classes enabled me to get a long-stay visa for France.

For a bit of background, once I did ultimately decide to go for my master’s degree, I knew I needed to improve my French for a few different reasons. First of all, I wanted to be able to intelligently engage in a conversation with a French person. I also knew that in whatever master’s program I enrolled in, I would be required to understand, speak, and write at least basic French (a level I had not yet reached after living here as a nanny). Plus, if you want to go to a public French university as a foreigner, you need to prove that you have at least “B2” level French. 

B2 refers to a level in the “Common European Framework of Reference” (CEFR) scale for languages. It is used to assess people’s language levels and ranges from A1-C2. Here is a breakdown of the different levels for French:

  • A1: Beginner
  • A2: Elementary 
  • B1: Intermediate
  • B2: Fluent
  • C1: Advanced
  • C2: Bilingual

To be honest, whether or not you want to continue on to a master’s or doctorate program if you plan on living in France for an extended period of time, you should try to obtain at least a B2 level. 

The good news is, an intensive French language program will get you that student visa you’re after whatever level you’re at! Here is what is required:

Once you’ve found your dream program, you’ll have to go through the steps of applying for a student visa for French. I’ve mapped out everything you need to know here.

If you’re in Paris, I did the FETE program at Université Nanterre (yup, that Nanterre. Any other 20th-century history buffs out there?). It’s located just outside of the city to the west. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their French. The classes are a mix of speaking and writing as well as cultural classes. Fieldtrips include visits to Parisian museums and landmarks, how cool is that? There is also a similar option at La Sorbonne. 

If you’re not in Paris, simply take a look at the list of FLE-accredited schools I linked above!

Some Things to Remember if You Want to Renew

If you plan on spending just one year in France and know that you won’t need to renew your visa, you can skip the next section.

If you already know that you’ll want to extend your time in France after one year, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • You need to pass the school year in order to renew. That means you’ll have to take school seriously. Attend all of your classes and study for your tests. Stay on good terms with your professors as well.
  • Make sure you have a plan for what you want to do next. Do you want to continue with intensive French courses until you’ve achieved C2? Do you want to enroll in university? Remember, for the latter, you’ll need at least a B2 level.
  • Start gathering the paperwork you need to renew 4-5 months before the end of the school year. You’ll need to schedule your renewal appointment at least 3 months before your visa expires.
  • As a general note concerning all French visas: keep everything. That means bank statements, cell phone bills, copies of your lease, or a letter from the person who is housing you saying that they are housing you. You’ll need all of this plus proof that you passed the school year. 

Disclaimer: I’m not giving you permission to slack off or stop going to school if you don’t plan to renew your visa. My advice? Take advantage of the fact that you’re in France learning French. It’s the best way to learn a new language, and you’ll have the opportunity to speak French with actual French people. Don’t throw away an opportunity like that.

Molli offers private consultation services which range from help with visas and adjusting to life abroad to Paris travel itineraries. Fill out the contact form to learn more.

Photo by Faisal Waheed on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated. These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.

Visa Video Courses Posted

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One of the things I did this summer during a trip to the US was film some video courses about subjects I knew very well.  Two of those courses were about French immigration.  I did one on the Long Term Stay Visitor and one for Profession Libérale.  These courses represent a great deal of the knowledge I’ve accumulated on my journey here in France and were one way to deal with the increase in interest over the last few years of English speakers interested in coming to live here.

I learned a lot while shooting these courses, not least of which that recording on camera is significantly more difficult than radio or podcasts, both forms of media in which I have a lot more experience.  In video, you need to maintain eye contact with the camera, with walking-speed enthusiasm, all while keeping straight what you’d like to say.  Public speaking is more forgiving of mistakes or stumbles, because it’s live, but all those stumbles have to be reshot when you’re making a video course.

If you’ve been thinking about putting together a dossier to come to France, watching either of these courses would be the equivalent of your reading different websites for many hours (I know, because I used to have to do that!).  I hope they will be a useful tool for you as you prepare to come here.

