A Visa to Corsica

Part One: applying for the visa

Sometime in late 2019; For weeks or even month now, I have been trying to find a solution to allow Kim, as a New Zealander, to stay in Europe for more than the 3 months allowed by the Schengen tourist visa. The rule is simple: you can stay inside the Schengen area only up to 3 months within a time frame of 6 months. Pretty much all the country we have planned to visit or stay in are part of the Schengen area: Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Malta. Only Turkey and Croatia are left as escape options but the latter is meant to join the Schengen area later this year leaving very little options for visitors / sailors to cruise the Med for an extended amount of time. 

One evening over dinner, I again tell Kim my frustration about this restriction and the only 2 options I have found. The first one is an old agreement post world war 2 which entitles Kiwis and Australians to stay in most European cities for up to 3 months. When the Schengen area was created, they forgot the existence of this law creating a massive loophole allowing Kiwis and Australians to stay up to 3 months in  most European countries ON TOP of the 3 months from the Schengen visa. Travellers have had more or less success, depending on the immigration officer they were facing, most not being aware of this law or the country they were in. Greece for instance seems to ignore this law, Italy not. The second option is to get married... Kim who was only half listening up until this point stops eating, uncertain whether I am serious or not.

"Really, let's get married, it will be easier and if anything happens while we are travelling it will make matters easier"

"..."

"So?"

"I don't really want to get married for convenience.  I want to marry you only if you want to be married to me, not just for a piece of paper"

A few months later, COVID was declared a world pandemic and a whole set of rules and regulations started popping up like mushrooms after the rain. I suddenly became uncertain whether Kim would even be able to enter Europe. Hoping to make it to Europe by fall I asked her again:

"We should get married otherwise you might not even be allowed into Europe"

"..."

"I really don't see any other alternatives"

"Well ok then, let's do it"

And so we got married on July 22nd 2020. Kim even managed to trick me into wearing a shirt with a collar. Even better, out of pure luck I discovered a week earlier while visiting the French embassy in Wellington that France was not recognising New Zealand marriage certificates and that we had to go through the entire French procedure.  This included making our intention of getting married public at least 4 weeks before getting married ...?!? Fortunately the French official worker must have been in NZ long enough because she agreed to slightly bend the rules in our favour. Kim was now allowed to apply for a spouse visa, which not only required a mountain of documents, but also a visit to Wellington. At least the visa application is free. Or so it says on the website of the embassy. A few weeks later, she receives her visa and we are all set to go to Europe. Her visa did however come with a little note informing us that the visa had to be activated within 3 months of entering France. Ok, that sounds easy enough. A few days after arriving in France I go onto the required website and oh surprise: 

1. we need to pay 225 euros, applying was free, activating it is not .. French bastards

2. Kim needs to attend a one day seminar, at an unknown place and date .. double French bastards

3. Kim might need to take French classes and French civic classes .. triple French bastards

None of this is really suiting our schedule of travelling Europe in search of the perfect boat but we don't really have a choice. Somehow, everything works out and by the end of 2021, Kim officially has a valid one year spouse visa which expires on the 1st of April 2022 in less than 5 month from now.

Part Two: renewing the visa

We were told to start the renewing process in January but due to Christmas, Covid and other unforeseen events, aka laziness and boat hunting, we start the process only on Valentine's Day. What better place to start than the prefecture itself as I can't find any reliable information online and the phone number given by the prefecture answering robot is valid only on Mondays between 2.30pm and 3.45pm.  During these working hours, no-one ever picks up the phone. So here we are, in person, outside the prefecture, waiting in line for an eternity. Once our turn has arrived, we are told that only one of us is allowed to go inside. It's an easy choice, it will have to be me as Kim has no chance of being understood with her limited French. After some more waiting inside I finally get to "talk" to someone who gives me a piece of paper with a website address on it. Allegedly I will find all the answers I am looking for there and will be able to apply for an appointment. I try to ask whether she knows what documents I will need only to be dismissed and requested to no longer bother her.

As soon as we get home, I go online, visit the website and fill up a form. A few days later we received an email informing us that the appointment will be on the 7th of April, nearly 2 months from now, and that we have to bring all the documents of section 1 and 2.4 of the attached PDF. If we fail to bring all the documents, the application will be rejected and we will have to do the walk of shame like in Game of Thrones. I open the PDF only to discover that there are 2 sections 1 and 2 sections 2.4 .. One set being for first time application and I assume the second set must be for renewal. Except that section 2.4 of the second set is for "children of French citizens" ... crap. Calling someone is not an option as they do not have a number with a human answering so I send an email. The reply comes 5 days later:

"Just figure out which sections are relevant to your situation" .. Great! I pick section 2.4 of the 2nd set and hope it's the right one. The list of documents is long, tedious and not always making sense. We have to prove our place of residence with a rental agreement or an electricity bill but we have neither nor. We have to prove we live together with a rental agreement or an insurance contract ?!? We have to provide a proof of payment of the visa fees. Not knowing how much the fees are, I send another email and 5 days later receive a reply:

"Don't worry about that, you will pay when you pick up the visa once accepted"

After 2 months of waiting and gathering the documents, April 7th finally arrives. We are nervous as we know that any error from our side could mean being sent home and having to wait for another random appointment. 

We are on time but they are not. 

People in the waiting room are trying to organise the queueing system as they are not.

A poor family is being yelled at for going before us except that they had arrived before us and no one was calling names or appointment times, so it felt like it was their turn. We feel sorry for them and nearly wished it wasn't our tun. The woman is a "Karen": obnoxious, arrogant and unfriendly, aka a prefecture worker. She starts going through our documents:

"Where are the photocopies of the passport?"

