Notes: French Visa and Residence Permit Application Process

The visa and residence permit application process can vary not only due to different family and work situations, but also based on where you apply. Here are some things that I was told about that did not apply to us.

1. The requirements listed in the first section can be different in other French embassies - for example, apparently some don't require the police clearance. Be sure to find out what the embassy you're applying at requires.

2. Where to apply for the cartes once you get to France is not necessarily obvious - some said the local mairie (city hall), others said the nearest city. In our case, we applied at the local préfecture. My advice is to start at the mairie and ask where to go.

3. I've been told that there is a French language component, that applicants are required to pass a proficiency test or else take French classes offerred by the city. This was never even mentioned during our many visits regarding the carte de séjour, possibly because my husband and I both speak French and would obviously have passed the test, or maybe it's just not a requirement in Hyères.

4. Our medical exam in Marseilles included only an x-ray and a short chat with the doctor. Apparently some centers perform blood tests.

5. We were told we would receive une convocation letting us know that our cartes were ready to be picked up. We never did receive it, but when we went to the préfecture our cards were waiting.

6. Several people told me that the application process in France would take several months, which was true, and that our cartes would expire one year from the end of that process, which wasn't true. Ours expired one year from the beginning of our application process, in April.

Tip: Once you get a high-quality picture of yourself in the correct format, consider scanning it and printing out a sheet of photos. You'll need them for the visa and residence permit applications as well as any organizations you might join or schools you attend. All those photos can be expensive, but again, make sure that they're the right size and format, and that they are high quality. We got professional photos the first time, and then took several photos of ourselves with a digital camera at different distances until we got the size just right. The hardest part was making sure that there was absolutely no shadow. But now we have the pics on our computer and can print them out as needed.


Et voilà - this is everything I know about the process. If this doesn't answer your questions, the France for Visitors site has an excellent series of articles about moving to France, and of course the French Embassy can answer all of your questions.


Living in France Legally
   Preparing your visa de long séjour application
   Applying for a visa de long séjour
   Applying for a carte de séjour
   Renewing a carte de séjour
   Additional notes and tips