France Consulate General in New York – French Visa Guide For US Citizens

Introduction

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

France at a glance

The history of modern France dates back to the French Revolution, a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789 that ultimately shaped social, economic and political landscape worldwide.

Being the seventh largest economy of the world and veto power in the United Nations, France plays a key role in global politics.

As per data shared by the wordatlas, France is the top tourist destination of the world with a whopping 86.9 million visitors entering the country in a single year. Much like France is the most visited of the world’s countries, its capital city of Paris is the most visited city in the world.

France is also pioneer state of Schengen bandwagon.

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 New York.

Visa Application Process At France Consulate General in New York

Getting a French Visa from France Consulate General in New York is like a walk in the park. The online system introduced by the French government has overtly simplified the once hectic task. Below is our step by step guide to acquiring your French visa.

Step One

Use your internet connection to arrive at franceintheus.org. On the top right side, you will see ‘Visit France’ icon. Click on it and enter on ‘Visa’.

Step Two

After completing the aforesaid task, your visa application procedure will kick off formally. In the newly opened window, you will see a bold word of ‘France Visas’. Yes, you got it right. Click on it to proceed further.

Step Three

A 4-step visa guide will be unlocked by the server. The first step is to find out whether you are even required to apply for a French visa or not. ‘Visa Wizard’ is responsible to give answers to this query.

It would aid the itinerant in confirming the following things:

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

(But you should remember that if you’re a permanent citizen of the mighty USA and are planning to enter France for not over than 90 days, then you do not need to apply for a visa. But if you tend to stay over a period of 90 days, then exemption expires and you will apply for France National Visa at France Consulate General in New York.

Moving to the second scenario under which a person currently lives in the USA but isn’t a permanent national, in that case, he will apply for both Schengen Visa (if applicable) and France National Visa at France Consulate General in New York)

Now coming back to the amazing visa wizard, follow the simple instruction and pick up the category you belong to. When you’re done with all the steps, Visa Wizard will tell whether a visa is required or not and if the answer is yes, it will also open a list supporting documents.

Now you will submit an online application and for doing so, log in by simply entering required details. In case you don’t have a username or password, simply create one.

Step Four: Submit Online Application

After creating the account, you will once again move to the home page to guide yourself to the next step i-e ‘submit online application’.

As this article deals with visa application procedure at France Consulate General in New York, therefore you will first select ‘America’ in the continent section and ‘United States of America’ in the countries’ list.

For booking an appointment with the staffers at the France Consulate General in New York, you will seek services of the VFS Global.

You will click booking section of ‘France Consulate General in New York’ to avail the service.

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

This step is somewhat tricky and quite a lengthy one. You must double check before submitting your application that all the required documents have been acquired.

Application form: It will be filled online. Print a hard copy of it and it must be dated and signed.

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: A well-written cover letter can get your visa approved in a very short duration. So, sound very formal and professional while penning down the one.

Flight Reservation for visa application: Finding a verifiable Flight Reservation (also known as Flight Itinerary and Dummy Ticket) was never so easy. Just click on the banner to avail a verifiable Flight Reservation which you can verify by simply entering the unique numerical or alphanumeric code on relevant airline’s website.

You should remember that Flight Reservation is categorized into two types. Roundtrip Flight Reservation (recommended for short-stay visas) and One-Way Flight Reservation (recommended for long-stay visas).

Travel Health Insurance: A travel health insurance for France Schengen Visa must encompass health expenditures of 30000 EUR or USD 50000.

Hotel Booking Reservation/Proof of accommodation: A mandatory supporting document for France Visa that illustrates to the visa officers that aspirant for France Visa has sorted means for accommodation. It can be either in the form of hotel booking or proof of accommodation.

Funds: To acquire a France Visa from France Consulate General in New York, you need to satisfy the staffers that you own adequate funds to support your stay in French territory. This can be established via a bank statement.

Affidavit of Support: In case, you don’t have a bank statement or sufficient funds but still you want to visit France, ask your friend or relative, who must be a permanent citizen of France, to pen down an ‘affidavit of support’ for you. Submit it at France Consulate General in New York to get your visa application approved.

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:

Itinerant’s employment contract

Valid bank statement

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

If self-employed:

Valid license copy of your business,

Company’s bank statement of last six-months

Income Tax Return (ITR).

If a student:

Enrollment certificate;

A letter from your education institute expressing willingness their willingness to free you for a certain period of time.

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

The staffers at the France Consulate General in New York require from the itinerant to submit visa application in person i-e make your presence certain at the consulate at the time of submission of visa application.

If you have already submitted your biometric data in the period not exceeding 59 months, you don’t need to do it again. But if you haven’t, appear in person to ensure that staffers collect relevant biometric data in VIS.

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.

Step Seven: Track your Visa

You just need an internet connection to track the application. Enter the required fields as illustrated in the picture below:

Address

934 5th Ave, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Phone: +1 212-606-3600