If you’re a Francophile, or if you’re like me and found love in the French Riviera and want to stay longer than your original plans, you have a few options for getting a French visa as an American. The easiest and quickest way to get a visa for France is to become an au pair. If you don’t feel like being a glorified household servant (see: my au pair horror story), or if you have some savings and want to travel, you can apply for a Long-Stay Visitor Visa. In French it’s called the visiteur long séjour—which you can renew for more than one year (a friend of mine is on her 6th year). Keep reading for a complete checklist of everything you need for a Long-Stay Visitor Visa for France.
Note: this blog is specifically for Americans. Check the requirements of your country on the France visa website.
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First, it’s important to note that you must obtain your long-stay visa in your home country. Once you’re in France, as of 2023, you can renew your visa online from France, but the initial request must be submitted in the U.S. at a French consulate. Making an appointment at the consulate most convenient for you is the first step before gathering your supporting documents.
Pro tip: Make copies of everything. Two copies. Maybe even three for good measure. Attach a checklist of the contents of your folder as the first sheet of paper of your request and make sure you have allllll the copies.
VFS Registration Receipt
This is the confirmation of your appointment registration (done online) and must be included in your supporting documents.
Statement of Purpose
I wrote a one-page typed letter stating what my purpose was in France. I was staying with my fiancé and we were planning to get married, but your reasons for requesting to be in France might be tourism, or to take French classes and live your best Parisian life. You do you, boo. Just make sure you flatter them a little. The French love that.
Long-Stay Visa Application Form
This is what you will print straight from your VFS registration center after you’ve filled out your application online.
Sworn Statement to Not Exercise Professional Activity in France (Attestation de N’exercer Aucune Activité Professionnelle)
On a visitor visa in France, you aren’t allowed to seek work within the country. This statement looks like this:
Signed and dated with your name and translated to French (if you speak French, yes, I Google translated this. I know the error of my ways).
Copy of Your Passport Photo Page
Along with this, I also scanned and copied my previous visas for both Spain and my au pair visa for France just in case they asked. It’s always best to have too many supporting documents than not enough.
Your Home State Identification Card/Driver’s License
Again, I’m not sure if this is required but I wanted to have proof of where I lived before traveling to Europe.
Birth Certificate
All French visas require a copy of your birth certificate translated into French. You can translate them online.
Proof of Financial Means
Here, you need proof of stable and regular resources. We weren’t entirely sure how much proof we needed, so I made a copy of my savings account and my fiancé wrote a statement letting them know he would be financially responsible for me. If you’re renting a flat, you need around 20-30 euros per day and if you’re staying in a hotel or other accommodation you need around 40 euros per day. Since my fiancé was supporting me, we also attached a copy of his passport, his work contract, and his tax documents from the past year. I received an email from the consulate a few days later requesting his last three bank statements as well.
Accommodation in France
If you’re renting an apartment or moving in with someone who already has a flat, you will need the official signed apartment lease and rental agreement as well as an electric or utility bill with your name and address on it dated within 6 months of submission. If you’re moving in with a roommate, it’s good to have them write an Accommodation Certificate, or Attestation d’Hebergement, saying that you’re welcome to stay with them and they are hosting you. It could look something like this:
Signed and dated by your host and with the address you will be staying at. Make sure to include both of your birthdays and birth locations.
Travel Insurance
It’s obligatory to purchase travel insurance to cover any medical issues that would come up during your stay in France. I’ve used ProTrip World for the last two years. It’s affordable, they are incredibly responsive, and I’ve had a good experience. You can renew your ProTrip World insurance for two years. I’ve also used Safety Wing in the past, which is great for long or short stays.
Passport Photos
Make sure you use official sizes obtained from a photo booth. They usually retake your photo there so the quality doesn’t matter, but you must include these anyway. I learned my lesson the hard way two years in a row with visa applications and showed up looking like a train wreck, but this time I knew better and actually put on some makeup and sure enough—they retook my photo there that they used for my visa.
OFII Form
The Foreigners’ Office of France form that you will need to pay the required taxes. Then you will make your appointment at the OFII office in the prefecture of the region you will be staying once you validate your visa in France upon arrival. This should come with your visa application form.
A Self-Addressed Return Envelope
You’ll be leaving your passport with the consulate, so you must prepay for a self-addressed envelope for them to return it to you.
And there you have it! All of the documents you need to obtain a long-stay visitor visa in France. One thing I do appreciate about the U.S. is their efficiency—I had my approved visa in my hands within a week and a half.
Once you arrive in France, you’ll need to log onto the visa website again with your document numbers and make an appointment at the prefecture in your region. You will need to get a medical scan of your lungs and pay the foreign tax fee (as of 2023 it is 225€), as well as a short medical questionnaire. Thankfully, once you’re in France and you wish to renew, they’ve made the process a lot simpler now—you can submit your supporting documents online to renew your visitor visa. Make sure to begin this process three months before your current visa expires if you wish to stay.
If you have any questions about obtaining a Long Stay Visitor visa for France, don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment!