Unknown to my children or indeed anyone around here, there has been a fair bit of stress over the last few months dealing with new brexit related rules which meant that if I wanted to stay in France legally I would have to provide proof of residency with two specific documents. It was understood initially that I had to prove my presence in France five years ago. However, since my initial arrival here six years ago I have stayed mostly off the radar as far as official documents are concerned and simply didn't have what was being asked of me. Sabrina and I are not married and we don't have any documents to prove our togetherness. I don't have a bank account or mobile phone contract and my name is not on any bills. And having two children with french passports and my surname apparently doesn't make any difference.
I was able in the end to provide a medical insurance document set up in my name when we first arrived here. This however, was not enough for them and my application was denied around a month ago. For a while I felt a little concerned about this reality, especially as I had now identified myself to the french government as being here illegally, putting me suddenly in a position where I had to fix this or face immediate deportation!
I considered the option of just being illegal and running off to the woods, but there would always be a chance that one day I might be asked to produce my french residency card for some unexpected reason and failing to do so, there would not be too many questions asked before my deportation. Having seen something along these lines happen to 
Upon further investigation it turned out that for the most basic and short term residency card I only had to prove my residency in France at the beginning of 2020. This was much easier to do because we live underneath the office of our village mayor who has seen me here most days for the last few years. He was willing to write a letter to this effect, proving also my togetherness with Sabrina. Mayors are like the top dogs around here, so even though this was not listed as one of the types of document needed to prove my residency or relationship with a french national, by some wonderful twist of fate we happen to live in the only house in the village for this to be possible.
And finally it was done!
The approval came through this morning and I must now give them my fingerprints and photographs, planting myself firmly on their database for the first time.
While I don't feel great about that I can at least relax now in the knowledge that the chances of my sudden deportation have dramatically declined.
In a month I will have my "carte de sΓ©jour" and I will be legal for a few years before having to go through the same process again. At which point I will likely have to sweet talk a mayor again!
Love & Light everyone π±
