Before applying for a visa you must make sure that your passport is valid:
Visa applications for France are now received by TLScontact, except for some categories that are still received by the Consulate General of France directly.
You may only submit your visa application within 90 days before your date of departure. We recommend that you apply at least 20 calendar days before the first available appointment at our center because the visa process takes minimum 15 days.
Your passport must be valid for at least 90 days from the date of your return from the Schengen area if you apply for a short visa and at least 15 months from the date of travel to the Schengen area if you apply for a long visa
To apply for a visa, you should find more details on our procedure page.
Personal appearance is mandatory for all visa applicants, unless you are exempted from biometric data capturing.
Exemptions:
Notice: If applicant’s latest Schengen visa mentions ‘’VIS 0”, applicant is still required to provide their biometric data, as “VIS 0” visa means only alphanumeric data and a photograph are provided, but no fingerprint.
Personal appearance is mandatory for all long stay visa applicants even if they have a previous Schengen visa delivered within 59 months and with the remarks ”VIS” is mentioned.
In general, everyone is required to enroll biometric information (10 fingerprint and digital photo); only applicants who are within the following categories will be exempted:
Applicants need to provide a photocopy of this visa sticker as a proof. However, the local consular authority may request you to submit the biometric data again.
To know more about the Visa information system (VIS), please visit the following link.
You can find more detail information on how to take an appointment on TLScontact website here.
Visa application forms can be found on France-Visas website.
The Embassy may request you to provide additional documents or information, according to your personal situation, even after you have submitted your application at TLScontact centre. Please note that any additional document, which is not required in the basic list according to your type of visa, must also be accompanied with a certified translation into either English or French if it is in any other language.
The two photographs required for any visa application must be:
For more information, please visit the link here.
Due to a regulation of the European Union (Decision 2004/17/CE of December 22nd 2003), there is a requirement to hold travel insurance, which is a compulsory document.
The travel insurance should be:
Your travel insurance must be valid with a minimum cover of EUR 30,000 in order to face any expenses that may arise in connection with your repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention or emergency hospital treatment. The travel insurance should fully cover the period of your stay in the Schengen area.
Please check passport collection opening hours on Address page.
Collection in person
When your passport is ready to be collected, you will be notified online on your personal account page and by SMS notification (if you have requested this service), informing you to come to the TLScontact center with:
Collection by representative
Representative may retrieve your passport on your behalf with the documents listed below:
IMPORTANT: all above documents are mandatory
For Representative change, please note that you are required to fill the corresponding field in the Original Authorization Letter to notify the new representative identity and resubmit the form at the Visa Application Centre in person for TLScontact acceptance. If the Representative change was not notified and verified by TLScontact in advance, TLScontact will not allow the non-approved representative to collect the passport..
Return by courier
TLScontact offers an Express Courier Return service, allowing you to receive your passport directly at your home or your office. To obtain this service please add it to your cart on the Added Value Services page available when you log into your personal account on our webpage.
If you choose to cancel this service after your application has been submitted, Express Courier Return fee cannot be refunded.
Recipient address and information for this service must be filled in by the applicant or representative during application submission appointment. Once the application has been submitted, no changes can be made to the recipient address and information. We therefore kindly ask you to confirm recipient address and information before the application submission.
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