Photo by my producer and videographer Dan Fox, probably at the end of our 4th day of filming.  If I look tired…I was 🙂

TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated. These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.

Long Term Stay Visitor Visa, Part 2

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Note from the editor: In light of new guidance on remote working in France as shared by the official French tax office in June 2025, we have also officially changed our stance on remote working for a US company while living in France under the visitor visa. Read more here, and contact us with any questions or concerns. We’re here to help! — MS

Despite the work it took to obtain my visa in the first place, my paperwork was not completed.  This is what happens when you get here.

I will admit, I was planning for a full-day affair on March 12th.  That was the 90-day mark of my arrival and OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration) wanted my bright shining face in the 10th arrondissement at 09h00.

I needed to bring the following with me:

1.  The letter which had been mailed (and emailed) to me providing proof of my appointment.  Easy enough.

2.  My passport.  Of course.

3.  My quittance de loyer or attestation d’hébergement.  Asked my landlord, piece of cake.

4.  A photo.  They have photomatons all over the city where you can step into a booth and knock this out.  5 euros for five pictures.  You can use them for all sorts of things.  Notice how happy I look!  But in all seriousness, you’re not allowed to smile.

5.  Fiscal stamps.  This was hilarious.  I needed to go to a Tabac — a store that sells tobacco — which is often a café — and buy these.  You use them for all sorts of taxes and fees.  There were two and then soon ten anxious smokers behind me in line, as the lady kindly counted out 241 euros in fiscal stamps.  To be fair you can now, mirabile dictu, buy these online!

6.  A vaccination card. This was proof that I had gotten all the basic stuff.  The kind folks at Sunflower Medical Group faxed that to me the same day I requested it.

So I had a bit of work I had to do in the days leading up to my appointment.  Day of, I packed snacks, sandwiches, a book, my journal, etc.  I was ready to be there all day.  Boy was I wrong.

Perhaps it is the repetitive nature of what they do, but this group of French civil servants are among the most efficient I have seen in any country, ever.

I was checked in downstairs by a security guard, who sent me upstairs to my first waiting area.  I had arrived at 08h50, about 10 minutes before my appointment window.  I was seated for about three minutes before I was moved to another area.  Instead of the first room, which had 30 seats and only six people seated, this oval room had 40 seats and all but three were taken.  These were immediately taken by myself and the other two aliens/immigrants who had been walked down the hall from Room #1.

I got comfortable, got out my book (Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World, an excellent read, by the way, and free on your Kindle or Kindle app) and got ready to be there for a while.

After 20 minutes of reading I looked up to get used to the flow of traffic.  Immediately to my left there were nurse practitioners or equivalents calling out names.  After going into that room, you are a little later called into another room, then another, then you leave to go back to the front.

One of the interesting aspects of the morning was hearing the French try to pronounce non-French names.  “Stephen Heiner” comes out as “Steve-fen Eye-Nehr.”  I’ve often thought of creating a “stage name” during my time in France — something like “Etienne Henry.”  Etienne is French for Stephen and Henry would just be an elision of Heiner.  Oh well, next time perhaps.  When I didn’t have to show documentation that I was someone else 🙂

I heard my name amid the buzzing French conversations and stood up and went into the first room.  I was asked to take off my coat and scarf and was weighed, measured, and given an eye test.  There didn’t seem to be any problems, and as a bonus I found I had dropped 5 kg, about 12 pounds, since I had been in France.  I could keep this up and be at my ideal weight after nine more months! 🙂

I should note here that I’ve very much taken on French rhythms and customs of eating, with a paleo twist.  I don’t snack in between meals, my portion sizes are sensible (read: not American), and I cook my own food most of the time.  My paleo twists are frequent use of butter and meats, and a reversal of my age-old practice of increasing meal size as the day goes on.  I now have a huge breakfast (when it isn’t Lent, of course), a medium-sized lunch, and a modest dinner, with the dinner taken before 19h00.  Of course, when I go out with friends for meals we usually don’t even get to the restaurant until 20h00.  But most days this is the regimen — and that, combined with my having to walk and bike everywhere — an average of 3 miles per day — was probably the main reason I lost that winter weight that had been storing up during my car-dependent life in America.

