I recently read a Buzzfeed humor article, 31 Important Things You Learn When You Move Across The World. The article had two lines that really struck a chord with me: “You learn that forms that ask for a “permanent address” are evil, and didn’t account for people like you” and “ ‘Please provide a permanent address.’ *Cue Panic Attack*”

There is a lot truth in those lines, with Tracy and my retirement lifestyle of selling our home, being expats living abroad, short-term renting, and changing our city of residence every year or two has made us – by some definitions – without a permanent address.

In my previous career in police work, “No Permanent Address” or “No Fixed Address” was a euphemism for a person being homeless. (Tracy and I commented about being “homeless” after selling our house and the lease running out on our apartment rental just prior to our departure to Europe. It was an unsettled feeling for us, but certainly not the same as the reality faced by real homeless people.)

Wikipedia defines ” ‘No Fixed Abode’ or ‘Without Fixed Abode’ (as) a legal term generally applied to those who do not have a fixed geographical location as their residence. This is applicable to several groups:

• People who have a home, but which is not always in the same place:
  • Those whose occupation requires them to live permanently on boats, ships, or movable oil platforms, or to travel constantly (as showmen, for example).
  • Nomadic peoples (e.g. Indigenous Norwegian Travellers and Romanichal) and traveller groups (e.g. Irish Travellers, Scottish Gypsy and Traveller groups, New Age Travellers, Norwegian and Swedish Travellers); as well as individuals who adopt a mobile lifestyle, living in narrowboats, recreational vehicles, or the like.

While we do have friends who are full-time RV travelers in the US, almost all of them currently own a piece of real estate or physical home somewhere (even if it is currently rented to a tenant.)  Tracy are I are hardly vagabonds who are randomly camping in Roma settlements around France, but our process of moving frequently creates a necessity of updating our visa status, address, and other issues with French government agencies.  Our French visas actually classifies us as long-term “visiteurs” rather than as residents.

No longer owning a home in America and not physically living there has created a bit of a “grey area” with residency.  What is our “permanent address?”

The concept of “no permanent address” is a legitimate concern in today’s world.  In these modern times, if you want to vote, have a driver’s license, open a bank account, register a vehicle, have a credit card, or obtain health insurance, it isn’t just enough to have a U.S. passport, you need a permanent address.  In addition to American expatriates living abroad, this is a very common problem in the full-time RV community in the US. A post office box in many states is insufficient for a legal domicile. The demand for a “permanent address” has spawned companies (especially in Texas and South Dakota, Escapees RV Club being one example) who cater to full-time travelers by legally providing a permanent address.

Tracy and I, like many expats, have elected to use a family member’s address as our  permanent address in our former hometown of Reno, Nevada.  (When I was college-aged I used my parent’s address as my permanent address as I “hopscotched” between living arrangements and roommates.)  Because of Tracy and my decades-long connection to Reno and Sparks as residents, students, workers, taxpayers, homeowners, raising children and still having local family, and it being our last home, Reno serves as our official, permanent US residence.

This need for a permanent address isn’t  just an issue for RVers and expats. George H. W. Bush had a long career of public service as a congressman, ambassador to the UN, envoy to China, director of the CIA, vice president, and finally president of the US. That career frequently required that he lived in Washington D.C., New York, Virginia, Maryland, or overseas. From 1985 until his retirement in 1993 he used the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa in Houston, Texas as his legal domicile and official voting address (although he moved out of Houston in 1981, stayed at the Houstonian intermittently, paid rent only for days his rooms were actually occupied, and owned an actual residence in Kennebunkport, Maine.)  Former President Bush had signed an affidavit stating that he would build his retirement home in Houston and the “intent” stated in that document satisfied Texas that he was a bona fide resident of Texas (although Texas’ action did annoy some residents of Maine who, because of his home in Maine, felt former President Bush should have been considered a Maine resident and pay the Maine state income tax.)  After leaving public office former President Bush did make good on his promise and retired to Houston.

By no means do Tracy and I attempt to be “Perpetual Travelers” whose primary motive is to avoid becoming legal residents of any country with the ultimate goal of tax avoidance and evading any legal responsibilities of residency.  We contribute our fair share and fulfill our responsibilities to our countries of citizenship and occupancy.

