France Consulate General in Atlanta – Visa Guide

Introduction

Visa applications submitted in the United States are processed by the France Embassy Washington D.C, France Consulate General in Atlanta, Consulate General in Boston, Consulate General in Chicago, Consulate General in Houston, Consulate General in Los Angeles, Consulate General in Miami, Consulate General in New York, and Consulate General in San Francisco.

France at a glance

We bet Eiffel Tower and the romanticism associated with it be the first two things that pop up your mind when you cross by the word France. French territory spreads over an area of 547,030 km2 and inhabits 67.12 million people. Ever since the French revolution, the country has been successfully maintaining its position as a major global power.

France is part of the Schengen Area, a visa-free European zone encompassing 26 countries. France also holds veto power in the United Nations.

In 2018 only, a massive 35.6 million people thronged cities of France via Schengen Visa.

Who can apply for France Visa from within the USA?

Before proceeding further, let it be clear that a permanent citizenship holder of the United States does not need to apply for or acquire a France Schengen Visa. A Permanent Resident Card [usually referred to as Green Card] allows you to enter France or any other Schengen Area for up to 90 days without a visa. But it is mandatory that itinerant’s passport must hold validity of a minimum of 90 days or three months after his/her intended return to the USA.

However, if you are a permanent citizen of the USA and intended to stay for over 90 days, then you are required to apply for France National Visa in France Consulate General in Atlanta.

Jurisdiction of France Consulate General in Atlanta

France Consulate General in Atlanta covers Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Visa Application Process At France Consulate General in Atlanta

Below is your step-by-step guide to acquiring French Schengen Visa or French Residence Permit through France Consulate General in Atlanta:

Step One

Switch on your desktop, laptop, mobile or tablet and enter franceintheus.org (official website of French Missions in the United States). Once the page is loaded, move your cursor to ‘Visit France’ and proceed with ‘Visa’ category.

Step Two

The website will redirect you to the next page. There will be blue-painted and bold ‘France Visas’ word. Now the website will lay-out a four-step visa guide.

Step Three

You will proceed with “Do you Need a Visa” to find out whether you need a visa or not. The authorities have named this amazing section as ‘Visa Wizard’.

It would aid the itinerant in confirming the following things:

• Requirements for visa procedure
• Visa Fees
• List of supporting documents

If the itinerant holds a valid permanent resident permit, then there is no need for him to pass through the time-consuming visa procedure. Contrary to that, if the itinerant resides in the USA for any purpose whatsoever but does not hold the valid permanent resident permit, he will go to France Consulate General in Atlanta and will acquire a Schengen Visa, Transit Visa or French Residence Permit (depending upon his/her nature of stay).

Now coming back to where we left in the above paragraph, pick up visa type, write down a number of days you are staying in, pick a chief station, the passport issuing authority and its type and enter the search icon.

Visa-Wizard will examine the information that you will submit to inform that whether you need a visa or not. If the answer is yes, the wizard will enlist names of all the supporting documents that you’re required to submit with your visa application.

Now, you will log in by entering username and password and if you don’t have one, create one by following instructions illustrated on the website.

Step Four: Submit Online Application

Now that you’ve created an account, you will scroll to France Visas and move the cursor to “submit online application” button.  As your current location is the USA, therefore you will click on the same.

You will now go to VFS Global, an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide.

Pick the category that you belong to (your country’s name) and click on “Book An Appointment” for moving to the next stage.

Please note that appointments times and processing duration for applications can vary, depending on your nationality and type of visa applied for. We recommend you to apply well in advance of your trip, at least 15 days, but not more than 90 days, prior to your intended departure dates.

Step Five: Prepare Your Documents

After securing an appointment with visa officers of France Consulate General in Atlanta, jump to the next stage i-e preparing all relevant documents.

Application form: You can fill it online. Then print a hard copy. Sign it and attach the latest photograph.

Passport:  It should contain a validity date of at least 90 days after the intended date of return from France. The passport must be issued not more than 10 years ago and must have 2 vacant pages.

Cover Letter: Sometimes, a well-written cover letter can convince the visa officer at France Consulate General in Atlanta to approve your visa application without having a second thought.

