I woke up this morning, thinking about my dossier for French nationality that I mailed last week, and wondering when I might hear something from the Préfecture. I figured there could be three possible immediate responses (and of course I'm paraphrasing):
- "We got your application dossier. Everything's fine with your paperwork. You need to make an appointment to come in for your interview and test in French history and culture."
- "We got your application dossier. We received everything we originally told you to send, but now we ALSO need additional documents blah-blah-blah."
- "We got your application dossier. You (i.e., WE) fucked up royally and you didn't send (i.e., WE ALREADY MANAGED TO LOSE) the following documents, so now (even though it's really OUR fault, although we'll never admit it), you'll have to get all new copies of those documents before we can go any further."
Naturally, I was hoping for Response #1, but was putting my money on Response #2. However, I was also prepared for Response #3 because it seems in almost every story I've heard, candidates for nationality send in everything they are supposed to and somehow the préfecture manages to lose things. But of course they're French so they'll never, ever take the blame. (This is a skill I will need to cultivate if I want to REALLY be French.)
Well, guess what was in my mailbox today? Response #3! And guess what they have managed to misplace? MY FRIGGING ATTESTATION FOR MY B2 LEVEL OF FRENCH SKILLS! The document that has held up me even applying for the past two months, and THAT is the one they claim I didn't send?
When I prepared the final dossier, Georges gave me an excellent suggestion which was to type up a numbered list of every single document I was including in the package and then number the actual documents accordingly. So this I did, and I even put all documents in the order of the official list of required documents that is published on the Préfecture web site, to make it as simple as possible.
The Attestation in question is document #10 on my list. Voila. It's from the official testing organization, which I was able to verify through the photocopy I made for my own records (on the letter I received, they so helpfully provided me with a list of all parties who are authorized to provide such proof of French knowledge).
So now, Georges is trying to phone the person who sent me the letter (she did provide her name, telephone number and even an email address!) to ask if she would mind taking another look because we're quite sure we included it. He knows how to do these things in such a way as to not piss off the fonctionnaires by appearing to blame them -- which is something you don't want to do if you want to get on the good side of the person who holds your future nationality in the palm of her hand. Maybe she'll locate it easily; then again, maybe not. If all else fails I will have to get another copy and mail it in (they simply will NOT accept hand-delivered documents at the Préfecture here in Paris, although in other parts of France it might be the other way around where you MUST present your documents in person; Paris probably has too many applicants to make that practical).
But of all the documents for them to lose, why did it have to be THIS one... although it would be worse if it were any of my American documents, so I guess I ought to count my blessings. Although even after I iron out this wrinkle, I can still expect to hear Response #2 (maybe even more than once) before they finally get around to telling me to make an appointment for my interview and history test.
As a wise woman once said: "It just goes to show you... It's always something. If it's not one thing, it's another."
Two hours later...
Georges just called. He managed to speak to the lady at the Préfecture. Her initial response was "Well, monsieur, we would not have sent such a letter to your wife if all the documents had been there!" (Of course!) He gently asked if she would mind just taking another look. So, she said she would go look in my dossier again. A few minutes passed and she returned. And...
A miracle! She was not the one who had originally opened the envelope. (Of course not!) But voila! When she looked inside, THERE was my attestation! So everything else is good... and now they will send another letter with my convocation (for my interview - i.e., Response #1).
Which is why I needed Georges to make that call. My hero!