While Tracy and I like to entertain a romantic fantasy of ourselves living a free-spirited, Bohemian, and unconventional expat life (cue images of Hemingways’s “Lost Generation” traveling from Paris to Pamplona in the 1920s or Montmartre’s diverse arts community from the movie, “Moulin Rouge!”), we are actually fairly orthodox, living within the many rules of “the system,” and we are definitely “on the grid” with a permanent address . . . but with an untraditional – and ever-changing – physical address.

Although we’ve had a French checking account for about a year, we’ve been exclusively using the account’s credit/debit card, the Carte Bleue, for in-person and online shopping. We have never bothered to obtain an actual checkbook from our bank in France.  We very seldom used checks in the US because of the prevalence of online payments.

But, we recently had a need for a chèque issued on a French bank, so I set about acquiring a French checkbook called a Chéquier or a Carnet de chèques. I went online to BNP Paribas, our French bank, and searched for the link to order a Carnet de chèques.  Of course, the website is in French and after stumbling around web pages for a good while using with my limited French language skills, I decided I needed some help locating the correct link.  

I “clicked in” to the BNP website’s “chat” function to “speak” with a bank representative who was extremely helpful.  Totally embracing technology, I had one computer window open to the BNP website, a second window open to chat with the bank representative, and a third window opened to Google Translate to expedite the conversation with the French speaking bank rep.   I worked through the  online conversation and finally located the right web page to order chèques.  However after reaching the correct webpage, I was offered the somewhat confusing options of:

While I understood the options of  ordering 1, 2, or 3 carnets (books) of chèques with either 30 or 60 chèques each, I had to do some additional online research to figure out exactly what the differences were between chèques portefeuille barrés, chèques ordinaires barrés, and chèques à talon barrés.  After visiting several online Expat forums I learned that: 

Chèque portefeuille: has checks that are attached and tear away from the top like the majority of US checkbooks.
Chèque ordinaire:  has checks that are attached to the left side like a book and tear away from the left side.
Chèque à talon:  checks that are attached and tear away from the top, but with a”stub”(à souche) that gets left in the checkbook with a space for a personal memo.

Now understanding the options better, I selected the chèques portefeuille barrés (the choice most similar to what we have for our US checkbook) and “clicked” to have the Carnet de chèques mailed to us rather than the option of having the checkbook sent to our local bank branch for pick-up.

A week later, the Carnet de chèques arrived in the mail.  First thing I saw was that French chèques are noticeably larger than US checks.

Also different from the US was a receipt included which had to be signed and returned to the bank acknowledging that the checkbook had arrived, there are no missing checks, and that the checks are printed correctly.  Apparently the checks are not valid until the return receipt has been received at the bank.

There is a very specific formula to writing French checks.  While US checks and French chèques look similar, there are several differences in their formats.  The most obvious difference that a chèque written on a French bank is required to be written in French.

Line 1. “Payez contre cheque,” “Payez contre ce chèque‘,” or “Payez contre cheque non endossable.”  The top line on US checks is where the payee’s name usually goes, so it’s important to know that “Payez contre cheque“ means “Pay against this cheque (this amount)” not “Pay to the order of” like is found on an US check.  On the top line of the chèque you spell out the amount to be paid using French words.  For example €87,50 needs to be spelled out as “Quatre-vingt-sept Euros et cinquante centimes” or “Quatre-vingt-sept Euros et 50/100 c.”  I still struggle with understanding French numbers, but there are many “How to write a check in France” websites with “Numbers to French Words Converters” that look very helpful.

Line 2. “€” On this line the amount for the check is written in numbers.  Remember that in France the comma (virgule) and the period (point) are used in writing amounts are reversed from the way the comma and the period are used in the US. For example: Two thousand eighty-seven Euros and 50 centimes is correctly written as €2.087,50 and not as €2,087.50.

Line 3. “A” This is the payee space that you write in the name of the person, company, or organization to whom the amount is being paid.  A chèque for Mr. Dubois is written as M Dubois (for Monsieur Dubois),  Mrs. Dubois as Mme Dubois (for Madam Dubois), or Miss Dubois as Mlle Dubois (for Mademoiselle Dubois.)

Line 4. “Fait à” or “A“.  A departure from how checks are written in the US, on this line you write the name of the city of where the chèque is being written, for example “Fait à Carcassonne” or “a Paris.”

