UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF THAT OFII APPOINTMENT

[@theushistorian]

You two look terrific!

[@Albury19]

What a fantastic detailed video!

[@Francebound2024]

Another great video 😊 and I like the printed material.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Thank you Kris!

[@MotherMissionary]

Always love seeing you both in your new life there in France including all the many varied experiences you have. Take care ❤

[@zeitgeist888]

Another great video with excellent details.

[@Jada6828]

so helpful as usual An. Thanks for speaking with me through email this week. Jackie

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

You are so welcome!

[@johnnygo-go]

Oh my, I watched you video and was mentally transported back to Nice. I sooo want to be back there physically. Please say "Hi" to the nice Irish gals at Ma Nola's in Vieux Nice. And if I can't make it through another Canadian winter, I might just do that myself!

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Is that a good place to go? Is their food good? We passed it a few times, when we were looking for dinner but never stopped. Didn't see any food on the tables.

[@johnnygo-go]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears Michelin starred... perhaps not. But the few times I/we darken the door the service was great, the pub food was good, the Guiness & Kilkenny hit the spot and the service was lovely.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

​@@johnnygo-gothanks 😊 We will be sure to check it out!

[@AnnM223]

Thanks!

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Thank you---so VERY much~! 😍😍😍😍😍

[@lulu6618]

Thank you for posting this video. Your videos are much better without much music and without the paragraphs you put up for people to read because I’d rather hear you explain than read the text and because the print does not stay up long enough to read all the way through. The red print is impossible! I look forward to a video where you just explain everything yourselves because you both have great and watchable personalities! Thank you

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Actually, many people appreciate the text on informative videos so they can stop the video and take photos or screenshots of the information for their use in the future.

[@MauiJOY]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears I do like the light music and the written instructions as I can stop the video and make notes if needed. I appreciate the extra effort this takes and I do like the dotted hearts too

[@gloriagreen1123]

I really appreciate the notes. I always stop the video and read them slowly and think about what is being conveyed, only turning the video on after I feel I have digested the information. I would rather have the notes than the verbal conversation!🙃

[@gsbeak]

CADAM : Centre Administratif Départemental des Alpes Maritimes, Alpes Maritimes Departement Administration Center.

[@lacmeadows4092]

Great information An.Glad that you and Jeff completed this process easily. When you applied for your Long Stay Visa were you prompted to obtain your medical records,such as vaccination,recent labs and hospital admissions or was this something you just knew to do? These are things that I wouldn't know to have copies of.I would think that have my medical records and other important documents should be on a thumb drive as a backup to paper?I saw that you have a printer in one video ,was this bought in Nice once you arrived? So many questions come to mind while watching your videos, thank you for sharing.😊

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

I knew we needed our medical history. I take numerous medications and bio-identical hormones and knew I'd need to have this info when establishing a relationship with a new doctor, to get refills for my prescriptions.And yes, we bought the printer at FNAC, online, here in Nice.

[@lacmeadows4092]

Thanks for the feedback, great information to consider prior to moving abroad. Separate question about tax preparation, have you decided how your 2024 taxes will be prepared yet? I am interested in hiring some well versed in French/US tax laws and looking to do an consultation soon with them. Open to hearing your thoughts.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

@@lacmeadows4092 I'm just going to file our US taxes like I always do, using Turbotax. We have very little income for 2024 since my husband retired at the end of Feb and we live on our SS. The hardest part for me will be going back to all of the receipts for donations and coming up with values for the thousands and thousands of dollars of stuff we donated before we moved here, Might just wipe out any taxes due to IRS. And, we haven't taken any money from our investment accounts, intentionally, to keep it simple. And then I'll go online, find the French tax return form, complete them, submit them and keep my fingers crossed we did it correctly. If you're looking for assistance, one of my subscribers, an accountant from the USA, moving to Nice in October, appears to be getting up to date on French tax filing and may be looking for some expat clients. I don't want to provide more information yet since she hasn't firmed up her intentions publicly yet. But once I know for sure, as we get closer I will post something under my videos to help our fellow expats.

[@lacmeadows4092]

I'd like more information on the account. I'll wait for you to post it. I'll be in Nice next month 18-25th if you're interested in meeting?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

@@lacmeadows4092 We prefer not to schedule meetups publicly. Just PM us at the email address under each of our videos, when you're in France and tell us who you are (there is nothing about you showing on your KZbin profile) and a little about yourself. We like to know who we're meeting with, first. Hopefully, you an understand. Unfortunately, during your time in Nice, we'll be hanging out in Paris and the Normandy area, for around a month starting in mid-September till perhaps mid-October. So, if Paris is in your future, PM us and we'll see what we can schedule. 😊

[@juliehermosillo1701]

So very informative. We are making our move next week and are concerned because neither of us has ever had a smallpox vaccination that we are aware of. Is this a requirement?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

I don't know if it's a requirement. This is not something we received as adults. If you're a senior from the US, you probably had this as a child in the 50's or 60's. That's when we had ours. And neither of us has records of the date we received it. We simply noted that we weren't allowed to go to school as little children without having had it. It was a requirement when we were little children, before we could start school, for the first time. They didn't ask for proof that we had it. The doctor asked if we still had the visible scar on our upper arms. I don't think either of us still have that scar.

