Famous for its cheese and wine, France is a lovely place to spend your holidays with your loved ones. In the year 2017, France attracted a whopping 89 million travellers from around the world.
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.
More than 14,000 visa applications were sent to the French consulate in Pondicherry. When there are so many people applying for their Schengen visas, the consulates tend to get completely booked 2-3 months in advance. After booking all of your tickets and making reservations, the last thing you want is to not get an appointment with the consulate. But don’t get disheartened just yet
. There are other steps you can take in order to get yourself a France Schengen visa appointment.
If you need help in getting a France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry, then just fill in the Schengen visa appointment form and our team will get in touch with you. Once you get your appointment, you can start collecting all the required documents for your visa approval.
Steps to getting a France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry – The basics
You will need to visit the French consulate website in India to start applying for your visa and then book your appointment.
The link will redirect you to a page like in the image above.
Clicking on “Get a Visa” will take you to a page like in the image above. It lists the visa application process.
After reading the instructions carefully, scroll down and click on the blue hyperlink given under “Complete your application online” to start applying for your visa.
You will find more instructions on the visa application process on the new page. Click on “Access” when you are ready to start applying for your France Schengen visa.
Fill in the form on the left-hand side for a new registration and click on “Create an account” to start your visa application process. You will be given the option to get your France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry as well during the process. You can also use the VFS Global link to book your appointment with the consulate.
At any point, you can take a look at our article “France Schengen visa in 7 days” to get help.
I can’t find a France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry
Don’t get disheartened if you’re not able to find a France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry. You can still work around this.
Get an appointment with a consulate in a different jurisdiction
The very first thing you can try is to try and book your Schengen visa appointment with a different consulate. For eg., if you can’t find an appointment with the French consulate in Pondicherry, then try the one in Mumbai or Kolkata.
But this works with varying success. As appointments are subject to availability, you might not always find appointments in other consulates.
Change your main destination
If you’re planning to visit other countries along with France, then you can change your main destination to another country from France. Popular countries like France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and many more have a high inflow of tourists every year. The consulates get completely booked sometimes even 6 months in advance.
Instead of trying your luck with the French consulates, you can change your main destination and try getting an appointment with a different consulate. Countries like Malta, Slovakia, Luxembourg, etc. don’t have a very high inflow of tourists. For the sake of getting your visa approved, you can get a tentative travel plan.
Once you get your visa approved, you’ll be free to travel to any of the 26 Schengen states. If you want temporary flight and hotel bookings, you can check out our prices. Also, take a look at our article on what to do when you cant find a Schengen visa appointment if you want more information on the matter.
Wait for another appointment to get cancelled
This is a slightly risky option as you might end up waiting indefinitely. But don’t completely disregard this option either. There have been many times when tourists were able to find an appointment with patience.
You might need to open multiple tabs and observe closely to see if you can find an available appointment. This can be a tedious process, but we can help you out with this. In fact, we have an entire team dedicated to the same. You just need to fill in the Schengen visa appointment form and our team will contact you.
Do you want Travel Visa Bookings to book you a France Schengen visa appointment in Pondicherry?
We can help you out if you’re a citizen or resident of one of the following countries
- UK
- USA
- India
- Dubai
We are planning on expanding this service in more and more countries every month. We have corporate customers in these countries that need appointments within 15 days for their business travels.
There are chances that we might not find a France Schengen visa appointment in Mumbai as appointments are subject to availability. So, we will look for appointments in other nearby consulates as well. Please note that the appointment fee is not fixed by us. This is done by the consulate officer that books your appointment slot. We, however, charge a flat fare of Rs. 1000 above this quote.
Just fill in the Schengen visa appointment form and follow the instructions to raise your request.
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You don’t have to pay an initial fee. We will start contacting the French consulates to see if there are any available appointments.
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Within the next 8-10 hours, our team will contact you with available appointments and prices charged.
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Once you approve your appointment and make the payment, you will be given an appointment reference number.
Use this reference number to attend your appointment and get your visa approved. If you need help understanding the process of getting a France Schengen visa, then take a look at our article on getting a France Schengen visa appointment in 7 days.
Frequently Asked Questions on France Schengen visa appointments
It is natural for you to have questions regarding getting a France Schengen visa appointments. Read below to see if your questions are answered.
How many people can attend the interview with one appointment?
With one appointment, only one person can attend the interview. So, if you are a group of travellers, ensure that each one of you has an appointment of your own.
Will a child need his own appointment?
Be it a 10-year-old child or a newborn, children will need to have their own passports. This is to prevent child trafficking and kidnappings. So, ensure that your child also has a passport. And if they have a passport, they will also need a visa and a Schengen visa appointment.
Can I attend the visa interview with my child?
In most cases, it is necessary for the one holding the appointment to attend the interview on their own. But in some exceptional cases, you are allowed to accompany the interviewee to the interview.
- A child can be accompanied by their parent or guardian.
- An aged (more than 80) can be accompanied by their spouse or adult child.
- A disabled can be accompanied by someone for their help.
Can you book an appointment for me?
Yes, surely. Just fill in the Schengen visa appointment form to raise the request. Do remember to provide us with your name and passport details like the passport number and its issue and expiry dates.
Can I verify the appointment booked by you?
Yes, you can. Use the appointment reference number provided to you to verify your appointment with the VFS Global office or the consulate website.
What is the fee charged to get me an appointment?
The base price of your appointment is fixed by the consulate officer that books your slot. However, we charge a flat fare of Rs. 1000 above the quote of the consulate.
How can I make the payment?
You can either pay us through Western Union or PayuMoney or make a direct bank transfer.
Can I pay more to get an appointment on a priority?
Unfortunately, no. As Travel Visa Bookings works purely on the first-come-first-serve basis, you will have to wait your turn to get your appointment.
Can my visa application get rejected?
The approval of your visa depends on many factors. The most common reasons for visa rejections include,
- Invalid travel insurance
- Improper travel itinerary
- Missing documents
I don’t have a travel insurance.
Don’t worry, we can help you get one. Just take a look at our article on travel insurance for more details.
Can I apply for another appointment if my visa application gets rejected?
There is no rule stating that you cannot apply for your visa again. Just make sure that you don’t repeat the same mistake as the last time to get your visa approved.
If you want us to book your appointment, you will need to follow the same procedure to raise a request.
How long do I have to make the payment for my appointment?
You will be given an hour to make the payment for your appointment once it has been booked. There are many people looking for visa appointments every day. Our team makes almost 250 appointments in a day. If you fail to make the payment within one hour, our team will consider you to be uninterested and the appointment is placed on an auction and made available to someone else in need.
So, we suggest that you keep a look-out for a notification from our team to successfully get your appointment.
VFS Global office in Pondicherry
Address:
No: 32, Eswaran Kovil Street,
Puducherry, 605001
Tel: +91 22 6786 6014
Email: info.francein@vfshelpline.com
French consulate in Pondicherry
Address:
2, Marine Street
Pondichéry – 605001
Tel: [0091] (413) 223 10 00
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