Line 5. “Le”  This is the date line where today’s date is written.  Remember that the European standard for writing a date is “day-month-year” (like the US military standard of writing dates.)  A chèque written on Christmas day would be correctly written as 25-12-2014, not as 12-25-2014.  Christmas day could also be correctly written as 25 décembre 2014.  (The French do not capitalize the first letter of a month.)

Line 6. Beneath lines 4 and 5 reading “Fait à Carcassonne le 25-12-2014″ is the space for a signature.  There is often no actual “line” provided on French chèques for a signature like is usually found on US checks.

So now, with a Carnet de chèques in hand and understanding the format for writing a French chèque, we are finally ready to write that check.

Tracy and I believe that it is essential to participate in the privilege and right of voting in the US.

One major issue we have read in the many expat forums is Americans who say that they have had difficulties voting while living abroad. But so far our voting experience has been very positive.  I wonder with the ease we have navigated the process if some of those voting complaints are from the distance past or because of a person living overseas misunderstanding of the process to obtain a ballot.

Since 1986 there has been the “Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)” that requires that all overseas citizens be allowed to register and vote in federal elections. For Nevada, the Secretary of State web site explains the absentee/overseas process on its “Military/ Overseas Voting” page.  The web page also supplies links to individual Nevada counties’ Registrars of Voters and to the Federal Voting Assistance Program that assists both military and civilian overseas voters.

Our Washoe County Registrar of Voter’s web site is also very helpful with a form request page that carefully explains the absentee/overseas process:

“ABSENT BALLOT REQUEST

An absent ballot request form can be filled out and processed at the beginning of each election year.  Your absent ballot request is only valid for the calendar year in which we receive it.  It is important that you specify which election(s) you are requesting a ballot for.

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR AN ABSENT BALLOT IS THE TUESDAY PRIOR TO ANY ELECTION, AT 5 PM.  WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO SEND IN YOUR REQUEST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  REMEMBER, YOUR VOTED BALLOT MUST BE IN OUR OFFICE BY 7 PM ON ELECTION DAY IN ORDER TO BE COUNTED.

BALLOTS WILL BE MAILED TO OVERSEAS AND MILITARY VOTERS 45 DAYS PRIOR TO ANY ELECTION. BALLOTS WITH OUT-OF-STATE MAILING ADDRESSES WILL BE MAILED 40 DAYS PRIOR TO ANY ELECTION AND BALLOTS WITH IN-STATE ADDRESSES WILL BE MAILED AT THE 30-DAY MARK.
 IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU PLAN ACCORDINGLY. 

You can print, fill out and mail or fax the Absent Ballot Request form below to us.  (Remember, your signature is required.)  If you find that the address you have listed for the Primary Election will not be valid for the General Election, please submit an updated request.  We cannot accept changes by phone.  Please call us if you have any questions.  (775) 328-3670″

We downloaded a “Absent Ballot Request Form” for each of us, completed the form, attached copies of our Nevada driver licenses, and mailed the form to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters.  The form gave us the option to request an absentee ballot for a specific election or for every election during the calendar year (which was our choice.)

There is obviously some personal responsibility and pre-planning of deadlines required by an American living overseas to be able to vote. It is not an automatic process. A new request needs to be submitted every year.

Our absentee/overseas ballots for the primary election arrived in France on May 5 for the primary election scheduled June 10.

Inside the envelope is the primary ballot for my political party, “Instructions For Washoe County Military, Military Spouses And Overseas Vote-By-Mail Voters” in both English and Spanish, a notice that a candidate for office has died but remains on the previously printed ballot (also in English and Spanish), a “Secrecy Sleeve” to protect privacy, and a special return envelope.

After marking our selections of candidates on the ballot (in black or blue ink only, to be read by an electronic scanner), there is an elaborate six-step process to protect our privacy while ensuring the integrity of the absentee voting process.

Once our Byzantine directions for signing and sealing the envelopes are accomplished, all that is left is a quick trip to la Poste (the post office) to add an €1,78 international stamp to each envelope (about $4.90 total) and give the ballots plenty of time to make it back to Reno by 7 p.m. June 10.

We also have the ability to confirm our ballots arrived at the Washoe County Registrar of Voters by visiting myvoterfile at the Nevada Secretary of State’s web site.

Our patriotic duty to vote is done until the general election on November 4.