Updated on: October 24, 2024 | By: @rprasanth_kumar
This article is about the Salary visa application experience at VFS Global Bengaluru shared by “Aravind TS”. 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 via Contact.
1. Who can apply for a Salary Visa ?
People who have found a salaried job in France, have to apply for a Salary visa. So, here is a general overview about the French Salary visa. Depending on your job contract, you will receive one of the following type of long-stay visas valid upto one year..
- VLS-TS visa with the comment “salarié” (employee) for a CDI job contract (permanent).
- VLS-TS visa with the comment “travailleur temporaire” for a CDD job contract (fixed-term).
The Salary visa process is done in 2 steps.
- Step 1: Work Permit application by the employer in France. This process can take upto 2 months.
- Step 2: Visa application by the employee at a VFS Center in their country. This process usually takes 2 to 4 weeks.
2. Application Summary
Sharing his experience of application for the “Salary Visa”.
- Work Permit Application: The work permit application was submitted by the employer directly on ANEF website after publishing the job offer in the company portal and on French national sites like Pole emploi for 3 weeks. You can find a detailed explanation about the Work Permit here French Work Permit – Everything To Know
- Work Permit application date: 28/02/2023
- Work Permit received date: 27/03/2023
- Type of visa applied: Long Stay
- Duration of your stay: Long stay (> 90 days)
- Why are you making this trip?: Business
- Visa main purpose of stay: Recruitment or posting workers
- Visa application center: VFS Global Bengaluru, Gopalan Mall
- Visa application date: 18/04/2023
- Visa update date: 26/04/2023
- Visa received date: 26/04/2023
- Visa processing time: 5-6 working days
He was issued a P1 VLS-TS visa with the comments “salarié” and “valider en ligne“. If you have any questions, you can contact the French Embassy and consulates in India in the following article Contact Details Of French Embassy And Consulates In India
3. Documents submitted at VFS Bengaluru
He had applied for the Salary Visa in Bengaluru. So, here are the various documents submitted during the appointment.
- Copy of Online application done via france-visas.gouv.fr
- Copy of Passport
- Copy of Job Offer Letter
- Copy of Work Permit “Autorisation de travail d’un étranger salarié en France”
- Copy of Bank Statements from the last 3 months
- Copy of Pay slip from the last 3 months
- Copy of Aadhaar Card
- Copy of Indian Income Tax Returns
- Copy of Covid vaccination certificate (not applicable anymore)
Note:
- All originals have to be presented during the appointment. VFS retains only the photocopies.
- Apostilled documents are only required after reaching France.
4. Process after reaching France
After reaching France the various OFII procedures have to be completed.
4.1. OFII validation
He was issued a P1 VLS-TS visa with the comments “salarié” and “valider en ligne”. So, he had to validate the visa within 3 months of arrival. The process was done online via the ANEF website. You can find a detailed explanation here Should I Validate My Long-Stay Visa Or Do I Have To Apply For A Residence Permit Directly?.
After finding an accommodation, he completed his OFII validation on 03/08/2023.
The OFII validation converts the visa into a valid resident permit.
4.2. OFII Civic Training
Technically once the visa was validated, he should have received an email from the OFII office for a meeting. Even after waiting for 45 days, he did not receive anything. So, he sent an email to his local OFII office. Then, they shared all the required information by email, including appointments for the medical test and signing the CIR document.
Here is a short timeline of the process,
13th December 2023 – Medical Visit: An x-ray was taken at a Polyclinic. The details of the place and time of the visit were shared in the email from OFII.
14th December 2023 – OFII Visit:
- It started with a French language test. This included a 20 minutes written test and a 10 minutes oral test.
- Then, a medical check-up was done a by Nurse and Doctor, including a questionnaire.
- Finally, he was asked sign a Contrat d’Intégration Républicaine (CIR) document and they ask for the availability of weekdays or weekends for the Civic training of 24 hours.
- For the Civic Training, he planned for 4 Saturdays. Classes start at 8.45 am and end by 5.00 pm.
5. Sources & References
- Frequently Asked Questions about French Visas – france-visas.gouv.fr
- Salaried employment in France – france-visas.gouv.fr
- Le contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR) – ofii.fr
- List of OFII offices across France – ofii.fr
- Should I Validate My Long-Stay Visa Or Do I Have To Apply For A Residence Permit Directly? – prasanthragupathy.com
Hello Prasanth.
You mentioned in the notes that, Apostilled documents are only required after reaching France. So those documents are supposed to be apostilled in France territory or we can apostille in India to present there.
Hello Faijahmad,
I tried to convey that apostilled documents are not required for any visa applications. They are only required for the procedures to be done after reaching France.
Apostillation process can only be done from the country which issues the original document. For example: An Indian BC cannot be apostilled in France.
Okay. Thanks a lot. That makes sense.
Cool. All the best for your visa application.