American, 79, Denied Residence Permit After 50 Years in France

Monique Kaltschmidt-Nadel has been in a relationship with a Frenchman for decades and is the mother of two daughters of French nationality. She is not French herself. She is therefore obliged, like any resident in France, to renew her residence permit every ten years. If she has always been able to obtain the precious permit, the septuagenarian who lives in Menthon-Saint-Bernard, in Haute-Savoie, is struggling to renew her residence permit this time, due to a confusion around her surname and the difficulties in carrying out the procedures online, reports Le Dauphiné Libéré. "Apparently, they are not trying to understand," laments Monique Kaltschmidt-Nadel, who cannot obtain a physical appointment with the administration. She also deplores: "They do not take into account the fact that at my age, I need to talk to a person face to face".

This difficulty arose after the dematerialization of the procedure to request a new card. "If there is a misunderstanding, at some point they have to summon her. This dematerialization is a drama for all situations that are on the margins," says Helena, one of the American’s daughters. She did not apply for French nationality after half a century spent in the country. The reason? "Until 1995, it was not possible without losing my American nationality," explains the septuagenarian, who is also a foreigner born to German parents who emigrated to the United States to flee Nazism, which had deprived them of their nationality.

Her French residence permit indicates her maiden name, Kaltschmidt, with the signature "Monique K. Nadel", reports BFMTV. For her last application to renew her residence permit, the septuagenarian requested that the two names be associated with a hyphen. According to her, this is probably what created confusion with the French administration. While waiting to prevail, she can be content with the extension of her current residence permit until next May.