Sunday 13 December 2015

Algerian Residency




Alhamdulialh I finally got my 10 year Algerian Residency after 2 years, 7 months and a few weeks….but who’s counting.  I signed and paw marked in triplicate and now it’s ALL MINE!!!!  The policemen (yes….men…they were a jovial crowd) laughed and said they’d all be retired next time I came in.  I’ll miss them…I’ve seen them every 3 months for the past 2 and half years, more often than my own family in Ireland.  I am so excited at ALL the things I can do with it – I can leave the country, and then come back…..and …then…leave again…..and then…come back again. Admittedly I could do this before with the temporary residency paper, the récépissé , but usually received funny looks and a few ‘wait here a minute while I check’s as they gingerly held the ancient artefact with the countless  renewal date stamps and numerous folding creases that looked like it was going to disintegrate at any moment.  And maybe once in a while the school might allow me to sign something for one of the children, so that I can feel like I am of some use after all. 

I had heard that they were stopping the 10 year Residency and I know one sister who has lived here longer than me, who received a 2 year one instead of a 10 year one, and she was told that she should hang on to her récépissé to prove that she had applied for it before the beginning of this year, as they were stopping the 10 year residency altogether.  Then my husband told me that a policeman friend had told him the same thing.  But when my husband asked the very nice policeman today he said that the 10 year residency is still in place and that anyone applying has to be married to an Algerian and living here for 3 years ( I had heard at one time it was 5 and another it was 7).  So it must be true….because the man in the station says it’s so, at least today anyway.  Tomorrow a different policeman, a different station…..a different story.

So now….what am I going to do with myself??? I know!!!  I think it’s just the right time to start applying for the next one.


6 comments:

  1. salamou aleykoum,

    masha'a Allah mabrook dear sister!

    Do you the next thing you can apply for is the algerian passport??

    salam,
    um-zakaria

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  2. Walaykum asalaam wa rahmatulah, Um zakaria - How are you and family? I applied for my Nationality around the same time as I applied for my Residency - my husband just thought it was easier to get all the paperwork at the same time as a lot of it was similar. But, although I've had a couple of interviews I've heard nothing. My husband was waiting for me to receive my Residency before he started chasing up after it, so watch this space inshallah!

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  3. I've been waiting for my two year residency for almost three years! I have to get a temporary card stamped every three months like you said, and I'm on my second one actually. I was thinking mine got lost in space somewhere, but reading that yours took so long gives me hope...though I guess I'll have to reapply right when I get it!

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    1. You shouldn't have to wait so long for a two year residency - mine took so long because my application was for a 10 year one which has more paperwork involved. The upside is that they date it from the time it's ready, not from the first time you've applied for it, so once you have it you can relax for about 22 months until you have to start the whole insane paper chase again.

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  4. I thought it is easier to get Algerian residency.

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    1. It is fairly straightforward as long as you have all the paperwork and know the right person to whom to give it. You do need to go here and there to get different kinds of paperwork but it's not that difficult once you know what you need to bring with you to get it all done. In this post I applied for my 10 year Residency - your Residency needs to be renewed every 2 years until you've been here a certain amount of time, and then you can apply for the 10 year one inshallah.

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