[quote user="Sunday Driver"] I'm not surprised the prefectures are refusing to issue residence permits to people who don't actually need them in order to be resident here. It's a non-obligatory administrative process which represents an unnecessary cost to the prefecture/taxpayer. Given the amount of people who complain about "burocracy" in France, I wonder why anyone would want to go through the hoops just to acquire a document that's not worth the paper it's printed on... In terms of encountering a gendarme, the only offence you're likely to commit (hopefully) is a driving one and in the case of a traffic pull, your UK driving licence will be sufficient proof of identity. On the other hand, if you're going equipped for burglary, then it'd obviously be a good idea to load up with ID.........[;-)] New to this forum so if I'm repeating something that's been talked about please forgive. My husband and I, retired, American citizens are now awaiting our Visas in order to move to and live in France for an unspecified amount of time (could be several years, could be the rest of our lives). We have been told that we must report to either the Le Mairie or the La Prefecture within 7 days of moving to where we will be living and present all the paperwork that was required to get our Visas in order to apply for a Carte de Sejour. At that time we would receive a receipt showing that we had applied and that about five or six months down the line we would get the actual "Carte." Is this indeed the process? We want to have French residency but not French citizenship. Thanks! Lyn - Winter Park, FL, USA [/quote]