After getting our knuckles wrapped last year at the Calais border crossing for over staying we thought we had better do the right thing this year and get a visa, so I thought I would write about our experience and what it entailed, although it annoys me immensely that we have to do this.
No visa is required if you are going on your yearly two-week holiday to Europe from the UK but for us, it causes problems when wanting to travel for a longer period, or anyone else that has a motorhome, caravan or anyone that just wants to travel longer.
At the beginning of the year John did some research into the possibility of us obtaining a long-term visa which would allow us to spend up to 180 days in the EU and after hours of reading and several phone calls later our proposed trip led us towards getting a French visa as at the time of us applying their requirements was different to Spain, and a little more lenient and being well aware of the stamps already in our passports showing we overstayed, we thought we would play it safe.
The French long stay Visa can be granted for a period of 3 to 12 months, a visitor visa does not allow you to work for a French employer, so you must have either enough money to support yourself without working or have an external income stream outside of Europe.
So with all that in mind, we set about tackling this process which isn’t particularly simple and involves registering an account for each applicant on two separate websites- the French Consulate site and the site of TLS Contact which are the third-party company that checks and processes the visa requests, all applicants are advised to apply relatively early, but no earlier than three months before the planned date of arrival in France or chosen country, as processing timescales can vary from one consulate to another.
Once our accounts are set up, we begin to complete the application.
The French Consul website gathers information on your situation and there’s an online visa wizard to help decide which Visa we qualify for and the visa requirements to which we are subject.
We then fill out the visa application form on the TLS site where we have to provide a passport that is issued less than 10 years ago, with at least two blank pages, which is valid for at least three months after the date on which we have planned to leave the Schengen Area, two recent passport photos and the supporting documents regarding our situation and our plan, then before submitting we print off a copy of the application and book an appointment with TLS centre in Wandsworth.
The TLS website suggests that the appointment will take 20 minutes and based on our experience that’s a big underestimate as we were there for over two hours.
We had booked an appointment at the TLS site in Wandsworth and it was clear upon arrival that they handle Visa applications for several countries because the small queue leading into the building was mainly Chinese students.
To get into the building we have a printed confirmation of our appointment that allows us to get through the metal detector and tight security where are appointment is then checked on the system, this all takes less than five minutes, and we are then told to enter the waiting room.
Sitting in the waiting room with at least fifty other people we soon realise the appointment is different to what we had imagined. We thought it would be more like a sit-down interview, but it was pretty similar to a trip to the bank.
There are numerous counters where TLS employees call the next applicant, and after an hour of waiting we are called to stand in front of the glass screen that separates us from the TLS employee who is seated scrutinising every piece of paperwork we hand over whilst we remain standing for the entire thing, there’s very little privacy as we are asked to provide documents and at one point it seems like we are
playing a guessing game, trying to predict what will be acceptable and have we got what they need that isn’t listed on the website, thankfully we are over-prepared, we have three months’ bank statements, photos of the motorhome, copies of our EHIC cards, insurance details, statements of our proposed plans whilst in France, and a letter stating our motorhome will be our accommodation, whatever the consulate ask for we give it, because the fees are applicable whether we are granted a visa or not.
So with our application for this stage accepted and fees paid we are then sent along the corridor to wait our turn for the next side room to become available so our biometric data can be collected; a photo and fingerprints are taken, although I’m sure my biometric photo isn’t going to look anything like my passport photo after I have to restyle my hair for the machine to accept my photo but all of this takes less than five minutes, once that is finished we leave the building.
All in all, the process took just over two hours and we felt it was carried out quite efficiently with three weeks being quoted for the return of our passports that will either contain the visa or a rejected application, it’s now in the lap of the gods.
Five days later we got a delivery from TLS, and it was with some trepidation that we open the envelopes but thankfully, the man from the French consulate he said yes!
Dealing with red tape is quite hard work but I suppose it proves that there is still a way post-Brexit to travel in Europe for longer than 90 days although at a cost.
Links to websites we used
French consul’s website https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en
TLS
Thanks for posting. I share your fury at having to do this but hey, c’est la vie. In the list of required documents you mention insurance, is that your van insurance or health insurance or both? Is health insurance one of the prerequisites?
When we applied it was both insurance, we also showed EHIC card, we just took copies of everything just incase they asked, just a means to an end really, hopefully things change soon x
Well done ???? congratulations ???? & now for your next adventure ????
This blog was actually about this years visa so apologises for misleading, however we will probably try again for next year and see if we can get a longer visa.