I received a letter from the IND Front Office last week, conveniently on a night when I had a few Dutch friends over for dinner. I turned to Micha and asked "hey, would you mind translating this for me... Oh wait, nevermind, they also sent the same letter in English" (can this get any easier?). It had these beautiful words:
Hierbij berichten wij u dat uw verblijfsdocument is binnengekomen.
Your residence permit is ready. We would like you to collect the permit.
I had to pick up my permit in person, so I went to the office today (at Orlyplein 141-147) with my letter and passport. About 90 seconds after I walked in the building, I walked out with my residence card, valid until the 9th of June 2009 (it matches my work contract dates). It's so official! The card is the same size as a US Drivers License and is pretty much the last step I need to take in making my life here "real." Now all I have to do is change my address to my new apartment so my mail will go to the right place. The one other administrative step I might take is obtaining a Dutch drivers license. I would honestly be perfectly happy to never drive a car again, and I have zero plans to ever own a car as long as I'm in Amsterdam. But some American friends told me that if I go within the first 6 months of my residency here, I can simply trade my US license for a Dutch license, without having to take any tests. I suppose it couldn't hurt – if I ever wanted to rent a vehicle for some reason, it would be nice to have that convenience.
Today was incredibly rainy and pretty chilly in Amsterdam, but I've mastered a system for making it through my commute to work. I bring an extra pair of jeans with to work in my (water-resistant messenger style) bag, and I keep an extra pair of shoes at my office. Hair goes back in a ponytail, and my bangs get pinned back. Headphones go on (I wear over-the-head headphones to listen to my ipod in the morning, as earbuds don't really work for me), which also helps hold my bangs back, and the headphones somehow help keep my hood firmly in place. After five minutes of entering my office, I had changed into dry pants and shoes, my hair was brushed and in place, and since my (waterproof) jacket kept the top half of me dry, no one could have guessed that I rode through the pouring rain this morning. I have to admit though, this 2-pairs-of-pants thing is a little annoying, so on my list of things to do is acquire a pair of rain pants.
While I'm on the topic of cycling, let me take the opportunity to recommend a fantastic blog: Amsterdamize, which I believe was inspired by Copenhagenize. If you're a bit obsessed with bicycle culture or have a thing for pictures of bikes, it's quite possible you could spend an entire day (or more) going through those two blogs and following the links to other blogs and watching the videos and so on. I love Amsterdamize because it's published by a native Amsterdammer, and he writes about bike culture here with just as much love as I have for it - but provides the type of insight and background that I wouldn't be able to do (well, not yet, but give me ten years).
I missed my bike while I was visiting friends in Berlin this past weekend. Berlin is really bike-friendly and I would have loved to explore the city on 2 wheels, especially since I was hanging out with a good friend from Amsterdam while I was there. Having 3 people and two bikes never would have stopped us from taking bikes anywhere in Amsterdam (she's ridden me on the back of her bike before a few times), but the Berlin bikes aren't really built to carry extra people. We attempted to ride together anyway, with me on the seat and her standing up on the pedals - it worked for a little while but eventually we gave up. Anyway, despite not having a bike, I had a fantastic time in Berlin. It was my second visit there, so I mostly just hung out with friends and stuck to their neighborhoods. The most notable thing that happened was running into a guy from New Paltz at a friend's house party on Friday night. I grew up in New Paltz, New York, and it is not a big town. And even stranger than running into him at a party (which was being hosted by someone I've known for about a month), I ran into him again (!) the next day at the Berlin wall. Nice guy, and hey - if he happens to read this - sorry I didn't call on Saturday night, my phone ran out of credit.
Which reminds me, on my list of things to do: get a real phone contract.
Showing posts with label residence permit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label residence permit. Show all posts
February 28, 2008
Paperwork
Jumping right into this topic.