"You have it there"

"No, the other pages"

"You mean the one with the visa? Over there"

"NO, ALL the other pages"

"?! What do you mean?"

"We need a copy of ALL the pages with a stamp on it, it was written on the list"

My stomach starts cramping. I take out the list, go through it, cannot find an explicit indication of it. I try to raise my case but without any success. It's not looking good but she keeps on going through the documents.

"Where is the proof of payment"

"I sent an email about that a few weeks ago and I was told it was for once the application had been accepted."

"You were told wrong, we need the proof that you paid your current visa"

"But .. if we hadn't paid, her visa would never have been activated, she would never have gone to the one day introduction course for which you have the certificate in front of you."

"I know, but I need it"

At this point, it starts to look pretty doom and gloom for us but it is not over. At the very last minute she adds:

"I am also missing a proof that you are together"

"We have a letter from my parents saying that we are living at their address, the same letter you accepted as a proof of residence for my wife"

"It's fine as a proof of residence for her but it is not valid as a proof that you are living together."

"?!? .." I am speechless and out of argument in front of such illogical argument. I ask what document is needed, whether a bank statement of a joint account would be ok but she says no. She give me a document on which is says that we have to prove by email the missing documents: copy of all the pages of the passport, proof of payment of the past visa and proof of communal life, which can be proven by providing an insurance certificate, a rental agreement or a bank statement ... what ever.

We are being dismissed but take it as a victory that the application hasn't simply been rejected. We are also told that once all the documents have been received, the processing time is about 1 to 6 weeks and that we will need an appointment to collect the document.

Within 30 minutes of returning home, all the documents are being emailed and the waiting game continues.

2 weeks pass. Nothing.

4 weeks, nothing.

I email them and receive 5 days later an answer:

"It will be ready once it is ready"

Except that now the boat is ready and this story is about sailing, not fighting the French administration, and we have really itchy feet.  The time has come to start the adventure!  Fuck it, let's get going and we'll improvise once we hear from the prefecture. 3 days after leaving the Grau-du-roi, where we had our rigging put on and fine tuned, we F I N A L L Y receive the letter from the prefecture informing us that the visa can now be collected therefore we should book an appointment. Going to Perpignan by boat is no longer an option, not after the first few difficult days we had to move east. The best option seems to be to go to Antibes and for Kim to take a 6-8 hour train trip back to Perpignan, get the visa and come back. Meanwhile I can get a few more boat jobs done and spend some time with Dave, my brother. 

Everything is meticulously planned, from the port booking, to the trains. Kim has a train Thursday early morning. She will arrive in Perpignan in the early afternoon after 2 connections. Guy is ready to collect her. They will go to the prefecture together on Friday at 10.28 before getting back on a train at 1.33pm and 3 connections later arriving in Antibes. What could go wrong.

I ask again what could go wrong...

Thursday night at 11pm I receive a call from Kim who has made it to Perpignan.  She missed a connecting train thanks to the train arriving late, but got another one without too much drama.

"Hi what's up?"

" .. I fucked up"

"What?"

"I'm really sorry but I fucked up big time"

"..."

"I took your passport instead of mine"

"... you're joking, right?

"No"

"You had one job, one job only take your passport and go to Perpignan. Everything else had been taken care of and half of the family has been involved in the success of this mission and you took MY passport"

"Should I call back in 5 minutes?"

"Yes"

I hang up.

I am angry, frustrated, worried and I can't focus. We need a solution and fast. The instructions from the prefecture were clear: bring this letter, proof of payment and your passport.  If you fail to bring any one of these documents you will be rejected. It's too late to rent a car and drive to Perpignan, 6 hours away. It's too late to take a train and the appointment is too early for me to take a train in the morning. Send it by courrier, Kim and Guy suggest.   It might work if I can modify the appointment. 

Of course the website doesn't allow me to modify or cancel the existing appointment for Friday, but somehow lets me make a new appointment for Monday. So we conclude that I should send the passport early the next morning so that it will arrive on Saturday.  Not being able to cancel the appointment for Friday, Guy and Kim should go anyways to apologise and inform them that they will return on Monday with the passport that Kim has forgotten while visiting her brother in law in Nice. Remember, officially we are living in Perpignan, not on a boat. I cancel the train ticket for the next day and we decide to reassess the situation after the failed appointment.

After a very short and sleepless night I rush to the post office at 8.30am and send the passport. 

At 10.40am I get a phone call from Guy, they are literally walking out of the prefecture, with the visa!!... It must have been our lucky day but the person they talked to said that the passport was already in their system and therefore actually not needed. He confirmed that we were extremely lucky to be dealing with him as anyone else would likely have dismissed us. 

Kim has her visa with is great news! Except that now her passport is on its way to Perpignan, or is it? I rush back to the post office.

10.50am, I am at the postoffice and miraculously manage to not only get the passport back but also get a refund. Now all I have to do is re-book the train tickets I canceled the night before and Kim will be back for dinner with her visa and her passport. Or will she?

The trains are running late to Marseilles and again she misses one of her connections.  The train station officers are useless and overwhelmed by the quantity of confused and annoyed customers, the queue to the ticket office is a mile long so Kim ends up buying a new ticket and arriving at 10.40pm. Meanwhile I have discovered that one of the hoses for the engine water cooling circuit was nearly sliced and needed to be fixed before we could leave for Corsica on the following Monday.