Entry Requirements

Citizen of EU/EEA countries (all 25 European Union member countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) do not need a visa for France.

Non-EU/EEA citizens need a visa to enter France, unless there exists a special agreement between France and your home country.

These countries include: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay, Vatican and Venezuela. Citizens of these countries can stay for up to 3 months without a visa.

Before coming, however, check whether there are no changes. Up-to-date information on entry requirements regarding your nationality and/or residence is available on the official website of the French Ministry of Interior: www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/venir/visas (in French, English and Spanish).

Visa

Visas are valid for the length of time stated on them, starting on the date of arrival in France. There are very big differences between visas, so make sure you know what you want (purpose and length of stay) before applying for one. It might be very difficult, or even impossible to change a visa once you are in France. For example, you cannot enter France with a short-stay visa and then apply to stay longer. Neither can you change the status of your visa (i.e. change your status from student to employee) without first returning to your country of residence and obtaining the new appropriate visa. Also, it is not possible to ask a friend at home to obtain a visa for you once you're in France. In any case, you have to get out of the Schengen Area in order to apply for a new type of visa, so plan accordingly.

The Shengen Area refers to the treaty which enables free circulation of residents within these countries. Signatory states to the treaty currently are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Portugal, and the name itself is the place in Luxemburg, where the treaty was signed in 1985.

The main kinds of visa are:

1. Short-stay visa (visa de court séjour)Valid for a maximum of 3 months. A visa granted by one of Schengen Area countries (for example, Germany) is valid in all other member countries and authorises its holder to circulate freely within Schengen area. This means that traveling within the Schengen Area is legally the