As an American, I am allowed to stay in Holland - and the entire Schengen Area - for three months with just a passport. I know three months isn't enough time for me to figure out if I can make my desire to live in Amsterdam a reality, so I'm applying for a long-stay Schengen Visa, valid for about eight months. Because I'm flying into Paris, I need to apply to the French Consulate - France is my "port of entry" into the Schengen area. This visa won't allow me to (legally) work or declare residency anywhere, but it will serve one very important purpose - I won't get deported for staying in Europe for more than three months if someone asks to see my passport.
Since right now my plan is to stay in Europe from 21 April - 22 December 2008 (at the very least), I need to cover myself. If someone stops me on a street in Amsterdam come October, I need to be able to show that I was granted permission to travel within the Schengen area and that I'm just another tourist.
It's not exactly a fun process to get this visa, which shouldn't come as a surprise. First, I need to get a police report that says I have no criminal record (if you do, I don't know what that means, but I assume it makes things more difficult). To obtain that report, I have to go to the police station in the county where I reside (which is currently Los Angeles). The police just need to see a valid ID that indicates I live in the county that they serve, then they look me up and print out some kind of official letter stating I'm not a criminal. However, as of this morning, I did not have any ID that shows I live in California - my drivers license is from New York (pay attention, Americans, this is important for you to know). So that meant that this morning I had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and exchange my New York ID for a California ID. It took about two hours, cost $26, and they required me to provide a thumb print, pass a 36-question written test, take a vision test, and tell them how much I weigh. California is strange.
Now that I have an ID that clearly indicates I live in Los Angeles County, my next stop is the Records & Identification Division of the Los Angeles County Police Department for the police clearance ($15). After that is accomplished, I just need to gather every single piece of documentation imaginable (birth certificate, social security card, etc.) and take all of that to the French Consulate in Los Angeles this upcoming Tuesday, 4 March. Here is an important thing to keep in mind if you don't live in a major US city - there are exactly ten French Consulates in the entire United States. There are just five Dutch Consulates. It is possible to do everything by mail, but be aware that will take much longer than doing it all in person.
What exactly do you need to prove to get a long-stay visa? The most important thing is finances. Somehow you need to convince your Port-of-Entry country that you are not going to seek any paid employment or government services, and that you have enough money to support yourself for the duration of your stay. You also need to have already purchased your flight tickets that clearly indicate your return date to the US (yes, before they grant you a visa, you need to spend the money on the plane tickets). You need to have health insurance that is valid in your port-of-entry country and be able to prove you have a place to stay when you arrive. You will also have to write a letter stating why you want the visa and promising not to seek employment AND if you've done any traveling in the past three years, you need to be able to list that (just go by the stamps in your passport).
Health insurance is easy - there are a million places to buy "Travelers Insurance," and it's not terribly expensive. France requires coverage of up to 37,000 Euros, and Specialty Risk is just one place that offers very comprehensive policies at about $30 a month for European travel (not that I'm surprised, but rates double if you wanted to be covered in the US). As far as a place to stay - I'm lucky that I still have very close friends in Paris that will host me and submit the information I need... and it's a lot of information. They need to write a letter stating they will host me, provide a copy of their lease and proof of income, and explain their relationship to me. If you know people that might help you out like this but don't have a real, legit, legal lease/housing contact - it won't work.
My flight tickets have been purchased, so that's done. Now the only issue is money and my letter - which will be almost entirely honest. I will say that I plan to travel through Europe for 8 months to visit friends, be a tourist, and check out graduate schools. I'm going to leave out the part where I hope to stay in Europe and live in Amsterdam. Because who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind, right? As far as finances go, I can show my recent paystubs and prove that I'll have enough savings before I go.
It does seem a little weird to be doing all of this through France when the idea is to live in Amsterdam. If I was flying into Amsterdam, I would have to apply for the same type of visa, but to the Dutch consulate. Even though it's hard for me to believe, the Dutch immigration laws are even more strict and rigid than they are in France in a lot of ways, and I would rather avoid Holland even knowing that I exist until I figure out a legal way to live there. I also don't have any friends in Amsterdam that I would feel comfortable asking to vouch for me the way my friends in Paris will. The couple in Paris that is helping me out have been my friends for several years, and know and trust me.
