An American woman who has legally lived in France for nearly 50 years is fighting to remain in the country, after being unable to renew her residency permit because of her name.
For the past six months Monique Kaltschmidt-Nadel, 79, who lives in Haute-Savoie with her French husband, has been trying to renew her 10-year carte de séjour without success – because the online application system won’t accept her name, reports Le Dauphiné Libéré.
It is the first time in half-a-century of legal residence here that the mother of two French daughters has encountered problems with her immigration status – and it is also the first time that she has used the online system to apply for her residency rights.
Despite repeated email discussions with départemental authorities, she has so far been unable to arrange a face-to-face appointment.
READ ALSO How to ‘regularise’ your immigration status in France
“They are clearly not trying to understand,” Kaltschmidt-Nadel told Le Dauphiné Libéré. “They don’t take into account the fact that at my age, I need to talk to someone face to face.”
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The fundamental issue appears to be her surname. For both professional and personal reasons she continues to use her ex-husband’s name – Nadel. This is the name that appears on her US passport.
But her existing French residence permit uses her birth name – Kaltschmidt, and bears the signature Monique K Nadel. In her application for a new permit, she has requested that it is issued in the name Kaltschmidt-Nadel.
There are strict rules on hyphenating surnames in France, as well as rules on name changes for married women.
READ ALSO: Reader question: Why is a married woman’s maiden name such a big deal in France?
She said that she does not want to go through the process of applying for French citizenship, in part because of her personal history. She was born in the US to German parents, who had fled across the Atlantic to escape Nazism.
After a first marriage and a first child, she crossed the Atlantic to France in 1976.
She has been granted an extension on her current residency permit until May, thanks to a récépissé, allowing a little extra time to solve the problem.
Why you might encounter name issues in France
The issue of name changes for married women is a common one in France, and it can be especially challenging for non-French women who go by their married names in France.
READ MORE: What’s in a name? Understanding how to fill out forms in France
The system here operates a little differently – upon marrying, a woman in France gains the right to use her spouse’s surname, but it never becomes her actual name. So while Monsieur Dupont’s wife may be known as Madame Dupont, her passport, driving licence and all other official documents remain in the name she was born with.
Instead Madame Dupont becomes her nom d’usage, and you can specify this on your carte de séjour.
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That said, if you wish to officially change your name on your French carte de séjour, you must declare a change (déclarer un changement) via the ANEF website.
You will be asked to your Acte de changement de nom, which is the a legal document attesting to your changed name. You would need to get this from your home country, and as such, you would need it to be translated into French (if it is not already in French).
You will need to attach the official translation alongside the document.
It is best to do this procedure once you already have your French carte de séjour, attempting to renew a card in a different name is likely to run into complications – but you can renew the card, and then request the name change.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
