I had an appointment in Marseille today. It was my medical exam at the Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration. I already have my student visa but the sticker you get after your medical examination verifies that you're healthy and is basically a resident permit. It's a requirement for the long-stay visa which is allows you to live in France for over 3 months.
Though there was some hellacious traffic, I made it to the appointment on time. There's a group of people that are given the same time as you so when you sign in you're basically given a number and told to wait. It's first come, first serve. The first part of the exam is a chest x-ray. When your number is called you're put into a little booth with two doors. This is where you undress. The x-ray technician then opens up the other door to the x-ray room. They set you up against the machine, take a quick picture, and you're finished. The entire process took a minute or two.
For the next part of the exam, you are questioned by a doctor. They ask you if you're on any medications, if you feel healthy, and if you've had all of your vaccinations. The doctor also asks you if you're on any birth control pills. I'm on birth control but I'm not on the pill so I had to explain that to him. This turned into a conversation about birth control methods in the U.S. The doctor explained to me that France is behind on contraception because no one wants to do the research. He explained that he's currently working on a project to bring better contraceptive methods to France because the teen pregnancy rate here is also growing.
Speaking of teen pregnancy, I was just told that my 17 year old sister just had her baby. That's a whole nother history that I don't want to get into...
Anyway, the doctor takes your blood pressure, checks your breathing, and looks at your chest x-ray. After that, you're good to go.
When you get to the counter to get your official OFII sticker, you also have to present 58 euro in timbres fiscals. My host parents and I must've missed this requirement on the forms but the woman at the counter explained to me that I could buy them at the tabac just below. These little stamps that you can buy in any amount are used to pay public agencies. I still don't understand why I couldn't have given her cash. Oh well...Systems. Anyway, I'm official! Now I can finally renew my visa so I can stay until the end of July!!!
In short, the medical examination process was really simple. The only thing that took any significant amount of time was waiting.
Though there was some hellacious traffic, I made it to the appointment on time. There's a group of people that are given the same time as you so when you sign in you're basically given a number and told to wait. It's first come, first serve. The first part of the exam is a chest x-ray. When your number is called you're put into a little booth with two doors. This is where you undress. The x-ray technician then opens up the other door to the x-ray room. They set you up against the machine, take a quick picture, and you're finished. The entire process took a minute or two.
For the next part of the exam, you are questioned by a doctor. They ask you if you're on any medications, if you feel healthy, and if you've had all of your vaccinations. The doctor also asks you if you're on any birth control pills. I'm on birth control but I'm not on the pill so I had to explain that to him. This turned into a conversation about birth control methods in the U.S. The doctor explained to me that France is behind on contraception because no one wants to do the research. He explained that he's currently working on a project to bring better contraceptive methods to France because the teen pregnancy rate here is also growing.
Speaking of teen pregnancy, I was just told that my 17 year old sister just had her baby. That's a whole nother history that I don't want to get into...
Anyway, the doctor takes your blood pressure, checks your breathing, and looks at your chest x-ray. After that, you're good to go.
When you get to the counter to get your official OFII sticker, you also have to present 58 euro in timbres fiscals. My host parents and I must've missed this requirement on the forms but the woman at the counter explained to me that I could buy them at the tabac just below. These little stamps that you can buy in any amount are used to pay public agencies. I still don't understand why I couldn't have given her cash. Oh well...Systems. Anyway, I'm official! Now I can finally renew my visa so I can stay until the end of July!!!
In short, the medical examination process was really simple. The only thing that took any significant amount of time was waiting.
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