I hope this isn't too confusing. I know that not everyone who is looking for advice on this type of thing will find all the details I provided helpful, but my point in explaining it is to point out that there are a lot of ways of staying in Europe, even if it doesn't seem obvious right away. An Australian friend of mine who moved to Berlin over a year ago recently told me a couple things I never heard before (if Amsterdam doesn't work out, I think I really will try Berlin). These are her words, which I edited down a bit just to get to the end of this post already:
In Germany, there are multiple visa options.... A) the Freelance visa. This is the magic ticket for most Americans/Australians/etc. in Germany. It's name might not be obvious... on all official websites etc. in Germany, this looks like a visa for people who want to set up a business, but in fact you can get it for any freelance work. B) the Student visa. Magically, in Germany, student visas aren't just for people enrolled in degree courses. You can also get a student visa for up to two years to study German. You need proof of enrolment at a language school (but you don't need to enrol more than say 3 months to get a two year visa).
This long-stay visa is something I've done before, and this time around I actually got guidance from an immigration lawyer. If I run into any trouble along the way, I'll be sure to write about it. I have received so much assistance from friends (and strangers!) over the years when it comes to this type of stuff, and I hope that I can help others learn through my experiences. Plus, keeping a blog is a great way to procrastinate when I really should be gathering my paperwork, updating my resume, and finding my plane tickets.
And thanks to all of the folks who have gotten in touch with me lately to offer encouragement or advice. It's always great to hear from anyone who is reading!
As an American, I am allowed to stay in Holland - and the entire Schengen Area - for three months with just a passport. I know three months isn't enough time for me to figure out if I can make my desire to live in Amsterdam a reality, so I'm applying for a long-stay Schengen Visa, valid for about eight months. Because I'm flying into Paris, I need to apply to the French Consulate - France is my "port of entry" into the Schengen area. This visa won't allow me to (legally) work or declare residency anywhere, but it will serve one very important purpose - I won't get deported for staying in Europe for more than three months if someone asks to see my passport.
Since right now my plan is to stay in Europe from 21 April - 22 December 2008 (at the very least), I need to cover myself. If someone stops me on a street in Amsterdam come October, I need to be able to show that I was granted permission to travel within the Schengen area and that I'm just another tourist. It's not exactly a fun process to get this visa, which shouldn't come as a surprise. First, I need to get a police report that says I have no criminal record (if you do, I don't know what that means, but I assume it makes things more difficult). To obtain that report, I have to go to the police station in the county where I reside (which is currently Los Angeles). The police just need to see a valid ID that indicates I live in the county that they serve, then they look me up and print out some kind of official letter stating I'm not a criminal. However, as of this morning, I did not have any ID that shows I live in California - my drivers license is from New York (pay attention, Americans, this is important for you to know). So that meant that this morning I had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and exchange my New York ID for a California ID. It took about two hours, cost $26, and they required me to provide a thumb print, pass a 36-question written test, take a vision test, and tell them how much I weigh. California is strange.
Now that I have an ID that clearly indicates I live in Los Angeles County, my next stop is the Records & Identification Division of the Los Angeles County Police Department for the police clearance ($15). After that is accomplished, I just need to gather every single piece of documentation imaginable (birth certificate, social security card, etc.) and take all of that to the French Consulate in Los Angeles this upcoming Tuesday, 4 March. Here is an important thing to keep in mind if you don't live in a major US city - there are exactly ten French Consulates in the entire United States. There are just five Dutch Consulates. It is possible to do everything by mail, but be aware that will take much longer than doing it all in person.
