This article is about the Long-stay Visitor Visa Application experience at VFS Delhi shared by “Arpit Mittal“, in the “Indian Community in France” Facebook group. The article has been published with his permission, along with a few important additional information.
If you would like to contribute with articles about your personal experiences, feel free to write to me at the following email contact@prasanthragupathy.com
Short-stay visitor visa is for stays up to 90 days and long-stay visitor visa is for stays above 90 days. They are not the same and the documents required are different.
If you are planning for a family visit less than 90 days, you can apply for a Short-Stay Visitor Visa. The following article explains this topic in detail. Short-Stay Visitor Visa Application Experience – VFS Hyderabad
Who can apply for a long-stay visitor visa?
The official answer from the France Visa website.
In addition to the documents listed below, I would highly recommend adding an Attestation sur l’honneur. The document should explicitly mention that the applicants will not engage in any kind of professional activity during their stay in France. The visa will be used strictly for visiting the family.
Visa Application Summary
Sharing my experience of application “Long term visitor visa for parents”. I recently successfully applied for a long-term visitor visa for my parents and they received a 1 year multi-entry visa,
- Type of visa applied: Lon-stay visitor visa
- Duration of your stay: Long séjour / Long stay (> 90 days)
- Why are you making this trip?: Visitor
- Visa main purpose of stay: Visitor [adult]
- Applied at: VFS Delhi
- Applied on: 3rd August 2021
- Visa received on: 12th August 2021
- Visa processing time: 9 days, including weekends
- My situation: Micro-entrepreneur
Visa Application Process
I will try and detail the step-by-step procedure.
Step 1: Go to the VFS India website where you will find a long-term visitor visa and you can also download the list of docs you will need. Docs which I provided with the application,
- My income proof and bank statements. I do not have a CDI but an auto-enterprise, if you have a CDI you just provide your salary slips.
- Other documents to prove my finances and also for my parents in India.
- Cover letter inviting my parents
- Cover letter written by my parents stating they would like to come for the long term without any intention to work in France.
- Insurance for 6 months (I was not able to get 1-year insurance, so I got 6 months of insurance and got a letter from a travel agent stating that it was not possible to get 1-year insurance). We took AXA Insurance through a travel agent, it covers 50k euros I believe. After getting the Visa I reduced the duration of the insurance to 4 months.
- We bought a one-way ticket and a return dummy ticket after 4 months.
- For travel tickets, it is possible to just do a dummy reservation for a one-way ticket, though I did a dummy reservation for 1-year return tickets. Dummy tickets and travel insurance were done by an agent, I filled out the form and made an appointment for my parents.
- My rental contract, rental receipts, and utility bills.
- Attestation d’accueil (from Marie) is a maximum of 3 months and is useful only for tourist visas, so no point in taking this for a long-term visitor visa.
Step 2: Make a visa appointment and submit docs on appointment day. We applied from Delhi. My father got a call from the embassy 3-4 days after visa submission asking if they really wanted a long-term visa or just a short tourist visa, he said long-term visa. I was advised by VFS to send an email to the embassy again requesting for a long-term visa, which I did.
Step 3: Visa arrived quite fast, within 9 days by post at home.
Step 4: Arrival in France, and validate the Visa online (now there is no need to send the physical form to OFFI, this process is online via the ANEF teleservice.
Step 5: Waiting now for the RDV for medical (OFFI visit) for my parents.
Step 6: After the OFFI visit, I understood that I have to send documents for the carte vitale to CPAM.
Step 7: 2 months before visa expiry, titre de séjour has to be applied. Please feel free if there is some useful info to be added or corrected here.
Please feel free if there is some useful info to be added or corrected here.
I would like to thank everyone in this group and the other Indians in France groups (admins and group members share very useful info, they are so very helpful!). Please see also the posts of Sanjay Kamath and Prasanth Ragupathy.
Cover Letter for Long-stay Visitor Visa
To,
Consulate General of France
French Consulate,
New Delhi (India)
dd/mm/yyyy
Dear Sir/Madam,
I, Mr. xxxxxxxxx (Full name of the applicant) (Passport No: xxxxxx) am applying for a long-stay dependent visa for France along with my wife Mrs. xxxxxxxxx (Full name of the co-applicant) (Passport No: xxxxxx ). We are getting old (xx years and xx years respectively) and would like to stay and spend time with our son’s family in France, since COVID we have not met our grandchildren, it has been ages since we have held our grandchildren in our arms. We will stay at my son’s house at the following address.
I assure you that we have no intention to work or do any other activity in France. For your reference, please find attached the following documents to support my visa application enclosed herewith:
- Filled Visa Application form.
- Passport copies – For me and my spouse.
- Invitation letters from son and daughter-in-law.
- Bank Statements from my son and daughter-in-law living in France.
- Address proof from my son and daughter-in-law living in France.
- Salary Slips from my daughter-in-law living in France.
- Tax declarations and revenues (bank statements) of my son’s company.
- Revenue foncier (rent income) of my son and daughter’s apartment in Paris region and value estimation of the apartment.
- Avis d’Impot (income tax return) for my son and daughter-in-law living in France.
- Residency card and passport copies of my son and daughter-in-law, and our two grandchildren living in France.
- Confirmed Air Tickets from Delhi to Paris
- Overseas insurance policy.
- A small presentation was prepared by my son and daughter with their financial details.
I request you to grant me and my wife long stay visa so that we can stay with my Son and daughter-in-law living in France. I am at your disposal if you need any further details.
Thanking you in advance, Madame, Monsieur, for a favorable reply to my application.
Sincerely,
Mr. xxxxxxxxx (Full name of the applicant)
Address in India
Health Insurance for long-stay visitor visa
People who are going to apply for a long-stay visitor to France must have a good private Schengen health insurance policy for the entire duration of the stay.
- Inadequate insurance is one of most common reasons for rejection of long-stay visitor visas. Avoid the regular travel insurances.
- The following article covers this topic in detail, FAQ – Which travel insurance for long-stay visitor visa?.
Online validation of visa after arrival
You must validate your VLS-TS long-stay visitor visa within 3 months of your arrival in France.
- Validation has to be done online via ANEF website
- The system will ask for the following information,
- Details on your visa
- Date of entry into France
- Residential address in France
- Tax Stamp. For more information, Timbres Fiscaux: Tax stamp for French resident permits.
- After validation, it will be considered as a resident permit until it expires.
OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration) might contact you (letter or email) for a meeting to complete a medical check-up and signing an integration contract “contrat d’intégration républicaine”. - If you want to stay in France at the end of the validity of your VLS-TS, you should apply for a residence permit.
If your visa is not validated within the deadline, you will no longer be considered as legally present in France.
