Today Jube and I received our livret de famille in the mail. It looks like a bigger version of my US passport: navy blue with a gold crest on the front. The only downside is that they misspelled my name inside. It seems to be a common mistake for speakers of Latin languages, since they made the same mistake on my Spanish student visa.
Now in only 3 years and 9 months I have the "right to French nationality." However, there were a couple of parts of the contract I was unaware of until we received the livret. First of all, there are les obligations alimentaires. I have to feed Belle-mere and Beau-pere, and Jube has to feed my parents, and they have to feed us too. Fun, eh? But it's okay, I like to cook. Mom, Dad, Belle-maman, Beau-papa: you'll never go hungry again! There are also rules about the surnames we can legally give our children, how soon we have to report their births, and other interesting financial obligations.
I have to say, the livret de famille is much more informative than an American marriage certificate. Now I know exactly what I signed up for...
3 comments:
Is there a time limit for feeding Meda and me? Do we have to become senior citizens first?? Congratulations on being a French Family!!
There are no conditions at all! Of course, that means that you have to feed us too, and not just at Thanksgiving :)
I'm a bit curious about that though, because I was looking in the little pamphlet the mairie gave me on "Droits de la famille," and saw that en cas qu'un conjoint est de nationalité étrangère that the couple can decide which law (French law or American) applies to their marriage. It's so horribly confusing...
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