France/America couples

[Bertrand 0]

I'm French too, I'm in the US (Chicago western suburbs) since 2004. Originally from Metz.

Feel free to email me

Edited December 21, 2006 by Bertrannnd

[groomit 0]

I have another question. For those of you that completed the medical in Paris (physical/vaccinations, blood test, and chest xray) - are the 3 different doctors offices far apart?

Phycal/vaccinations=just go to your current doctor and ask for the required vaccinations. BRING vaccination certificate to the official consulate doctor. DONE

Blood test & chest Xray=medical center very closed to US Embassy Paris (I walked from med lab to radiology center :thumbs: )

[bostonparis 0]

I spent Christmas in Paris with my fiance and his family. I was only there for 4 days, but at least I was with him. The Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners are so different than here. I had oysters (2!), but won't try them again... there was a fish cake/fish loaf, foie gras (delish!), lamb, cheeses, desserts... it was great, but I did miss my traditional Christmas dinner. I may be the only person on the planet who lost weight during the holiday season!

We're now anxiously awaiting word from NVC that they received our packet, and waiting for Packet 3!!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

[Jay-s 0]

Hi everyone,

I'm originally from Strasbourg; my wife is from Cleveland. We've been living in Boston for some 2 and a half years now and I'm quite happy we chose to settle here. It's a very nice city with a history, decent public transportation, a "walkable" downtown, more than a few french restaurants and a ....harsh winter! Well usually; this year has been really mild so far.

I read through some of the posts... I can easily understand how one can hate living in a foreign country, especially if trapped at home AND without a job. You can't seriously be blaming the country for your loneliness.

Best of luck to all of you and happy 2007 -in advance.

Jean

[amwo 0]

Bonne Annee !

Another French/American couple here! Great to see this thread.

I have a question, more for research than anything else. My husband is a French chef (oh how I lucked out!). He is from the south and I have to say is an excellent chef (fortunately I haven't gained any weight because the food is so healthy!). We are currently living in New England and are looking for a city/town to open a restaurant. Doesn't have to be here, can be anywhere on the east coast. We love the outdoors but also city life so I guess we are wide open for suggestions. We have thought of everything from a small authentic bistro to a B&B/restaurant in Vermont/New Hampshire, and many other ideas too long to list here.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Asheville was mentioned earlier and we are also curious about that area - especially the organic food part.

Now I know a lot of you are missing French food but please be objective ;-)

cheers!

amwo

[bostonparis 0]

Bonne Annee !

Another French/American couple here! Great to see this thread.

I have a question, more for research than anything else. My husband is a French chef (oh how I lucked out!). He is from the south and I have to say is an excellent chef (fortunately I haven't gained any weight because the food is so healthy!). We are currently living in New England and are looking for a city/town to open a restaurant. Doesn't have to be here, can be anywhere on the east coast. We love the outdoors but also city life so I guess we are wide open for suggestions. We have thought of everything from a small authentic bistro to a B&B/restaurant in Vermont/New Hampshire, and many other ideas too long to list here.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Asheville was mentioned earlier and we are also curious about that area - especially the organic food part.

Now I know a lot of you are missing French food but please be objective ;-)

cheers!

amwo

Please, Boston! Kidding, of course. You are very lucky. My fiance is not a French chef, but he is MY French chef. He cooks for me whenever we are together. He told me to clean out my kitchen cupboards because when he arrives, he will need to arrange everything they way he wants. As he said, when I objected, "Who is going to do most of the cooking?"

I think because there are so many French restaurants in Boston, you'd do well either in northern New England, or further down the coast.

[BeZenK3 0]

Salut tout le monde,

Hey, glad to see so many French<->American couples here

I'm the USC, but grew up in Paris. My French hubby is from Lyon. We started this journey back in 2004.

Feel free to ask questions. Good luck to all the couples, especially those who are just starting this whole process. Take care all

And Bonne Année !

Edited January 4, 2007 by BeZenK3

[colinlieu 0]

Hi all : )

I've just now seen this thread...took me a while

Anyway, this is a lot of fun!!! It's like everybody is coming out of the woods or something!! I had no idea there were so many French/American couples out there!

Well, I'm the Frenchie in this marriage, but my husband speaks French. He studied in France for a semester back in 1995, and actually was a French teacher in the Midwest for a while. So we never really had any problems communicating. But we had our share of frustrating times

I was from the east of France, Besancon, and left in 2003 for Oklahoma. Now we live on Maui, and weare planning on coming back to the Mainland this year.

I love living here! I do miss some French things though, especially the language, as well as my friends and my family of course. But I am very happy with my life here!

Well good luck to all!! Nice to finally meet you guys!!!

Edited January 4, 2007 by colinlieu

[koalas 0]

Hi,

It's my first posting on VJ. It has been nice reading all of your stories.

