So far, every step of the way, everyone has been conspiring against us to make sure getting my visa is as hard as humanly possible. At least, it seems like it sometimes. Among the list of infractions:
-CIEE sending my host family info the week before I left to get my visa
-No one willing to notarize forms in French (In WA state)
-All the forms are in French, but only some of them have English translations
-I didn't get my essential paperwork from CIEE until yesterday evening, and I'm leaving for my visa tomorrow
I'm not saying this to whine, as much as it may seem like it. Sure, I'm worried, and I'm stressed, but I'll get over it in less than a week. Then France will come along, and I'll be happy and cheerful.
Instead, I'm saying this to warn you. If anyone out there reading this blog is a future exchange student to France, I'm going to give you some tips I wish I had known about. In no way am I saying you shouldn't apply to either France or CIEE: They're both amazing and wonderful and each have their own excellent qualities. But as for French visas, oh man, listen up.
-Ask for paperwork early. If they say it's not possible, ask again politely. If they say it's still not possible, ask again politely. If they say it's still not possible, ask again politely. If they say it's still not possible, ask again politely. Rinse and repeat until you have all the essential papers in your hands.
-Find someone early on in your preparations who will do notarization of signatures for French paperwork. (When a signature is notarized, it means that someone certified to do notarization watched you, or in this case your parents, sign a legal document in front of them and can therefore confirm that they were in fact the people who signed. This is usually done at a bank.) Find someone who is both certified for notarization, and can speak French. It turns out that banks won't notarize anything that they themselves can't read or understand, even if you bring along an accurate English translation issued by the consulate themselves. Be safe, not sorry. If your French-speaking notary still won't sign it because the paperwork doesn't have the right verbiage for notary signature (which also happened to my parents) then call the consulate and ask them for an amended document.
-Start to schedule an appointment for the consulate at least two months before your departure date. At least for the consulate in San Francisco, appointments must be made a month in advance, and all visas must be applied for a month before your departure date. (So, for instance, if you leave on the 30th of August, you must have your appointment at the consulate by the 30th of July.) Important Rule: Visa procedure trumps exchange company policy. If your coordinator says you should wait until you have a host family to schedule an appointment, but the consulate website says you should be scheduling your appointment right now, you follow the consulate's rules. If worst comes to worst, you can cancel an appointment. You can not (unless you are very lucky) schedule an appointment on a day's notice.
-Use your resources. There is likely a French teacher at your local high school. If you are going to France, you have probably known them for several years. Take their help if they offer it, ask for their help if they don't. Most of the paperwork you will submit for your visa will be in French. It doesn't matter how well you think you know French: You will not understand paperwork French. Chances are, your French teacher will know what they are saying far better than you and your trusty online translator will. Ask for help. It is not demeaning, it is not awkward, it is not unnecessary. What it is is a brilliant idea and a potential life-saver if you've made a mistranslation. It doesn't take a home visit. Look up their school e-mail on your school's website, or call your school during summer school hours (which your school will most likely have) and ask for their phone number. Look them up in the phone book. Use your resources, and avoid looking like an idiot at the consulate when you realize you checked all the wrong boxes.
Make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did, is all I'm saying. I'm looking back at the last few months, and I'm realizing that a lot of what's been stressing me out (thought not all of it) could have been helped if I had known then what I know now.
France is an amazing country, with great people and great everything else, and CIEE is an amazing program, with great coordinators who put up with my mini tantrums and great programs that have inspired thousands of kids to go on exchange. Exchange is always going to be hard, but getting your visa should not be impossibly stressful. I wish I had someone to tell me all of this a long time ago.
~Josie Harris
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