Friday, 28 June 2013

Our ever changing wedding plans

It has been a stressful month since I return from Paris
And it boils down to the application of long term stay visa
Which was started with our choice of where to sign our papers

Plan A) Singapore
He to fly in to Singapore
ROM in Singapore
Thereafter a meal with my family
He return Paris
and I stay here to proceed with my spouse visa

Change due to:
- His family wont be able to attend it in Singapore
- His sisters are upset that they cant be involved

Plan B: Paris (With long term stay visa)
I am to apply for the visa for November 2013 to October 2014
I fly over to Paris in November
We do our wedding in France in April / May 2014
We fly back in July 2014 to hold the Singapore wedding.
And for me to convert the visa to a spouse visa

Change due to:
- The costly and time consuming visa application
- Just the expenses on visa and flying will cost the same as Plan A (inclusive of Singapore Wedding)
- A rush to prepare for the france wedding
- Fiance's father suggested to have the ROM in Paris Townhall
  and thereafter the wedding dinner venue out of Paris to cut costs,
  which means the application of visa and all the costs involved
  is just for the 10mins in Paris Town hall
- I am really stressed out by the ëfficient" process, efforts and financial required to apply for the visa

Now we are down to 2 options, which doesn't involve the long term stay visa:

Plan 1) Singapore - Similar to Plan A
He is flying in Singapore to propose the marriage affair to my family in September / October 2013.
We have our ROM
He return Paris after a week
I stay to proceed with my spouse visa

Pros:
- Save money on Airfare and visa application
- If my spouse visa can be approved by December 2013, I can go spend Christmas
  and take my time to plan for the france wedding dinner (We can do it together)
  There will be no rush to have it in April / May 2014
- Application for spouse visa involves no cost and require lesser documents
- To apply for ROM only requires his passport number

Cons:
- To be separated immediately after getting married
- I only have like 3months to lose my fats (Okay, not important)
- France require us to go down to the France embassy in Singapore before the wedding
  To make a documents and declaration BEFORE our ROM
  Unsure how much notice is require (Fiance is calling the embassy to ask)
  If is just 1 week notice, we can still do so during his trip
  If they require 2 or more weeks of notice, it will be difficult for the fiancé to come to do this
  And come again to ROM
 - After the ROM, I will be require to have apply for 2 france wedding documents
   before I can apply for my spouse visa.
   I can do so through the France embassy in Singapore but it can take few weeks or months to process
   Which can delay my spouse visa application
- The application of spouse visa requires me to be physically in Singapore during the application,
   if is being delayed means I will not be able to go Paris for Christmas
- Our marriage feels like just administrative procedure than an actual wedding
 
Plan 2 ) Paris (Without long term stay visa)
I am to fly in Paris from November 2013 to Jan 2014
Immediately we will go to the Paris town hall and apply for marriage
To be ROM by Jan 2014
A simple signing of papers
and maybe macdonalds after (Haha)
Thereafter we fly back to Singapore with the france wedding documents
Do our Singapore wedding (Go weekend trip in Bali)
I apply for my spouse visa
He return to Paris
I will return paris once spouse visa approved
Then start planning for France wedding

Pros:
- Save money on airfare and visa applications
- More time to plan for france wedding
- No need to be separated immediately after being married
- Earlier Singapore wedding (No need to fly back again)

Cons:
- Risks of not being able to get a ROM date within 3 months
  Since my travel period involves November and December (The holiday period)
  I don't know how efficient can they be to let us get married within 3 months
  Fiance will call them and ask whether is possible to have a wedding date within 3 months of application
- Since I am a foreigner, we may need to go through an interview to prove that I am not there to cheat him (haha)
  Similar to the previous point, it can be delayed during the period and delayed the marriage application
- 4 documents I need to prepare (translated into French and certified true copies)
   which I think includes many runs to MFA, embassy etcs
  And the documents are only valid for 6 months (I think) so I cant start preparing now.
- Don't know how long spouse visa application can take

Conclusion:
I am really happy at our decision not to do the long term stay visa
I was going crazy at it and the costs involved
For the time being, I am more keen for Plan 2
It gives a balance to time we can spend together and costs involved
Just that is higher risks as well
(especially when france immigration has 90days in and 90days back to home country requirement)

Pray for us that we will not be bothered by all these administrative procedures
For strength to put through
For patience so that we will not quarrel
That all things can go as planned
And we need not prepare for another backup plan

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