Background

My husband (BK) is French, from Paris, and I'm the USC and live in San Francisco. We got married in November 2006 in San Francisco, just legally with plans to do a real wedding with friends and family after my hubby moves in, finds a job and gets settled in.

Our DCF Experience:

Last month (12/06), BK and I went to the US embassy in Paris to file our petition (DCF). We were really well prepared with all of our paperwork (even including the Affadavit of Support, tax records, police records, birth certificate, etc.). It was a bit chaotic in the big room where all of this takes place, but overall, we came out happy. The reason? After they accepted our petition, they gave us a packet with a list of documents to have ready for the interview (next step). We were to mail in a letter that stated that all the documents were in order. Being that we had everything, they let us submit the letter right then and there and told us that they'll try to schedule the interview in early Feb. Of course, that's after we said we wanted to get BK to join me ASAP. Sure enough, a week or so after we filed the petiton, BK received the appointment letter in the mail with an interview date of 2/7! My original expectation was that the whole process would take approx 3 months. Being that he should get his visa a week after the interview, it'll only take less than 2 months in total!! I believe it helped that BK didn't have any abnormalities like illegal stays in the U.S., anything on his police records, etc.. Now, we're starting to plan for his arrival in SF. Hope the job situation works out for him okay too.

Language

BK speaks English and I don't speak French, though I took an intro to French class a year ago. I'm signed up for another French class in a community college starting this month. BK finds my accent to be cute too so I guess that's encouraging.

A good year to you all!

[bostonparis 0]

Hi,

It's my first posting on VJ. It has been nice reading all of your stories.

Background

My husband (BK) is French, from Paris, and I'm the USC and live in San Francisco. We got married in November 2006 in San Francisco, just legally with plans to do a real wedding with friends and family after my hubby moves in, finds a job and gets settled in.

Our DCF Experience:

Last month (12/06), BK and I went to the US embassy in Paris to file our petition (DCF). We were really well prepared with all of our paperwork (even including the Affadavit of Support, tax records, police records, birth certificate, etc.). It was a bit chaotic in the big room where all of this takes place, but overall, we came out happy. The reason? After they accepted our petition, they gave us a packet with a list of documents to have ready for the interview (next step). We were to mail in a letter that stated that all the documents were in order. Being that we had everything, they let us submit the letter right then and there and told us that they'll try to schedule the interview in early Feb. Of course, that's after we said we wanted to get BK to join me ASAP. Sure enough, a week or so after we filed the petiton, BK received the appointment letter in the mail with an interview date of 2/7! My original expectation was that the whole process would take approx 3 months. Being that he should get his visa a week after the interview, it'll only take less than 2 months in total!! I believe it helped that BK didn't have any abnormalities like illegal stays in the U.S., anything on his police records, etc.. Now, we're starting to plan for his arrival in SF. Hope the job situation works out for him okay too.

Language

BK speaks English and I don't speak French, though I took an intro to French class a year ago. I'm signed up for another French class in a community college starting this month. BK finds my accent to be cute too so I guess that's encouraging.

A good year to you all!

Wow that's fast! Congratulations. I love San Francisco.

And welcome!

[nordique 0]

Hello all,

I'm Norwegian, but currently living in Paris , so I guess that would qualify me as the French part of the couple. My fiancé lives in Michigan, and that's where I'll be living too in not so long (or at least I hope so)

We filed the I-129 in November, and are currently waiting for the NOA 2.

Thanks to all for posting about your experiences. It is reassuring to hear from the people who haven't had any problems as well. When I first found this website I was freaking out as it seemed that everyone was encountering one problem after the other. I'm relieved to find that's not really the case.

[bostonparis 0]

I love seeing more people going through the process from France! I think Angilla might be the next one up for Interview (well, Saint Clair really). Can't wait to hear how it goes.

[RosaMystica7 0]

I do miss French bread...

Hehehe... oh do my fiance and I have jokes about French bread, and other items with "French" in their names. Like French fries, and French dressing, both of which he insists aren't French so they shouldn't be called French. And then there's French horns, French vanilla, French braids, French kissing... and of course, using "French" for catheter sizes! He insists no French bread here is like real French bread so it shouldn't be called French. You get the point. We joke about it all the time!

The French are used to free healthcare, a great public transportation system, and a more relaxed way of life. Coming to the US, the healthcare insurance system sucks, public transportation is non-existant in some cities, and most people live for their jobs.

One thing my fiance's not going to miss is needing to get a letter from a doctor to take even a single day off from work sick, and having to stay in his house during certain times to make sure social security doesn't show up if he does take a sick day. But getting reimbursed for medical bills, not having to let medical/dental insurance decide what job you take and cause you ulcers that need more medical insurance... yeah, I think he's going to miss that. He doesn't have a driver's license because he can get anywhere he wants by train in France. It was sort of culture shock when he visited here and you can't even walk to the train station. I personally hate the rush rush rush of typical American life - we plan to move down to Virginia at some point.