I sat down after this felicitous weigh-in and dug back into my book.  09h45.

The next station was the radiologist.  There were three changing rooms we lined up outside of.  We would step in and lock the door, which would activate a light on the other side to let the radiologist know there was a new “customer” waiting.

We were to strip above the waist and wait patiently.  After a few minutes my door opened and I was walked to an x-ray machine.  The radiologist said “Breathe-in” in French and I took a deep breath and held it.

At around 10h30 I was called for my last stop in the oval room: the doctor.

She asked if I spoke French and I said that if she spoke slowly, please, I would be able to keep up.  Fluents, by nature, speak quickly.  I do so unconsciously in English all the time.

She laughed and obliged.  She looked over my files, asked for my vaccination card, and ticked off some other questions like was I taking any medications, etc.

She stamped and signed a sheet — one for my records and one to hand to my final stop.

I was back in the room I started in.  I sat down just in time to watch the exchange between the woman in charge and another person, like me, getting ready to check out.

(In French)

“Your papers, please”

(girl hands them over)

“Photo, proof of residence, and fiscal stamps, please”

(girl hands them over)

Woman takes everything, then frowns and hands back a piece of paper.

“This is not sufficient.”

Now, the girl had handed her an SFR cell phone bill, which everyone knows isn’t good enough for anything.  The woman asked for a quittance de loyer or attestation d’hébergement, or the single most important piece of paper for your administrative life in France, an EDF (Électricité de France) bill.

(girl stammers back in halting French that she doesn’t have it)

“Bien, revenir, alors,” the woman said, annoyed.

The girl stammered, in English, “I come back?”

“Oui, oui, cet après-midi, demain, ce n’est pas grave.”  She was more annoyed now.

The girl made it into a statement, “I come back.”

The woman stared her into going away.

That girl left without the one thing we all were there for today: the sticker in the passport saying we were “legal.”  I was scared.  I triple-checked all my stuff.  But I had everything.  She smiled and handled my papers, put this all-important sticker in my passport, and stamped it.

She handed me a sheet of paper which instructed me to go to my police station in my prefecture, which is the final step in this process.  And she demonstrated what I’ve come to realize:  if you come prepared with all you need, the French are happy to help you on your way.

So, I’m not totally done, but mostly done, and the second step was a total breeze compared to the first.

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated. These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.

How to Get a French Long Term Stay Visitor Visa Part I: Learning to Love Bureaucracy

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Note from the editor: In light of new guidance on remote working in France as shared by the official French tax office in June 2025, we have also officially changed our stance on remote working for a US company while living in France under the visitor visa. Read more here, and contact us with any questions or concerns. We’re here to help! — MS

Many things have changed since late 2013 when I authored this.  For a version of this article that takes into account VFS and Covid-19 click here.

You would think the fact that I’m conversational and literate in French, and that I’m a teacher, would alert me to the fact that as I went back and forth with the machinery of the French consulate, I would remember that the very etymology of bureaucracy traces to the French word for desk.

When I first started doing the research behind the visa I would need to live in Paris, I didn’t find much help.  About.com had a decent article, but it was from 2006, and who knew what had changed since then?  Here’s what I was able to glean from the web, before I made my way to the website for the French Consulate office for my region, which happened to be in Chicago:

  1. You cannot get a student visa unless you are going to school at least half-time.
  2. You cannot get an “au pair” visa — where you trade out work around a home in exchange for rent – once you are over the age of 26.
  3. You cannot get a work visa without a sponsor in France who is guaranteeing your job.