[@juliehermosillo1701]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears Thank you! When you mentioned scar, it jogged my memory back to when my uncle (who was a doctor) gave me the vaccination. He actually injected it into the back of my arm so that the scar wouldn’t be noticeable when I got older and wore sleeveless dresses. My dear mother actually wrote about it in my baby book!

[@LisaNazarian]

Thank you for this information! Did you obtain copies of all your medical records before leaving the US? How did you handle talking about vaccinations you would have received as a child? Did you guess at dates?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We had our doctor email our medical history to each of us.And then we downloaded it and printed it out. We also typed a list of our medications with the reason for taking them and brought that. The only vaccination they asked about was the one for smallpox.We didn't know the dates. They asked if we still had the scars they could see. Also we mentioned that we could not have started school without them in the US and guessed we got them just before starting school at 5 yrs old. They were satisfied with that.

[@LisaNazarian]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears a million thanks for your quick reply!

[@KarenYokley]

Hey An. How long after you validated your visa did you get the letter and how far in the future did they schedule the appointment at the OFII?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We received the letter around 2 1/2 months after we validated our visas. The appointment was about 5-6 weeks later.

[@artbrutnewyork]

Such valuable information. Questions: 1) Did they give you a rudimentary vision test as part of the examination? 2) Would you say the entire examination takes an hour?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

No, there was no vision test. No tests. No exam. No chest xray. They didn't do anything except talk with us, review the medical history and last labs we brought, (and give us that one optional blood test).We were there in total counting waiting time and the two separate meetings with the two doctors, for around 1 1/2 hours.

[@LisaNazarian]

An, when reference is made to bringing any hospitalization information was it brief meaning the date of admission and discharge and the reason for the stay or should I ask for the whole packet of information that may be related to the hospital stay? For example I had pneumonia in the 90s and I was in the hospital would I need every single record from that visit or just the date I was admitted discharged and the reason I was in the hospital to begin with? If you know, thanks.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We did not expect to be asked this question, so we literally had to sit there and try to remember EVERY single surgery (she only wanted to know about every surgery we EVER had--only surgeries)--EVER, IN OUR ENTIRE LIFE, FROM BIRTH, TO THE PRESENT. A great test for the memories of two 70 year olds! The doctor who asked for this understood we didn't know the exact dates. She asked for the approximate year or time. So we had to do some quick math in our heads and "guess". She was fine with us guessing. Fortunately, neither of us had many surgeries in our lifetime, but enough for it to be a real exercise. LOL. If you want to be prepared in case they ask you, just make a list of all the surgeries you ever had from infancy on, and guess at the year if you don't know. I don't know if everyone gets that question or just us "old people". (Maybe it's a memory test! LOL!)

[@LisaNazarian]

you two are on the ball; your minds are sharp as tacks! Thanks-no surgeries as of yet for me so I’ll just gather as many immunization records as I can get my hands on. My mom was a worry wart so I know I got stuck with everything under the sun in the 60s😂

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

​@@LisaNazariandon't worry too much about immunizations. They really just seemed to want confirmation that you got the smallpox vaccination as a child. They will ask to see your scar. So look for that. 😉

[@mahdiasiddika6113]

Plz let me know my appointment date 3 October and I don’t know about the latter

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

What do you want to know? If you received a letter telling you you have an appointment on October 3rd, THAT is your convocation letter. You should have responded to the letter, letting them know you received it and confirming you will be there, IN FRENCH. And then you need to bring that letter to the appointment in order to be admitted to the building for your appointment. I already answered this. Not sure what you want me to tell you.

[@mahdiasiddika6113]

Plz let me know the convocation latter is it they send in email or it’s a latter

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

The letter you receive inviting you to your (mandatory) appointment is called a "convocation". Everyone I have spoken to who retired to France, received it by mail. I have heard some other people younger than us received theirs by email, but that was at least a year or two ago. Expect that it could be sent by mail or email. You must acknowledge it by responding that you will be at your meeting.

[@mahdiasiddika6113]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears I received a email by the medical to do my xray they also call me and then ofii send me an email

[@mahdiasiddika6113]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears thank you for your kind information

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

That's interesting! They have never contacted us for an xray. Not sure why. Maybe because we're seniors?? We did also bring a very detailed medical history from our doctor with us. Maybe they had all the info they needed. I asked them the day we went to OFII if an xray was next. The doctors said, "no, you're all set".

[@mahdiasiddika6113]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears I faced ofii visite medical last Thursday and they only saw my vaccination card and ask that if I had any surgery and fall ill since I was in france any they also knew the medicine which I’m having