France is a beautiful country and it’s visited by tourists from across the world. The French consulates around the world received more than 3 million visa requests in 2016. The rejection rate of these requests was one of the highest at 11%.
Thousands of people applied from the US as well. The number of people applying for France Schengen visa from the French consulate in San Francisco was close to 4000, 2016. Many among these got rejected as well.
That’s why it’s important that you apply for your France Schengen visa in the right way. It’s an easy process. However, there is a lot that you need to do.
Update : It is now mandatory to get COVID Insurance when you travel Abroad. Click the below link to get your COVID Insurance at cost price.
A single mistake can lead to your visa request getting rejected. Read this guide to ensure that your France Schengen visa application process is correct.
There are 5 steps to follow for the France Schengen visa application process from San Francisco:
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Find out if San Francisco is the right consulate where you need to submit your visa application
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Determine if you need a visa to enter France
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Make a booking at the Consulate of General of France in San Francisco ( Get Schengen visa appointment for $ 10 )
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Collect all the documents
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Submit the documents on the day of the appointment and complete the application process
Want temporary flight, hotel or insurance for your Schengen visa appointment?
Here’s everything that you need to do as far as a short-stay visa is concerned.
Find out if San Francisco is the right consulate where you need to submit your visa application
You can find this out by visiting the official website of Consulate of General of France in the US. Click on the link you will go official French consulate website.
Scroll down and you’ll see the map of the US in gray showing all the states.
Navigate the map to find your state. You will see the selected states getting highlighted as you move your cursor.
Here we have selected San Francisco. As clear from the image above, you can apply for your France Schengen Visa at the French Consulate in San Francisco, if you belong to any one of the following states:
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Oregon
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Washington
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California
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Alaska
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Idaho
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Montana
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Utah
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Wyoming and
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Nevada
Click on the highlighted portion to visit the official website of Consulate General of France in San Francisco. Choose ‘English‘ from the top as the preferred language. This is the website that will tell you whether you need a visa to enter France. If you need one, you can book an appointment on this website as well.
I’m traveling to Germany along with France. Can I apply for my Schengen visa at the French consulate?
As clear from the image, you can apply for your visa at the French consulate, only if France is your travel theme.
Your stay in France should be longer than that of Germany as far as your entire trip is concerned. If you intend to stay in both the countries for the same duration, then France should be the country you enter first.
How do know if I’ll need a visa to enter France for tourism?
On the official French consulate at San Francisco website, take your cursor to ‘Going to France‘. You will get a drop-down option. Click on ‘Visas for France‘.
You will now reach a new web page which shows three options. The first one is ‘Applying for a French visa in the United States‘.
You’ll get directed to a new webpage. This is the page that tells you whether you need a visa or not. You can also schedule an appointment on this page. Keep this page open throughout.
The first option that you get on this page is ‘Do I need a visa‘. Click on it.
Now you’ll reach a new webpage. Here, you have to enter a few details to know whether you’ll need to apply for your France Schengen visa.
Whether or not you need to apply for a France Schengen visa will depend on your nationality. If you’re a US citizen, then you don’t need a visa to visit France.
However, US Permanent Residents from third-world countries do need a visa to enter France. Please furnish the correct details on the portal to know whether you’ll need to apply for France Schengen visa.
I’m a Green Cardholder. Do I apply for a France Schengen visa or not?
You’re a Green Card holder, which means you’re a US Permanent Resident. If you belong to any of the third-world countries, you’ll need a visa to enter France, most likely.
How to book an appointment for a France Schengen visa at the consulate in San Francisco?
Now that you know that you need a visa to enter France, you will need to book an appointment at the French consulate in San Francisco.
On the ‘Visas for France‘ page, you’ll see ‘Complete your application online‘ after ‘Do I need a visa‘. Click on it.
You’re now on the France-visas portal. Click on ‘Access‘ to proceed.
Now you’ll have to create a new account. Enter your name and email address. Verify the ‘Captcha code‘ to get a verification code in your email. Verify this and create your account.
Next, you need to submit your application to the consulate. And you’ll have to book an appointment for the same.
On the ‘France visas‘ page, you’ll get the option ‘Submit your application to the visa center‘.
Next, you’ll get directed to a new page. You’ll have to select your continent and country.
Clicking on ‘United States of America‘ will yield the following results.
Click on ‘Whom should I contact‘ to set an appointment with the Consulate General of France in San Francisco. Scroll down to find San Francisco.
Click on ‘Set up an appointment‘. Now you’ll be directed to the France Diplomatie website where you can book the appointment.
Accept the conditions and click on ‘Next‘.
Now you can choose the date and time.
Click on ‘Next‘ and now you’ll have to enter your personal details like name, surname, date of birth, passport number etc. Carefully enter all these details and click on ‘confirm‘ to book your appointment.
You will receive a confirmation after you click on ‘confirm‘. Take a print-out of this page.
Once your appointment is confirmed, you’ll have to collect all the documents. These are the documents that you’ll need to carry on the day of your appointment.