What exactly do you need to prove to get a long-stay visa? The most important thing is finances. Somehow you need to convince your Port-of-Entry country that you are not going to seek any paid employment or government services, and that you have enough money to support yourself for the duration of your stay. You also need to have already purchased your flight tickets that clearly indicate your return date to the US (yes, before they grant you a visa, you need to spend the money on the plane tickets). You need to have health insurance that is valid in your port-of-entry country and be able to prove you have a place to stay when you arrive. You will also have to write a letter stating why you want the visa and promising not to seek employment AND if you've done any traveling in the past three years, you need to be able to list that (just go by the stamps in your passport).
Health insurance is easy - there are a million places to buy "Travelers Insurance," and it's not terribly expensive. France requires coverage of up to 37,000 Euros, and Specialty Risk is just one place that offers very comprehensive policies at about $30 a month for European travel (not that I'm surprised, but rates double if you wanted to be covered in the US). As far as a place to stay - I'm lucky that I still have very close friends in Paris that will host me and submit the information I need... and it's a lot of information. They need to write a letter stating they will host me, provide a copy of their lease and proof of income, and explain their relationship to me. If you know people that might help you out like this but don't have a real, legit, legal lease/housing contact - it won't work.
My flight tickets have been purchased, so that's done. Now the only issue is money and my letter - which will be almost entirely honest. I will say that I plan to travel through Europe for 8 months to visit friends, be a tourist, and check out graduate schools. I'm going to leave out the part where I hope to stay in Europe and live in Amsterdam. Because who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind, right? As far as finances go, I can show my recent paystubs and prove that I'll have enough savings before I go.
It does seem a little weird to be doing all of this through France when the idea is to live in Amsterdam. If I was flying into Amsterdam, I would have to apply for the same type of visa, but to the Dutch consulate. Even though it's hard for me to believe, the Dutch immigration laws are even more strict and rigid than they are in France in a lot of ways, and I would rather avoid Holland even knowing that I exist until I figure out a legal way to live there. I also don't have any friends in Amsterdam that I would feel comfortable asking to vouch for me the way my friends in Paris will. The couple in Paris that is helping me out have been my friends for several years, and know and trust me.
I hope this isn't too confusing. I know that not everyone who is looking for advice on this type of thing will find all the details I provided helpful, but my point in explaining it is to point out that there are a lot of ways of staying in Europe, even if it doesn't seem obvious right away. An Australian friend of mine who moved to Berlin over a year ago recently told me a couple things I never heard before (if Amsterdam doesn't work out, I think I really will try Berlin). These are her words, which I edited down a bit just to get to the end of this post already:
In Germany, there are multiple visa options.... A) the Freelance visa. This is the magic ticket for most Americans/Australians/etc. in Germany. It's name might not be obvious... on all official websites etc. in Germany, this looks like a visa for people who want to set up a business, but in fact you can get it for any freelance work. B) the Student visa. Magically, in Germany, student visas aren't just for people enrolled in degree courses. You can also get a student visa for up to two years to study German. You need proof of enrolment at a language school (but you don't need to enrol more than say 3 months to get a two year visa).
This long-stay visa is something I've done before, and this time around I actually got guidance from an immigration lawyer. If I run into any trouble along the way, I'll be sure to write about it. I have received so much assistance from friends (and strangers!) over the years when it comes to this type of stuff, and I hope that I can help others learn through my experiences. Plus, keeping a blog is a great way to procrastinate when I really should be gathering my paperwork, updating my resume, and finding my plane tickets.
And thanks to all of the folks who have gotten in touch with me lately to offer encouragement or advice. It's always great to hear from anyone who is reading!
October 22, 2007
Coming up with a plan
I intended to write up this post with all the paperwork next to me, but me and my paperwork aren't in the same spot right now, so let's just see if I can do this off the top of my head.
