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.