Getting Ready to be a World Nomad

"One day, we will live in Paris." This has been Michael's dream since the first time he first went to Paris in 1982. Now, in 2022, we are ready to retire and make that dream come true....for the most part. There are just too many other countries we want to explore so we've decided to "world hop" starting with a three month stay in Paris. And we cannot wait to get started!

First, the logistics. I discovered something called the Schengen Zone rule. This rule states that a non-EU citizen is not allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone for more than 90 days in a 180 day period. Because I was born in France and therefore a French citizen, I am legally allowed to stay in Europe for an unlimited period of time.I did, however, need a passport which I did not possess. The paperwork was overwhelming, the procedure confusing, and the process lengthy. After a year of mind numbing, brain cell killing interactions, I received my French passport.

As far as Michael was concerned, the hardest part was finding out what needed to be done and how it needed to be accomplished. Michael, would need a "spouse of French citizen" visa. I needed to register our marriage with France. I tricked myself into believing it would be easy. It wasn’t. It involved a current copy of our marriage certificate, a current birth certificate for both of us, a NYC clerk’s office stamp, an apostille (WTF is that), and all of that needed to be mailed to the French Consulate. Six month after our initial start, a Livret de Famille (Family Book) arrived with Michael and my name. Success! All Michael needs to do now is get his visa. That should be easy, right? Yeah, I don’t think so either.