Documents you need to carry to the appointment for your France Schengen Visa
The documents that you’ll need to collect and keep together are:
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Passport
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Schengen visa application
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US Permanent Resident card
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Photographs
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Schengen Travel Insurance
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Hotel Reservations
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Flight Bookings
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Cover Letter
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Proof of sustenance
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Employment documents
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Passport: Bring your original passport along with its photocopies to your appointment. It should have at least two blank pages. The validity of your passport should be three months from the date of your return to your country of residency.
Schengen Visa Application: Fill-in the Schengen visa application form online and take its print out. Enter the details correctly and make sure every detail your furnish is correct.
Download the Schengen Visa application form.
US Permanent Resident Card: You have to prove that you’re a permanent resident of the US. You have to bring your Alien card or I-94/I-20 forms. Get a photocopy of these documents as well.
Photograph: You need to have a passport-sized photo according to the French consulate specifications. Paste it on to the Schengen visa application form. Don’t stape or use pins.
Schengen Travel Insurance: You need this to enter the Schengen countries. The minimum cover of this insurance is € 43,000. Avail our services to get a Schengen travel insurance.
Hotel Reservations: You need to show to the consulate that you have booked your accommodation in France. Most people opt for temporary bookings. This way you can avoid making huge monetary loses even in case your visa gets rejected. You don’t have to worry about cancellation charges.
Flight Bookings: You also need to show to the consulate your round-trip tickets. We offer temporary flight bookings as well. Show these at the consulate and prevent loses.
Of course, in fact all the embassies mention the same. We have added links to the official visa pages which you can verify.
France Consulate
Your travel itinerary : you MUST BOOK your airline ticket but do not purchase until the visa has been approved.
We recommend that you do not purchase travel tickets until your visa has been approved. On the other hand, you may provide us with a reservation, a planned itinerary or an online printout of a roundtrip ticket.
Travel reservation to and from schengen area, not a ticket. Note: Make travel reservation which you can cancel
Flight (roundtrip)/travel reservations and full itinerary (if several Schengen States will be visited or if the trip covers several Schengen States and non-Schengen countries) with the name of passenger and one copy
Round trip ticket/reservation, originating in this jurisdiction to Europe (and ultimately to Italy) and back, including internal entry and exit points of travel i.e. EURORAIL tickets, car rental, internal flights. The names on reservations have to reflect the names on passports.
We can provide you with flight itineraries which is accepted by not only for Schengen visa but for all visas. We have customers using the same flight itinerary for Malaysia visa, Singapore visa, India visa, UK visa etc.
In fact the European union visa requirements for visa states the same.
As per the official document,
Round trip reservation or itinerary with dates and flight numbers specifying entry and exit from Schengen state.Schengen authorities accept the itinerary when applying for the visa but request the original air ticket when visa is collected.
That is why we have 100% visa acceptance rate although some of our customer have been requested to provide “additional documents”,none of their visa has been rejected for providing fake documents.
With 80% of our customers being return customers or companies which process visas for their employees/clients, our approach is the best approach if you want to ensure the safety of your visa.
This is our orders screen for this month. Most of the orders have been placed by repeat customers.
The best part about our service is along with getting a flight reservation without payment, you can also get confirmed hotel bookings, personal cover letter, leave/no objection letter for your visa consulates.
Cover Letter: Submitting a personal cover letter increases the chances of your visa approval. Make it a detailed one and include your travel plans and a list of the documents you’re submitting.
Proof of financial sustenance: Copies of your latest credit card or bank statements. Travelcard details can also serve the purpose.
Employment Documents: This varies and depends on your type of your employment. Self-employed people need to submit a copy of their company registration certificate while people working in the US, need to submit a copy of their employment contract.
Other Documents:
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Students need to submit a letter from their college or university
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Retired people need to submit copies of their latest pension statements
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If you’re traveling with your kid (less than 18 years), bring a copy of the birth certificate
Why should I take temporary flight and hotel bookings from you?
You surely don’t want your visa application to go wrong. We’re the experts when it comes to offering temporary flight and hotel bookings for Schengen visas. We have experience of more than 5 years. We also offer our services at a nominal cost.
What is the visa fee? When do I have to pay it?
The visa fee is EUR 60. However, this is not the only price that you need to pay.
Along with this, you’ll have to pay for your travel insurance, temporary bookings as well. Check the table below for more details.
You’ll have to pay this on the day of your appointment.
Can I apply for my visa from the US if I hold B1/B2 visa?
No, this isn’t allowed. The country whose passport you hold is the country where to need to apply from.
How long does the visa approval take?
Whether your visa application will get approved or not depends on a lot of things.
The visa processing takes around 15 days. During tourist seasons, it can take longer
Track your France Schengen visa application
Go back to the ‘France visas‘ page and scroll down to find ‘Track your application‘. Click on it and enter your application receipt number to get the status of your application.
Consulate General of France in San Francisco Information
Address:
88 Kearny Street
#600 San Francisco
CA 94108
Tel:
415-616-4907
Mob:
415-516-0604
Email:
anne.degenne@diplomatie.gouv.fr
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