Guidelines on How to Apply for a France Schengen Visa

Every foreign individual who wants to enter France or the Schengen area for tourism, business, education or employment purposes needs to go through some sort of France Schengen visa procedure (depends on the nationality of the person).

If you are visiting France for the very first time then there is an opportunity for you to explore a plethora of countries including France with the help of a France Schengen visa.

But, in order to get that visa, you will need to follow some simple yet important steps. Read on to know all about how to apply for a France Schengen visa and procure it in a hassle-free manner

Simple Steps to Apply for a France Schengen Visa

1.  Understand your visa requirements

Before you apply for a France Visa Appointment, you need to understand your travel requirements and the type of visa that will apply accordingly. Here are a few visas that you should know about:

• France Tourist Visa
• Study Visa
• Visa for visiting friends or family
• Visa for medical issues
• France Business Visa
• Visa for Culture and Sports activities

2.  Find out where you need to apply for a France Visa

The place to apply for a Visa for France depends on which country (destination) you are:

• planning to visit
• stay the most in (in case you are visiting multiple countries of the Schengen Zone)

Accordingly, you can apply for a Visa to France at the following places:

A.  The Embassy of the particular country

B.  A Consulate of the particular country

C.  A Consulate/Embassy of a different Schengen country in case your destination country has outsourced the visa submission work.

D.  A Professional France Visa Agency

3.  Time your France Visa Application Right

The French as well as other Schengen countries’ Embassy/Consulate takes time to process a visa application.

The time to apply for a France Schengen Visa can be found below:

• The earliest time to apply for a France visa is 6 months before your planned trip.
• The recommended time to apply for a France visa  is three weeks before your intended travel dates.
• You need to apply for a France visa at least 15 days before your intended dates of travel.

4.  Fill the France Visa Application Form

If you are availing services from a professional visa agency that has seasoned France Visa Agents then they will guide you to download the application form and assist you in filling it correctly & honestly. You need to furnish various types of information like your personal information, your background information, your purpose of visit and details of your trip.

5.  Collect the required documents

Make sure to read all the instructions about document requirements correctly and furnish the documents.

You may check the document requirements over here

Note: You will need to pay a nominal Visa Processing Fees also known as Administration fee while applying for the visa.

6.  Book an Appointment with the Embassy/Consulate

If a trusted agency with visa experts is providing you curated France Visa services then the agency itself will book an appointment for you. You don’t need to run from pillar to post to book a France Visa appointment.

However, if you are booking the appointment on your own then you may need to visit the visa centre/consulate/embassy in person. There may be a few embassies that are offering online appointment booking services.

7.  Visit the Visa Center

Visit the Embassy/Consulate/Visa Center on the appointed date of the interview and clear all the formalities which will comprise answering questions by the embassy authorities.

8.  Get your France Schengen Visa & Passport via Post

Once your visa application gets approved, you will receive your Visa to France and Passport via post. That’s it, you are done!