The last option, you have to imagine, for someone who has spent the last decade building businesses, was the least viable.  And so, I had to look at the long-term-stay visitor visa.

I received a one-year stay visa just a few weeks ago so this is not just a chronicle of how I did it for the edification and amusement of my friends and family — it’s also a how-to for those of you who are US citizens who want to follow in my footsteps to successfully obtain a visa and can’t get any of the visas I listed above.

Guiding principle when dealing with the French: be calm, polite, friendly, and prepared.  And never assume you will simply get the visa because you gave them the form and the money.

What You Need

  1. A filled out application form.  That link is for the English version.  I decided to kiss up and fill out mine in French (couldn’t hurt my chances, I thought).
  2. One passport-sized photo which will go onto the application form.  You need to make sure it’s against a white background, captures your full face, has no glasses or hat, and has your mouth closed.  Don’t smile!
  3. Your passport (you’re going to have to leave it with them) plus one copy of the identity pages.  I suggest you make a couple of copies so that you have some on file yourself should some mishap happen.  This might also be a good time to make sure you have a passport card so that if you need to travel to Canada or Mexico while your passport is with the consulate you will be able.  This is mutually exclusive, though — the State Department will need your passport too in order to send you back your passport card so you would have to apply for it in plenty of time to get your passport back before your visit to the consulate.  Your passport must have been issued less than 10 years ago, must be valid for at least 3 months after your projected return to the US, and have at least 2 blank visa pages left.
  4. Status in the US.  A simple statement saying “I am a citizen of the United States.”
  5. Letter explaining what you intend on doing in France.  I wrote a one-paragraph statement that said I was planning to visit France and learn about it and perhaps write about it.
  6. Notarized Letter promising not to work in France.  I wrote a one-paragraph statement in which I stated that I would not be working for any French companies during my stay.
  7. Letter of Employment in the US stating occupation and earnings.  So here’s where it gets interesting.  It seems as though the French expect that you either have a job or are taking a leave from a job in order to come and they want certification.  They are even okay if you continue to draw pay from that employer.  As long as it’s not a French company (and hence, you are not depriving someone in France of a job they could have) they don’t care.
  8. Proof of means of income.  They will want at least your last 3 months of checking and savings accounts, if not more.  How much are you going to need?  Great question.  From what I could tell during my interview in Chicago, they want your rent + $800 per month for every month you are staying, minimum.  So, let’s say you have a very small place in the city, like my apartment in the 17th arrondissement, where you will pay at least $1000, add in $800, and that brings you to $1800/month.  If you want to stay for six months they will want to see that you either have that in savings or that you will earn enough (item #8) in combination with your savings to stay.
  9. Proof of medical insurance.  This one requires a bit more pirouetting.  You may not apply for a long-term stay visa until 90 days before your departure.  The company I use only sells annual policies.  However, the French are going to want to see full coverage during your time there.  I split the difference.  I got a policy that went into effect two weeks after my visit to the consulate, which was 86 days before my departure (I wasn’t taking any chances!), and when I sent the proof of insurance to the consulate I stated that the policy auto-renews at the end of one year.
  10. Marriage and/or birth certificates for the children.  I got to skip this one!
  11. Enrollment in school for your children.  I also skipped this.
  12. Proof of accommodation in France.  I initially presented them with an email from my landlady.  This would be rejected and a copy of her passport, as well as her utility bill, was asked for.  Have those on hand to skip my delay.
  13. The processing fee.  This will change so check here to see the latest cost.
  14. A self-addressed prepaid EXPRESS MAIL envelope.  Absolutely no UPS, FedEx, etc.  Good ol’ US MAIL.

Did you do all that?  Good.  You’re still not done.

