Visa de retour Application experience: VFS Hyderabad

28 Comments / FAQ, Visa / By

This article is about the visa de retour applicaton experience in India, by one of our readers “Nikitha Guruswamy“. Her experience has been updated with some minor corrections and the official references in the end. A detailed article about the Visa de retour will be added very soon.

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

Table of Contents

  1. What is a Visa de Retour?
  2. Application Summary
  3. List of Documents submitted at VFS office
  4. Reference

What is a Visa de Retour?

The official answer from the France Visa website.

Visa Application Summary

Hi all, I’d like to share my experience of getting a Visa de retour in India.

  • Type of visa applied: Visa de retour / Return Visa
  • Duration of your stay : Long séjour (> 90 jours) / Long stay (> 90 days)
  • Why are you making this trip?: Visa de retour / Return Visa
  • Visa main purpose of stay: Visa de retour / Return Visa
  • Applied at: VFS Hyderabad, India
  • Applied on: 18th September 2023
  • Visa received on: 29th September 2023
  • Visa processing time: 11 days, including weekends
  • My situation: Passeport Talent Famille

Thank you for your guidance in helping with my visa. Especially @⁨Prasanth Ragupathy⁩, thank you very much. I wanted to share my experience with the visa de retour process, hoping it might be helpful to someone in a similar situation.

I am a Passeport Talent Famille holder and due to a family emergency, I had to return to India while my first residence permit was still processing. I didn’t have any attestation when I left France. I received my ADP (Attestation prolongation d’instruction) while I was in India, but because it was my first application, I wasn’t allowed to go back.

So, I applied for a visa de retour on 18th September, 2023, and I received my visa today, on September 29th. Just so you know, I applied at VFS Hyderabad and my visa was processed at the French consulate in Bengaluru.

List of Documents submitted at VFS office

Here is a list of the documents which I had submitted:

  1. My passport along with entry and exit stamps
  2. Expired Visa
  3. Three photographs
  4. A very strong cover letter
  5. Carte de Sejour Confirmation receipt
  6. Attestation prolongation d’instruction
  7. France visa application form
  8. Marriage certificates (both original and apostilled and translated)
  9. Flight ticket
  10. Travel insurance
  11. Sponsorship letter from my husband
  12. Spouse’s passport
  13. Spouse’s Carte de Sejour
  14. Attestation d’hébergement (not applicable when a rental contract is available)
  15. Rental contract
  16. 3 Months Rental receipts
  17. 3 Months Phone bills
  18. Convention d’accueil (applicable only for PT chercheur category)
  19. Spouse’s work contract
  20. Spouse’s 3 months payslips

I know this seems like a lot of documents, but trust me, the consulate won’t ask for any additional documents once you have submitted these. Also, VFS might ask you to remove some documents, but I recommend sending everything!

My Visa de retour application process was really smooth, and I wish the same for others too.

Good luck, everyone!

Sources & References

  1. Frequently Asked Questions – French Visas
  2. Who can apply for a return visa?

28 thoughts on “Visa de retour Application experience: VFS Hyderabad”

  1. Karthik

    Thank you for the article, was helpful to understand the process. Does the “Visa de retour” apply for people who were on a long stay visitor visa? For example, my father-in-law was staying with us and he has a residence permit that expires in June 2025 and he cannot travel back to France before that. Can he apply for a Visa de retour when he plans to come back later in the year?

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Karthik,
      A visa de retour is applicable for some specific situations such as having a premiere demande récépisse, lost a valid residence permit while traveling outside France, etc.

      So, it’s not applicable for the situation that you had asked. He must apply for a new visitor visa application after June 2025.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth

      Reply
  2. Teja

    Hello
    My wife travelled to India for emergency and she have attestation de decision favorable, but she didn’t receive titre de séjour card yet and she cannotcollect the card because she is in india , and once the decision favorable is finished/completed when she is India, will she need to apply for retour visa in vfs India when she plan to travel back?

    If so, And once she got retour visa how that should be validated here? Will that visa updated with her current numéro étranger in ANEF – Étranger en france site? Directly?
    Or is it the new one?

    I would like to know retour visa post process here in France, once she is back here

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Teja,
      An attestation de decision favorable has the same validity as a Carte de Séjour. If it expires, then a visa de retour cannot be applied and she will require a completely new visa for travelling back to France.

      A visa de retour is an one time visa allowing a person (lost valid resident permit or an ongoing application) to travel back to France. After returning to France, the person will continue with the existing residence permit process.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth
      PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

      Reply
  4. Vinay

    Hello,

    What is the validity of Return Visa?
    Is it for 3 months, 6 months or 1 year or it depends from Embassy to Embassy.

    Thanks in Advance

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Vinay,

      Its a one-time use visa (like its name) for travelling back to France. So, the validity is not really relevant but its usually 3 months.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth
      PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

      Reply
  5. Devi Venkatasubramanian

    Hi prasanth

    I hold carte de séjour. I have applied for DCEM for my depenedent kids two months before. They are planning to travel back to india. Can they travel back to india. Will visa retour option
    , does it affect the current processing at the perfecture. If in between while they recieve the certificate when they are india, can they travel with that and collect at the perfecture later.

    Looking for your best advice

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Devi,

      Yes, you can apply for their visa de retour from India and it will allow them to travel back to France.

      Yes, if they receive the DCEM in time, it can be used for returning back to France.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth
      PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

      Reply
  6. Shruthi Krishnaswamy

    Hello Sir,

    I am a first year PhD student in France and have received my premiere ADF. I have not yet received my residence permit card. I am currently in India on a family emergency and will be back on July 20. Can you please help with applying for the retour visa?
    What option should I choose for an appointment with VFS? Also, how strong should the reason of emergency be?
    Thank you so much for your help.

