Wedding Application Process

Previously i wrote about documents required
and the tedious process to apply for marriage
in france

Finally all the documents were collected
and we had an appointment 19 December 2014
At the Versailies townhall
to apply for our marriage

initially the idea was to apply for our marriage
in paris townhall
but after consideration of the costs involved
in a wedding in paris
Versailies was a better choice
especially is where my in laws are staying

I was quite nervous about the appointment
because there is no way i can fly back to Singapore
if any document was unacceptable
but Fiance was sure all will be well...

We met with the staff at the townhall
who was a really serious lady 
i think it was 30 minutes into the application
before she even smiled

Fiance thinks maybe is her way
to scare away fraud marriage applications
anyway the documents were fine
just that fiance needs to provide 1 documents to them
before the marriage

oh and the lady thinks that fiance spoke well in English
and we save the time and money to look for a translator
which quoted us for Euro350!

all went well!
Our wedding date will be on 15 February 2014.
And our civil ceremony at this beautiful townhall...

 

Marriage application documents..Part V

On my 30th birthday
I gave myself the best gift!
That is to complete the painful process of
marriage application documents.

Despite my bad experience and phobia of France Embassy
It was quite a smooth procedures to certify the french documents.
Thursday morning was the only day for consulate services
and no appointment was required
that was what the website said
and i was fearful that i need an appointment 
when i arrived
however, I did not required an appointment.

So, i went into an empty waiting room.
It was more like an office.
When a staff came out of the office,
she did not spoke a word,
a man who was waiting before me went in.
I start wondering where is the queue system
how will i know is my turn?

as more people came into the waiting room
i think everyone was having the same thoughts as me
how will we know is our turn?

Then the smart thought came to me
i realised the security card that was handed to me
had a number!
and it was in sequence 
when i compared to people who arrived later.

So, when the staff stepped out
I just went in
without her speaking
hmm, i must made others curious about 
how i knew it was my turn
haha

anyway it was rather fast
she asked why i required the documents
and i mentioned is for my marriage application.
She just looked at the translated documents
without comparing to the original English documents
and proceed to certify them as true copies.
thereafter i made payment 
I paid about S$30+ per document 
It was rated at Euro18 per documents
but the embassy charged based on the exchange rate for the day
and it was done!

Finally, all documents are ready!

1)Birth certificate
-  new copy from ICA
- Translated into French
- Certified true copy (English) 
- Certified true copy  (French)

 2) Single status
- Certified search result from ROM
-  Translated into French
- Certified true copy (English) 
- Certified true copy  (French) 

3) Marriage laws statement
- Fiance collected from Singapore Embassy in Paris

4) Proof of residence
- My bill with address
- Copy of my identity card
- Copy of passport

5) Witness detail
- Copy of identity card
- Copy of passport

It started as a long scary journey
and now im still anxious whether in left out any documents
whoever says marriage is a easy process
Tell them to try marry a French in France.

The week when I arrived
We will be applying for the marriage
hopefully it can be on the 8 February 2013
and all is well.

Marriage application documents..Part IV

Today I had some time off from work
so i decided to be a good bride to be
and went to alliance francaise to translate my birth cert 
and single status cert (cert of celibacy)

Recalling my experience at the france embassy
i assumed that it will be the same boring process in alliance francaise
(Well, its a french institute so i guess they work the slow french way)
To my surprise, the process was quick
There was no queue
They looked at the documents
and i paid (S$60 each)
then photocopied my documents
Got my contact details 
told me it will be ready next week
and i was done in less than 10 minutes!

Now is just to certify my english documents at Ministry of foreign affairs
and to certify the translated copies at france embassy
photocopy my passport
Bring along a singapore bill for address verification
get my witness's passport photocopy
and im basically ready for the marriage application! 

Oh 2 days ago the fiance got me to fill up the marriage application forms
It was all in french and i wondered whether maybe he is trying to trick me to sign off my life and money
haha

Marriage application documents..Part III

Some good updates...
All the documents required are given 6 months validity.
(As per the application date: December 2013)
Which means, I can start preparing my documents now!


