Hi everyone!
After 5 long, wet, cold, difficult months in Stenay, France the day had finally arrived for the much awaited and feared OMI medical visit required for the carte de sejour or also any other carte in France. The convocation said that I needed to go to 2 different addresses in Metz, France on May 15, 2002. My first appointment was at 11:30 am for the x-ray of my lungs. The second appoint was at 1:30 pm for the medical part of the visit. My friend and I left Stenay around 8:30 am, affording us ample time to find the proper addresses. I thought that if I arrived a little early, that perhaps we could be seen quicker. After much difficulty at finding the location and given many wrong directions, a police officer put us in the good direction. I am currently not able to do a lot of walking do to a weight problem which is caused by a sick thyroid (currently under treatment in France). We had to emergency park directly in front of the entrance to the centuries old building, which thankfully had an elevator. After depositing me and my almost 4 year old dual nationality daughter, my friend parked the car and came back to help me. It was now 10:30 am, "Good, I thought. At least we arrived an hour early." Anxiously searching for a seat in the semi-crowded small waiting area, 2 women approached me, informing me and my friend that we were not allowed to wait until appointment time. We were instructed that they simply did not have room for early arrivals. They were unsympathetic to my plight concerning my walking situation. I was a littler irate, needless to say. In this case, it doesn't pay to demand to speak to the director. My friend and I saved the situation by opting to camp outside on the staircase for an hour, mostly in dark since the light in the stairs were activated by opening and closing doors. As we sat there cursing the system to ourselves, we watched several other applicants come and leave who also thought that arriving early was a good thing. Eventually another family joined us. The mother was a doctor and had been in France since October. I think that she was a political asylum seeker. At 11:30 am sharp, we arrived back with radiology presenting them the convocation. To our shock and dismay, there were at least 30 people ahead of us! When the short, smiling French women called my name, I was excited and nervous both. "Woooooohoo!", I thought to myself, "It's almost over." She instructed me en Francais to remove everything from my waist up. A robe was not provided. I followed her half naked to a large, cold room where I was informed to inhale and the given moment. I kept wondering when I was to exhale. She forgot to tell me that I could breathe again. Fortunately, I decided to breathe without her approval or I am sure that I would have passed out. Back to the less densely populated waiting area to await the results of the x-ray. Everything came back OK. However, at the last moment, plans were changed and we had to go directly to the OMI office in Metz for the medical instead of the actual doctor's office! What a nightmare! Most of the streets in Metz were extremely confusing to us. Practically everything was one way or cars were not allowed. It took us nearly an hour of driving frantically in search of this blasted building. I told my friend that I guess all in all, I was lucky to come to Metz. I imagined being like one of those poor people in Paris that I met in the waiting room and had to come to Metz. I was pleased that I didn't have to travel to Paris for my visit. I was under the misconception that one would have an OMI visit in the office of their department. Not true at all. Once again, we arrived at another densely populated waiting room which resembled a sample of the melting pot of the USA. This time, there was not an elevator. I had slowly climbed up one flight of a lovely spiralling staircase and I reached the top stair, I gently collapsed on the floor. I sat there for a little over an hour until I was nearly the last person to be called. I was told there would be a urine test and eye test. I was told that I needed to show proof of my vaccinations, etc. I was so many things by the OMNI and various other people including information on websites that I had NO idea what to expect from this visit. To my surprise and delight, the doctor not only spoke English fluently, he was friendly, talkative, compassionate and kind. The only thing that he did was to examine my blood pressure. I did show him proof of my immunisations and other pertinent medical information. He asked about my eyes, where I informed him that I wear glasses. A urine sample was not required, nor a blood sample. He looked at my x-ray pics of my lungs checking for signs of TB. HE told me that they get about 4 cases a month of TB. He said that these cases generally come from North Africa. I asked him if France deports people back to their native country if they do not pass the medical. He firmly replied, "no." He said that they never send people back, never. He said that the OMI visit is a measure of control. TO inform people what sickness they have and try to help them get treatment for the known or unknown malady. They primarily look for TB in order that they can control it from presenting an outbreak. "WoW!!", I thought to myself, "I went through months of sleepness nights worrying if I would pass the OMI medical visit or not, stressing if I would have to leave the country based on the results of the OMI visit, only to discover that they NEVER, I repeat NEVER send anyone back to their home country. SHOCK. SHOCK. SHOCK. JOY. JOY. JOY. In two more weeks I should have my 10 year carte de sejour. I think that I will go to Mc Donald's with the kids, lol. Bonne Chance!
PS Next time I will tell you what I had to go through to get to the point before the OMI visit. All in all, it was a fun ride, lol.
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