He has excellent vocabulary with a really cute accent to go with it. I would love to learn French, but I haven't picked up much, really nothing.

Isn't the French accent CUTE? When people find out I have a French fiance I usually get comments about two things - the cooking and the accent.

I agree with your wife thought, I think the big difference is that we take more time to cook in France, and meals are a family thing where everybody sits down at the table. And with more time and the motivation of sharing a meal, I guess it leads to better meals.

That's true. I miss the family meals. My grandparents were from Italy and Poland, Sunday dinner was a big family event each week. The family would get together from all over the island, tons of food, talking, and laughing. Even at home we always used to sit down at the table and eat together. My grandparents died when I was 8... now most of my family hasn't seen each other since their funeral, and we eat meals around the TV and computers. It's pretty sad.

I'm hoping someone can help with approximate time once Vermont approves I129F petition. Does anyone have some practical experience with this regarding times? I understand they send it to the NVC, and then they send it to the US Consulate in Paris. Does anyone know how long it takes from there? I haven't seen anyone here trying to get a fiance to the US from France... In the "timelines" on this website, on the same page one list says 58 days, the other says 76 days. If anyone has an experience they can share, that would be great.

Just so others reading this area aware... larig waited 5 weeks for their interview letter, recieved it on January 27th, and the Frenchie's interview is February 2nd. Orc waited about a month for their interview letter, recieved it on January 30th, and the Frenchie's interview is February 7th. So it seems to be about a month of waiting and then a week til the interview. We'll know more once bostonparis and I go through the process.

The Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners are so different than here. I had oysters (2!), but won't try them again... there was a fish cake/fish loaf, foie gras (delish!), lamb, cheeses, desserts... it was great, but I did miss my traditional Christmas dinner. I may be the only person on the planet who lost weight during the holiday season!

Oh tell me about it! My fiance's family has goose liver every year for Christmas... I don't particularly mind not being able to attend. I try to try new foods but... uhmmm... my limit falls around there - goose liver, tartar steak, escargot, caviar, beef head, sheep intestines, marmite... I haven't gotten myself to try half the stuff he has yet.

Anyway, this is a lot of fun!!! It's like everybody is coming out of the woods or something!! I had no idea there were so many French/American couples out there!

I agree, it's great to see!

I was from the east of France, Besancon, and left in 2003 for Oklahoma. Now we live on Maui, and weare planning on coming back to the Mainland this year.

Ooooh, Maui... what brought you there? Want a guest? We had snow last night.

[RosaMystica7 0]

Here's a list of all the French/American couples who have posted, plus two I've been talking to in PMs who haven't posted here yet. Let me know if I screwed anything up. To those still in the process, let us know when your status changes!

CR-1/IR-1

In process

-nobody-

Completed

kittykatwoman: Interview June 29th, 2006

emmysphere: Interview ?

DCF

In process

koalas: Interview February 7th, 2007

Completed

groomit: Interview May 23rd, 2006

K1

In process

larig: Interview date February 1st, 2007

Orc: Interview date February 7th, 2007

Angilla: Awaiting interview date

bostonparis: Preparing to mail back packet 3

nordique: Awaiting NOA2

sarahandroland: Awaiting packet 3

severinep: Still preparing to submit

Completed

laetinusa: Interview January 3rd, 2007

amwo: Interview September 21st, 2006

Shayrene: Interview November 29th, 2006

claire d: Interview November 9th, 2006

sleepless in OR: Interview October 4th, 2006

Jay-s: Interview May 18th, 2004

Bertrannnd: Interview April 29th, 2004

BeZenK3: Interview March 16th, 2004

colinlieu: Interview January 9th, 2003

K3

In process

adelaarsvaren: Awaiting NOA2

Completed

sheigh87: Interview January 31st, 2007

Still thinking about what to do

Cécile

Embassies other than Paris

esisko, K1 completed, Interview ?, Senegal

MHandMB, K1 completed, interview date April 2nd 2006, Algiers Algeria

Edited February 1, 2007 by Angilla

[marcycat 0]

hi all - Well, I might as well jump in. We are/were a DCF couple. In case you haven't heard, DCF turned into a nightmare last week..... I'm the American, he's the Frenchie. He was supposed to interview March 28 and arrive sometime in April. Now we have no idea

It's going to be a huge adjustment for him to live here -- I hope he survives! I think he will. I'm glad to be done with some of the hassles of living in France (Paris) but health insurance here is a nighmare and it's hard to readjust to the insane cost of good cheese, chocolate and wine here! (Not news to any of y'all, I know.)