If I understand everything correctly, it seems like there's not much that I can do before I get to Amsterdam in terms of telling them I want to live there. Because I'm American, I don't have to apply for an MVV (Machtiging voor Voorlopig Verblijf - authorisation for a temporary stay) before I get there. This is a huge difference between France and the Netherlands (in a good way!). When I moved to Paris, I had to apply for a long-stay visa while I was still in the states (which required three separate trips to the French consulate in Washington DC) and then basically repeat the entire process when I got to France. But in moving to the Netherlands, I get to skip this step altogether ... which is just bizarre and kind of wonderful. The only people who DON'T need the MVV are EU/EER nationals, Americans, New Zealanders, Australians, and of course anyone from Switzerland. My nationality also exempts me from having to take a TB test once I'm there, and again, that's something I had to do in Paris (and that chest X-ray cost a lot of money).
However, once I arrive in Amsterdam, I'll have to go to the City Hall in the municipality where I live and apply for a residence permit. This requires a ton of paperwork and a lot of money... between €330-430, depending on which permit I apply for. I know that sounds extreme, but when I think about how much I ended up paying altogether for my Paris visa and carte de sejour, it's actually about the same. The residence permit application gets sent off to the IND (Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Dpt), and they have six months to decide if they want to let me stay. And during that time period, I'm considered legal. This page explains everything rather simply, though the first place I learned about all this was the 30-page IND brochure, which gives a lot more details.
If I'm granted the residence permit, it will be good for one year, which I think is great. One year will be enough time for me to figure out if this whole Amsterdam thing is a good idea, and if everything is going well, I'll be able to extend the permit (the IND will send me an extension application three months before the first one expires).
I still have a huge amount to do (like save money) to prepare for this move, but it's all very manageable and just requires a lot of self-motivation. The hard stuff will happen once I'm there - like finding a place to live in one of the most most over-crowded cities in Europe. That may have scared me a few years ago, but after budget apartment-hunting in NYC (which was even more difficult than Paris) on two separate occasions, nothing can scare me. Even the prices in Amsterdam aren't a huge concern, and again, I have living in NYC and Paris to thank for that.
If I understand everything correctly, it seems like there's not much that I can do before I get to Amsterdam in terms of telling them I want to live there. Because I'm American, I don't have to apply for an MVV (Machtiging voor Voorlopig Verblijf - authorisation for a temporary stay) before I get there. This is a huge difference between France and the Netherlands (in a good way!). When I moved to Paris, I had to apply for a long-stay visa while I was still in the states (which required three separate trips to the French consulate in Washington DC) and then basically repeat the entire process when I got to France. But in moving to the Netherlands, I get to skip this step altogether ... which is just bizarre and kind of wonderful. The only people who DON'T need the MVV are EU/EER nationals, Americans, New Zealanders, Australians, and of course anyone from Switzerland. My nationality also exempts me from having to take a TB test once I'm there, and again, that's something I had to do in Paris (and that chest X-ray cost a lot of money).
However, once I arrive in Amsterdam, I'll have to go to the City Hall in the municipality where I live and apply for a residence permit. This requires a ton of paperwork and a lot of money... between €330-430, depending on which permit I apply for. I know that sounds extreme, but when I think about how much I ended up paying altogether for my Paris visa and carte de sejour, it's actually about the same. The residence permit application gets sent off to the IND (Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Dpt), and they have six months to decide if they want to let me stay. And during that time period, I'm considered legal. This page explains everything rather simply, though the first place I learned about all this was the 30-page IND brochure, which gives a lot more details.
If I'm granted the residence permit, it will be good for one year, which I think is great. One year will be enough time for me to figure out if this whole Amsterdam thing is a good idea, and if everything is going well, I'll be able to extend the permit (the IND will send me an extension application three months before the first one expires).
I still have a huge amount to do (like save money) to prepare for this move, but it's all very manageable and just requires a lot of self-motivation. The hard stuff will happen once I'm there - like finding a place to live in one of the most most over-crowded cities in Europe. That may have scared me a few years ago, but after budget apartment-hunting in NYC (which was even more difficult than Paris) on two separate occasions, nothing can scare me. Even the prices in Amsterdam aren't a huge concern, and again, I have living in NYC and Paris to thank for that.
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