Make an Appointment

Now you have to make an appointment in their system after you’ve gone through the France Visas visa wizard.  The French are not known for their amazing websites and often this link will not work, or be wonky.  Be patient.  Switch browsers.  Keep trying.  At some point, you will get to the appointment system.  Make an appointment.  Keeping in mind that processing time can take up to one month, I would recommend that you have your appointment no later than 60 days before departure.  Despite the fact that I submitted my application at perhaps the earliest possible date, I was still incredibly nervous and stressed as the back-and-forth commenced.  I wouldn’t wish it on you.

I had no other business in Chicago the weekend I planned for my visa so I simply scheduled a flight up for Friday morning (my appointment was at noon) and a flight back Sunday morning.  I got a rental car so that I would be in complete control of my destiny on Friday.  Didn’t want to take any chances.

I had all my paperwork together.  Now I had to have my in-person interview.  Don’t let the word “interview” fool you.  All you are doing is dropping off forms, giving them money, and smiling for the camera.  It’s all very routine.  I imagined I would be asked all kinds of questions about what I would do in France.  I wasn’t.

I got to Chicago around 9 am that Friday morning and drove immediately to the consulate.  It’s located in an office building but it’s accessible only by a secured elevator.  You can only enter the secured elevator with a sticker you’ll be given by the receptionist.  Half worried that for some reason my appointment wouldn’t show up in the system, waves of relief washed over me when the receptionist handed this to me.  I then went to have breakfast, came back, and dropped off my forms.

It couldn’t be 100% smooth sailing, for sure.  At the interview was where I was asked for proof of insurance — I had simply provided them with a photocopy of my American insurance card.  I had also originally simply brought a letter from the President of my bank attesting to the readiness of my funds and my good record there.  They wanted statements.

As soon as I got back to Kansas City I got the insurance policy and the bank statements.  Not enough.  They wanted my savings account statements for the entire year.  Sent.  Now they wanted a photocopy of my landlady’s passport and her utility bill.  I reached out to her (Que Dieu vous bénisse, Carole!) and she was very quick at getting this to them.

The interval was total agony.  During the one month in which I was sending them (via email scans) all that they asked for, I kept thinking, “All of this to be denied?”  It was totally unpalatable.  Let me explain how this would go down if I got denied.

I would only be eligible for the standard tourist visa, which anyone entering France is usually eligible for.  You may stay in France — or any of the 26 countries — for three months, but then you have to leave the Schengen Zone (the European Union save for the UK) for at least 3 months before you can return to restart with another tourist visa.  This would kill my plans for travel, ruin my mobility, and most of all, have wasted all the time I spent applying for the long-term stay visa above.

The final week before I got my visa I was visibly stressed to my colleagues and friends.  I had made plans and already made major decisions (and the money that goes along with that) as part of the preparation process and the fact that I might be denied really weighed on me.  So my advice, dear readers — don’t let it stress you out!  I had applied 90 days out and as much as the French like to take their time and make sure everything is just so, they didn’t want to hang on to my passport unnecessarily long, either.

One of my colleagues texted me when an Express Mail package arrived from the French Consulate.  I called immediately.  “Open it,” I told her breathlessly.  I just wanted to know, Yes or No.  I just wanted it to be over.

I heard the package rip.  She opened it up.  “There’s a visa in here, Stephen.”  Despite the fact that I have no problem screaming whenever my soccer team scores a goal, I was in a public place when I was on the call so all I could do was pump my fist in the air.  “Thank you thank you thank you,” I told her.  “I’ll be by soon.”  I said a brief prayer of thanksgiving and then headed into the office to see it myself.

Even now staring at it I get happy.  I think of all the documents and diplomas I’ve received in my life and they always seemed to be at the end of an arduous journey.  But this document, this was an authorization to change my life.  The difficulties and stress in obtaining it melted away in the endless possibilities the next year would present me with.

It’s said that the American Dream is owning your own home.  I’ve never understood how paying $100,000 in interest to a bank over 30 years on top of whatever you paid for a home was a dream.  My American Dream?  Living the life I want, on my terms.  This visa cleared any final obstacle to that beginning.

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

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