Flight Itinerary for visa application: The document enlisting your personal details (i-e full name), flight reservation codes, airport codes, dates of your arrival in and departure from a home destination is called flight itinerary or flight reservation.

Flight Itinerary or Flight Reservation is of two types. A roundtrip flight itinerary and one-way itinerary.

Travel Health Insurance: Travel health insurance covers you while you are enjoying your stay in the host nation. The minimum limit set by European authorities is 30,000 euros or USD 50,000.

Hotel Booking Reservation/Proof of accommodation: Arrange means of your accommodation in France and attach proof of it in your visa application.

Bank statement/Proof of financially means: Attach evidence that you are financially able and can bear all expenses that may occur in France. For this purpose, attach bank statement.

Affidavit of Support: If you are a teenager and does not possess a bank statement, attach an affidavit of support. Also, if you’re unable to produce evidence pertaining to possession of enough financial means, ask a permanent citizen of France of write down an aforesaid document for you.

Means of subsistence: It means to provide evidence to the French Embassy or consulate that the applicant has sufficient amount or financial resources to bear his/her expenditures during his stay in the Schengen country. In the absence of proof of accommodation or hotel booking, the applicant is bound to attest to the French Consulate or Embassy that he possesses daily cash equivalent to 120 euros.

The amount plummets to 65 euros per day if the foreigner—seeking entry in France—displays proof of prepaid accommodation.

The amount falls further to 32.25 euros per day if the applicant holds evidence of cheaper means of accommodation.

If employed:

Contract of employment with a company; and

A bank statement with transactions details of past six months; and

A permission letter stating that the company has allowed you to travel; and

Income Tax Return (ITR) form or Certificate of Income Tax deducted at the source of salary.

If self-employed:

Business license copy; and

Company bank statement of the latest 6 months; and

Income Tax Return (ITR).

If a student:

Evidence of enrollment;

NOC issued by the educational institute.

If retired:

6-month pension statement.

If applicable:

Regular income generated by property proof of the latest 6 months.

Recent nationwide criminal history check.

US work permit

Confirmation of participation in any type of event or activity

Self-addressed, pre-paid US express mail envelope (if applicable)

Documents proving the legal status in the US – original Alien Registration Card (Green Card), a Green card Stamp in your passport, an Advance Parole, or a valid US Visa must be provided along with a valid I-94 departure record. Students should also submit the original validated I-20, DS-2019 or IAP-66.

The US residence permit or visa should be valid at least 3 months beyond the intended departure from the Schengen member state territory.

Letter of continued employment including income statement. If you are self-employed a business license and tax return forms are required.

Step Six: Submit File

Now that you’ve completed all the aforesaid tasks, submit your file at France Consulate General in Atlanta.

As of May 15, 2014, each individual applying for a Schengen visa in the USA must appear in person, so that the necessary biometric data – ten fingerprints and a digital photo – can be collected. The biometric data are stored for a period of 59 months and can possibly be reused. This means that future applications during that period of time may be filed through correspondence, provided your data are of good quality and can be retrieved from the VIS.

San Francisco, Atlanta, and Washington: visaonweb.diplomatie.be (printed application form and documentation must be sent by postal mail or courier service

San Francisco: by postal mail or courier service only

Exemptions for the fingerprinting requirements are granted to:

• Children under the age of twelve;
• Persons for whom the collection of fingerprints is physically impossible;
• Heads of State and members of National Governments and their accompanying spouses, as well as the members of their official delegation when invited by Member States’ governments or by international organizations for an official purpose.

Furthermore, the applicant can extract the aforementioned data from the Visa Information System (VIS) if he/she has submitted it within the duration of five months. In such a case, you can forward application either by mail or courier.

Step Seven: Track your Visa

The VFS allows you to track visa application by simply entering the alphanumeric tracking code. Usually, France Consulate General in Atlanta takes up to 15 days to process a visa.

Address of France Consulate General in Atlanta

3399 Peachtree Rd NE #500, Atlanta, GA 30326, USA.

Phone: +1 404-495-1660