    Reply
  7. Balaganapathy

    Hello Prashanth,
    My wife arrived at france with pass talent familie f14 visa and post her arrival i applied for her resident card in ANEF. Its been more than 7 months she hasnt yet received any favourable decision or any details from prefecture. she has just received prolongation attestation twice.
    we are planning to go to India by direct flight for vacation and then after 2 months she has planned to apply for retour visa to comeback to france.
    Will this affect in any way on the ongoing resident card application process? please guide

    Reply
  8. Saikiran

    I am on student visa in france i lost my passport and i got a new one and as i am near to the visa expiry i directly applied visa renewal with a new passport addressing the situation in a cover letter.

    My old visa expiring on 15 th sep and i applied visa renewal on july 11 so can i travel to india once i get the visa extension confirmation ? (i applied visa extension as i am not received my transcripts yet my course is going to end by sep 30)
    Or can i apply for this visa de retour ?

    Thank you !

    Reply
  9. Saikiran

    Hello prashanth garu

    Thank you for giving so much information which helping so many people !

    My self saikiran i am on student visa i recently lost my passport and got a new one. I directly applied for visa renewal with the new passport explaining with the cover letter ( as i alredy near to visa expiry so i directly applied visa renewal rather than transferring my visa to new passport).

    Now i applied for visa extension on july 11 ( as i am not received my transcripts so i applied for extension) i want to visit india in oct 1st week
    So can i travel on my extension visa ( i found in your blog its difficult to return to france ) or can i apply for a visa de retour
    My prefecture is versailles

    Can you please guide me for my situation

    Thank you in advance for your time to answer this

    Reply
  10. Shanthi

    Hello,

    Last year, I entered into a PACS (civil partnership) with a French national and then applied for a Vie Privée et Familiale (VPF) visa. I received a one-year titre de séjour temporaire.

    This May, we got married, and my current VPF residence permit is expiring on July 21, 2025. I applied for the renewal of my VPF with our acte de mariage on May 12, 2025, at the Nanterre Prefecture.

    However, I have not yet received a prolongation from the prefecture. Due to a family emergency, I am planning to travel to India in about a week.

    – Could you please advise whether it is safe to travel at this stage?

    – Am I eligible to apply for a visa de retour to enter France?

    – Can my husband initiate a new visa application for me from France if I travel?

    Thank you in advance for your help.

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Shanthi,

      I have already written deatiled articles answering your questions.
      1. Regarding the CdS VPF process and delays, https://prasanthragupathy.com/2023/06/what-are-the-online-attestations-of-french-resident-permits-anef/

      2. Regarding travel, https://prasanthragupathy.com/2024/02/faq-travel-with-a-french-resident-permit-which-is-expiring-soon-or-has-expired/
      In your case, a single use Visa de retour will be required for traevlling back from India to France. Explained in the artcile above and and also on https://prasanthragupathy.com/2025/08/french-visa-de-retour-return-visa-what-you-need-to-know/

      3. Regarding new visa application, there is no point in doing it and reseting your immigration history. Its not even required for your situation.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth
      PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

      Reply
  11. Swapnil

    Hello Prasanth,

    The explanation presented on your blogs on your website are very clear and are extremely useful. I read this blog but I did not find an answer to my particular situation. If you can answer that would be of great help to me and maybe others if they have the same doubt in future.

    Basically I am currently working and living in France and I have a Titre de Sejour – Passport Talent valid until 2027. My wife also has the same Titre de Sejour – Passport Talent (Famille) valid until 2027. But, my wife is living in India for the last one year and now she plans to come back to France.

    Does she needs ‘Visa de retour’? Her titre de sejour is neither stolen nor lost. My wife is currently in possession of her valid titre de sejour in India. Let us know if you have any thoughts on this topic.

    Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

    Reply
  12. Parmar

    Hello
    My father and uncle is working in paris and they hold a carte de sejour for 5 years
    Uncle had not received his appointment for renewal from raincy prefacture .
    He needs to travel to India urgently
    Can he apply for visa de retour to come back ?? Mostly by that time he will also receive his appointment for collect recepissé.

    Same case for my father as well.

    Thankyou.

    Reply
  13. Ehtisham Hashmat

    Hello sir
    I’m working in France but there was a problem about my visa
    My visa expired on 29 sept but I got a recepisse from prefecture but that also expired in 29 December but I didn’t get my carte de sejour
    I mail to prefecture to renewal of my recepisse . In Feb my brother get married I have to attend that . Can I apply visa de retour France or I have to applied that in my own country India ?

    Reply
      1. Ehtisham Hashmat

        Hello
        I received my new Récépissés today can I travel now ?
        And one more thing sir
        In my Récépissés it’s written that
        “LA DEMANDE LE RENOUVELLEMENT DE SON TITRE DE SEJOUR

        DONT LA VALTOLTE EXPIRE LE 29/03/2026

        CE RECEPISSE N’EST VALABLE QU’ACCOMPAGNE DE CE. TITRE.

        (VISA DE LONG SEJOUR VALANT T.S.)”
        Did I need return visa or no ?

        Reply
        1. Prasanth

          Hello,

          Yes you an travel with it. More details on

          Travel: https://prasanthragupathy.com/2024/02/faq-travel-with-a-french-resident-permit-which-is-expiring-soon-or-has-expired/

          Récépissé: https://prasanthragupathy.com/2025/02/recepisse-for-titre-de-sejour-application-eligibility-validity-renewal-work-travel-in-france/

          Please check them before asking any additional questions.

          Cheers,
          Prasanth
          PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

          Reply

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