Trotskor

We went through Direct Consular Filing (I'm relocating to the US for work) so our process was somewhat different, as we skipped the NVC stage. 

France is a low-(if not inexistant)-fraud country, so the questions are minimal. We did the interview in French -- although they don't care and in fact ask if you prefer French or English, I'm just stating this to say that speaking French isn't anything prejudicial since there's no language requirement -- and the girl at the window had a charming American accent. The questions were simple: oh you have a cosponsor? (I've lived in France for the past decade so my US income is considered as "0," I had to have my mother act as a cosponsor). Where are you going to live? How did you meet? It's mostly a chat. 

Bring all the documents they ask for, and as I mentioned earlier, defer to the State Department website. We had more than they wanted, but it's better to be leaning in that direction than in the opposite ..

You learn immediately if the visa is approved. There's usually little chance of a CR1/IR1 visa being denied in Paris (once again, there's very little visa fraud committed by French citizens), as long as you have all of the documents and meet the basic requirements. 

On the other hand, the courier service they use is frustrating -- I had to email them in order to register my interview, and it's been two weeks and we don't have his passport back yet. The visa was listed as issued/printed on the state department site two days after the interview, so the wait is getting a bit irritating. 

I attended my husband's CR1 interview in Paris on July 10th, and that didn't pose any problem at all.

On the other hand, regarding the information on their website, I'd recommend that you follow the list published on the State Department's website for what documents are necessary. As an example, the Paris Embassy's site mentions 1 photo of the applicant, and when you arrive you find out they want 2.

Also, while I'm sure you know this, I thought I'd mention it: don't. bring. a laptop. They will refuse you entry, and you will spend twenty minutes running around the neighborhood looking for a place that will allow you to check a laptop with them (I speak from personal experience ...) 

This is a topic that is being debated very maturely and is focusing solely on the directives followed by consular officers, thus answering any questions in a straightforward manner.

Read INA 301(g) - if you’ve been present in the US for at least 5 years, of which two were after the age of 14, the child acquired US citizenship in birth during wedlock with an alien mother. 

On edit: Are these residency requirements the ones you say you haven’t fulfilled? It’s not 5 consecutive years immediately preceeding the birth, just to be clear. 

You are a US citizen. Your child will be a citizen at birth. 

Contact your local consulate to see the procedure for declaring a birth abroad. 

Two thoughts:

A) I don’t see those instructions on the embassy page, and frankly they seem a bit onerous, because ... 

B) I’m wondering whether the instructions on the visajourney page are originally intended for those born abroad and who were then *naturalised* at some point. I mention it because, for example, my husband was born in Colombia, but he’s not Colombian, and his French birth certificate clearly lists his French parents. I don’t have any idea about how he could even go about asking for a Colombian birth certificate. 

C) In french law the état civil is sufficient, so I don’t know why they’d require a different country’s birth certificate of which you aren’t even a citizen. 

That being said, we haven’t gone through the interview process. Those specific instructions aren’t on the embassy’s site, so I’m left wondering what the source of the visajourney post is. 

The word “except,” which you have here in bold, is the primary logical operator. If the document is in Turkish, it will be accepted. Likewise, if the document is in English, it will also be accepted. 

Any document in any other language must be translated. 

The message is not confusing. It is quite clearly written. 

I sent in our I-130 (I’m a US citizen living in France, spouse is French) on June 30th. Received NOA1 on the 13th of July, file routed to Nebraska.