Just photocopies:
1)Valid passport
2) Valid Identity card
3) Latest bill indicating my address in Singapore (Just in case)

Birth certificate:
- Apply extract from ICA (Done)
- Translate at Alliance Francaise
- Certified English copy at MFA
- Certified French copy at France Embassy

Certificate of celibacy
- Request marriage search record from ROM (Done)
- Translate at Alliance Francaise
- Certified English copy at MFA
- Certified French copy at France Embassy
 An Affidavit of law (Document stating marriage laws are the same between France & Singapore)
- Fiance to obtain from Singapore Embassy in France

As compared to the previous stress about validity and documents required,
is great that we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel

:)

Marriage application documents II

Since the Paris Townhall closes early during summer
the fiancé didn't get a chance to go down and enquire them
or rather confirm with them on the validity of the documents
Some sources say all documents are only valid 3 months
Some sources say all documents are valid 6 months
Some sources say some documents valid 3 months while some are valid 6 months
In any case,
No one indicate whether the validity needs to include the actual wedding date
or just application date.

To play safe,
not wasting extra time and money for the documents
The fiancé needs to get a final confirmation for the validity of documents.

The good news is most sources says that for birth cert is 6 months valid
so, I finally applied and collected my birth cert extract from ICA today

For those who wonder why I need to apply for a birth cert extract
Ministry of foreign affairs informed that they cant certified my birth cert as true copy
since it is laminated
hmmm...I think most people I know, born in the same period, have laminated copy.
Oh well.

So I need to apply for an extract online from ICA
Pay $33 and wait 7 working days.
For an email then collect it at ICA (can be sent via post)

Now the next steps are:
- Translate it at Alliance française
- Certified the French copy at france embassy in Singapore
- Certified the extract English copy at ministry of foreign affairs

Sounds troublesome?
Repeat the steps for each documents.
Who ever think getting married is easy?

Im happy to be a Singaporean (for once)

Is times like this
That I realised how I taken Singapore for granted
because we are efficient

Following the email from the france embassy
I wrote an email to Singapore embassy in Paris
to enquire about certificat de coutume
which I should obtain from paris

I wrote the email at 3.00pm (Paris 9.00am)
They replied  at 9.00pm (Paris 3.00pm)
ON THE SAME DAY!
They must have strict SOP like in Singapore
to ensure efficiency

Anyway the email was great
sweet and short
that I can obtain certificat de coutume from them
and fiancé can even obtain it on my behalf
at no cost.

Finally a reply...

Finally after near 20 days
I received an email reply from the embassy

the correct department - Checked
the correct person in charge - Checked
the correct email about paris marriage application - Checked
so nothing can go wrong right?

The first statement is...
"As you are going to marry in France, I am not really the right person to answer your questions"

Anyway he did managed to answer a few questions

such as the costs & procedures to legalise French documents

That I need to get 1 document from Singapore embassy in France

The only concern now is he inform the documents need to be valid for 3 months

while fiancé heard from the paris townhall is documents to be valid 6 months

The difference in months going to make a huge difference for me

because it means I can only prepare my documents in December?!

 

But anyway

his reply saved me from not making another trip down to Embassy

 







 



 

Change is the only constant

I guess plans are changing again
Sometimes the changes happens faster than I can catch up

I need some sanity.

Embassy Embassy Embassy

Today I received an email
from the correct department of the embassy
So i was really happy
Till i open the email

And realized is a reply about my email 
sent 3 weeks ago
About ROM application procedures in Singapore

So when will you reply me about marriage application documents in france?!

Marriage application documents

Although the nightmare for visa documents has ended
I will need prepare the marriage application documents
4 documents compared to 13 documents
I think is still easier

1)Valid passport

2) Birth certificate (6months valid)

3) Certificate of celibacy (3 / 6months valid)

4) An Affidavit of law (3/ 6 months valid)

 

All the documents I need to get it translated into French (Alliance Francaise)

All copies of documents I need to get them certified true copies (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Certificate of celibacy (To apply from Singapore ROM)

The last document I have no idea where to get it

Suppose to be a document to state the marriage law in Singapore and France are the same

 

It means many trips to the different places

I am not so worried about the different places

More worried about the validity

Especially if is 3months

And whether that include the marriage date

 

In any case, I cant do anything now

But to check on internet and send emails

and bother the fiancé

 

Wish me luck!