Long Stay Visa France

There are a number of situations in which you will need to obtain a French Long-Stay visa, and the eligibility criteria vary depending on the type of visa in question.

As a general rule, you will need to satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

• Prove that you have the financial means to support yourself during your stay in France
• Have a clean criminal record
• Have an offer of work/study (if applicable)
• If you have received a job offer, have a prospective income of more than the French minimum wage
• Have accommodation in France
• Have French health insurance

There are numerous different situations in which you will require a French Long-Stay visa. These are as follows:

• Posted employees on intra-company transfer (ICT)
• Talent Passport (Passeport Talent) visas (of which there are 10 types). Note that some of the Talent Passport visas also act as a residence permit, whereas others require you to obtain a residence permit upon your arrival in France

• Working Holiday visa. In the case of Australian citizens, this allows you to work in France for up to 1 year, from the age of 18-35. As an Australian citizen, you do not necessarily need to apply via French consular services in Australia specifically; you can apply via the French consular services in the country in which you currently reside
• Study. The different study routes are:
  • ‘Student’ visa
  • ‘School-aged minor’ visa
  • Internship or training: ‘trainees or young professionals in training’

You will also require a Long-Stay visa if you are visiting for tourist, family, or private reasons, providing that you are staying for longer than 3 months. However, as an Australian citizen, you will not require a visa for entry if you are staying for under 3 months.

There are a number of stages involved in applying for a French Long-Stay visa from Australia. Firstly, you will need to submit your application to one of Australia’s VFS GLOBAL locations. These can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. You will first need to book an appointment. You should book this appointment between 3 weeks and 3 months before your planned arrival in France.

As part of your application, your biometric information (photograph and fingerprints) will also need to be collected. However, note that it is not necessary for children under 12 years old to provide their fingerprints.

Your application will then be processed in Sydney by the Consulate General of France. Whilst the application is being processed, you will be able to track its progress on the VFS GLOBAL online tracking service. If you are successful, you will be granted a French Long-Stay visa. You can use this visa in order to enter France.

Upon arriving in France, you may also be required to apply to your local Prefecture for a residence permit. The Prefecture is the local representative of the national government. If you do require a residence permit, you will need to apply within 2 months of your arrival in France. You can check if you require a residence permit in addition to your visa by seeing if your visa says: ‘residence card to be requested within 2 months of arrival’. Note that, if your visa permits professional activity within France, you will not be required to wait for your residence permit before you are authorised to start paid employment.

In some cases, your Long-Stay visa will be the equivalent of a residence permit, meaning that you will not need to obtain two separate documents. Note that visas in the VLS-TS category act as the equivalent of residence permits, such as Student visas and certain types of Talent Passport visas.  In this case, you will not need to obtain a separate residence permit but will instead need to validate your VLS-TS within 3 months of arriving in France.

The exact documents required for your stay will depend on the type of Long-Stay visa for which you are applying. However, generally, you will require a combination of the following documents:

• Passport
• 2 passport photographs (to the French specifications)
• VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online)
• Statement that you will not conduct professional activity during your time in France (if applicable- this will not be necessary if you are visiting for reasons of tourism, for example)
• Proof that you have sufficient financial means to support yourself during your stay (e.g. sufficient savings or an offer of employment which pays at least the French minimum wage)
• Proof of accommodation in France
• Proof of French health insurance
• Proof of employment (if applicable)
• >Proof of prospective income (if applicable)

Generally, the cost of a Long-Stay visa application is around €99, although there are certain circumstances in which you may be exempt from paying this fee.

There may also be other costs associated with your application. For example, you may need to get your documents translated into French, in which case the exact cost will depend on the translating service which you use.

You may also choose to pay for legal assistance with your application. Many applicants choose to do so in order to make the application process as smooth as possible. Contact Total Law today on +44 (0)333 305 9375 to learn more about how we can help you with this.

The exact processing time for your visa application will vary based on a number of circumstances. Generally, it should be processed within 15-20 days. However, in some cases, it might take up to 2 months for your application to be processed. If you do not receive an answer on your application within 2 months, this will generally mean that your application has been unsuccessful.

In order to minimise the waiting time, make sure to submit all of your documents correctly and to include all necessary information in your application. If you are asked to provide further information, make sure to do so as promptly as possible. Failure to do so will lead to delays in your application and may also lead to your application being rejected.

There are a number of reasons why your visa application may be unsuccessful. This could be because of missing information, insufficient evidence of your personal circumstances, delays in sending further information which has been requested, or failure to meet the eligibility criteria.

In the event that your visa application is unsuccessful, you can appeal to the consulate to which you applied and ask it to review its decision. You can also appeal to the Board of Appeal Against Decisions Refusing Entry Visas to France (CRRV).

After this, you can then also appeal to an administrative judge. This must be done within 2 months of the refusal (or of the implicit refusal, if you have not received a response to your application within 2 months).

In your appeal, you must detail your reasons for appealing the decision. You must also make sure to write it in French.

Note that you must have legitimate grounds for appealing the decision in order for your appeal to be seriously considered.

It is possible that your Long-Stay visa may be revoked. There are three main reasons why this may happen:

• If you obtained your visa fraudulently, e.g. if you used fake documents or included incorrect information in your application
• If you entered into France in order to engage in activities which were not covered by your visa, e.g. working on a visa which only covers tourism
• If you disturb the public order whilst in France

Your local Prefecture will generally be in charge of deciding whether or not your visa is revoked. In the event that it is indeed revoked, you can submit an appeal to the Prefecture itself or to the French Minister of the Interior.