Chronicle of departure: D-210 - Tellement French!

First Published on January 8th 2017

That’s it: the holidays are over (by the way, happy new year to all of you!) And the short break of end of the year is already finished. What I love particularly during this period is the momentary shutdown of my children’s homework and extra-curricular activities, which let us to temporarily take time off from our school support and taxi driver activities.

But the first week of the new year is already over and one of the issues I am most concerned about at this beginning of the year is the preparation of our departure to the United States.

In the last few weeks, although largely busy by the preparation of the holidays, I took care of a few tasks that are progressing … slowly.

– The equivalence of my diplomas

Our departure to the United States is professionally supported by the new position of my husband. However I’m willing to continue working, and if possible, in a field that I like.

I have a double degree of engineer and psychologist. I worked several years in several companies (with my 1st diploma), before I completely switched to the profession of psychologist. The diplomas issue is highly regulated both in France and in the United States.

The engineering degree of Grandes Ecoles is easily convertible (only since 2013, when the two countries agreed on equivalences). On the other hand, a total uncertainty reigns over the equivalences between diplomas in psychology.

I have already explained in an interview the specificities of the American system compared to the French one. One important point is that each State in the United States manages its equivalences in terms of psychology degree. I therefore contacted the due Psychology Board and as I expected, obtaining a possible equivalence requires a long administrative journey … I just committed myself, we will see what this will lead to.

– Visa

We will apply for a visa on the basis of my husband’s job offer (for him and his “dependents”: us!) As I explained in a previous article, we are supposed to spend at least 2 years in France after our stay in Baltimore in 2014 (the calculation of the exact time required is pretty complicated) before this new visa. The future university of my husband will take care of the administrative procedures, but it is necessary to calculate the delays and take margins because the American Administration is very strict … So we agreed that the best time to apply for a visa will be in April, only 3 months before our departure.

– Putting in order and selling our stuff

Unlike our stay in 2014, we will take with us a large part of our furnitures and stuff. And unlike 2014, a significant part of the cost of our move will be reimbursed by the future employer, which is great J But even in these conditions the remaining costs will be pretty significant because I realize that over the years we have accumulated so many things…

The sorting and discarding issue is one of the most complicated tasks that await me. I hate it (but who doesn’t?) and we also feel an attachment to a lot of our things that remind us of memories (for example, of our children’s stuff among others).

Even for the stuff and furniture we are willing to discard (such as domestic appliances, hardly reusable in the USA), we must choose what to do with them. I know about the websites such as leboncoin.fr but the perspective of describing all items one by one on these websites, welcome potential buyers who come to see the article, discuss the price, etc. hassles me (perhaps because it would be my first time…). For the moment I delay this step, but until when?!

Unfortunately for the moment I feel like we are getting anywhere rather than going forward! I am familiar with this very subjective feeling which comes from the fact that the more you advance, the more you discover tricky issues and the more you face new chores to accomplish. The secret is in regularity. Easier said than done!