In this FREE le Bulletin you'll learn about an illustrator who brings stories to life, a man who accidentally fell for Brittany, & the citizenship interview that still haunts our contributor's dreams.
Judy I'm thrilled to tell you that I've just.had confirmation from Paris that my Swiss passport is valid for my permanent residency in France.
There is a story here: my grandmother was French. Her ancestry goes back beyond Cbarlemagne. The de Visme's have an entire village (pop. 491) named for them in Picardie. Too easy, I thought, after brexshit was announced in 2016, I'll claim France!
For 18 months endless, fruitless, frustrating emails parried back and forth between French Bureaucracy - in French - and humble brit-born, by geographical accident, me - in English.
Hopeless. Then, voila! A Light. I emailed the Swiss Embassy. Within 24 hours an email in perfect English ... essentially confirming my father's registration in Geneva of my birth. Would I like a Swiss passport? And ID card?
Would I?!!! And within two weeks I was Swiss. At 73! So when I read this article - I truly understood the writer's Agony! N xxx
Judy I'm thrilled to tell you that I've just.had confirmation from Paris that my Swiss passport is valid for my permanent residency in France.
There is a story here: my grandmother was French. Her ancestry goes back beyond Cbarlemagne. The de Visme's have an entire village (pop. 491) named for them in Picardie. Too easy, I thought, after brexshit was announced in 2016, I'll claim France!
For 18 months endless, fruitless, frustrating emails parried back and forth between French Bureaucracy - in French - and humble brit-born, by geographical accident, me - in English.
Hopeless. Then, voila! A Light. I emailed the Swiss Embassy. Within 24 hours an email in perfect English ... essentially confirming my father's registration in Geneva of my birth. Would I like a Swiss passport? And ID card?
Would I?!!! And within two weeks I was Swiss. At 73! So when I read this article - I truly understood the writer's Agony! N xxx
Oh Nigelle, what a story that is!!!
How fabulous is that? So when are you heading back to Europe?
New passports and visas in another country seem to require persistent focus, patience and the universe on your side :) And then Switzerland pops up ;)
Warm regards
Judy