don't leave home without it

The plan for tomorrow morning is to go get my visa at the Consulat Général de France à Boston (the French Consulate in Boston).The visa I'm getting won't help me buy bagettes or vin, but it will help me get into France.

"A visa is an official authorization appended to a passport, permitting entry into and travel within a particular country or region. When visas are required, they are necessary entry documents, but they do not guarantee entry into a country. The Immigration Officer at the point of arrival will review visas and/or other documents and make a determination as to whether entry will be permitted, based on the purpose of entry and the length of stay. There is no legal right to a visa." (according to Cultural Experiences Abroad)

I'm nervous because I don't really have a letter from my University saying that I'm a currently enrolled student although I do have the bill for this past semester and next semester, in addition to an unofficial transcript... I am leaving three weeks from today and I don't really know what I would do if I didn't get a visa! If I do get it, it will be glued into a page of my passport and look something like the image on the right.

Among the things I need to bring with me tomorrow are two filled out long-stay visa application forms. This would be easy enough - expect they are in French! Now, I could understand pretty much everything on the form, but since it's an official document and could determine whether or not I get my visa, I sure as hell didn't want to mess it up. I searched the internet and found an english translation of the application. Maybe the French Consulate should think about doing something similar because I sure was stressed out before I found the translation. And nowhere does it say whether to fill out the form in English or French (I did it in English - hopefully it's okay).

So tomorrow I go. And then I panic for three days as I wait to see if I've gotten my visa.

Oh, and apparently it's supposed to snow heavily tomorrow. This should be interesting!