What do I need to bring with me to pick up my titre de sejour?
This question gets asked a lot. I just went to pick up my second titre de sejour at the prefecture Val de Marne in Creteil. The first time I went to pick up my titre de sejour, it was at the Paris prefecture. And while they were two different places, the process was the same.
Here’s all I needed to bring with to pick up my au pair/student titre de sejour.
- My phone with the text message they sent saying it is available to pick up
- My previous visa or titre de sejour
- My timbre in the amount that it says on the text.
- (Optional) Water and snacks and entertainment for standing in line for 2ish hours.
The first few times I dealt with the foreigners office in France, I forgot to bring snacks. This was very unfortunate for me when I spent 8 hours in their office, and no one ever mentions it. But I NEVER know how long the process is going to take. So now I have learned my lesson and I bring a backpack with a packed lunch.
How do I buy the timbre? Also what is it?
The timbre is a stamp basically. From back in the old days. But now you buy it online. In my opinion, it’s sole purpose is to get more money from you, because there’s really no other reason to pay for a stamp when everything is conducted online. But whatever.
Here’s the website to buy it: https://timbres.impots.gouv.fr/pages/achat/choixSeries.jsp?OWASP-CSRFTOKEN=3WJW-OG2U-GWNA-T7ZT-KG6F-WOEA-Z4ST-UTRH
- Click on Buy an electric stamp
- Then Title for Foreigners
- Then add the amount required. For me they told me both times in the text that they sent. It was 75 euros. But it depends based on the situation.
- Then add to cart and fill in all of the information and buy it.
Easy. Simple.
Then SAVE IT (I have a rough time keeping track of all my documents) and print it out and bring it when picking up the card.
The first time I had to pick up my titre de sejour, I had my host family pay the timbre fee because I needed it to renew my visa and continue working with them. However there’s no rules unfortunately.
75 euros doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s basically a week’s worth of salary for an au pair. So I worked hard to convince them to pay it and I am glad they did. The second time, for my student visa, I had to pay for it myself. It was a bummer.
Anywho, let me know if you have any other questions about the visa process in France 🙂
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