U.S. citizen : Long Stay Diplomatic and Official visas

American citizen holders of a diplomatic or official or passport going to be posted in France for a long stay (more than 90 days) have to apply for a visa before leaving the United States.

No appointments required for these applications. The whole requested following documents may be brought by a carrier at the visa section of the French General Consulate any opened business day between 03:00 and 04:00 pm only.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A LONG STAY (90 days or more):

Applications for a diplomatic or official long stay in France (90 days or more) can only be presented in Washington DC by the US authorities.

 Passport valid for at least six months. Please make sure that :

• your passport has a minimum of two blank pages (to affix the visa and for border stamps). Only visa pages are valid, amendments pages cannot be used for visas or entry stamps.
• your passport is in good condition (any slight damage, even to the cover, can be considered as a compromission of the security of the travel document and declined at the visa section or at the border)
• your passport allows proper identification of the bearer without any doubt (for example, passports of adults with passport pictures in their young ages may not be accepted)
• your passport has been issued less than 10 years ago (first issuance) . Even if it has been renewed since then by your country, we will decline your passport for a visa application and you will have to renew it prior to applying.

The immigration officer of the visa section has full authority to decline a passport that wouldn’t meet the requirements and request a renewed one before you can apply for a visa at the French consulate.

TWO FULL SET OF THE APPLICATION PACKAGE ARE NECESSARY FOR EACH APPLICANT :

 two copies of the passport (identification page + signature).

 2 original long stay application forms fully filled out and signed by the applicant. (Imitation of a signature is a fraud and will be reported to the proper authorities.) Please do not forget to write your phone number (home and cell) and e-mail address. (hint : forms should be signed precisely and consistently, and matching the one in the passport.)

 2 photographs (more information about the photograph). All photos must be recent, identical, passport size - 1,4" x 1,7" (3,5cm x 4,5cm) and showing face front the forehead hairline and ears on a white background, the face must take up 70-80% of the photograph. (hint for the picture size : measure the face size between the exterior of the two ears : from 3/4 of an inch to less than one inch the picture size will be fine. an inch or more, or less than 3/4 of an inch : high chance to be invalid to make a visa)

 An official diplomatic letter from the State Department (for American officials) with each application set. This letter should specify your name, your position, your passport’s type and number, and the name of the person you replace (or new post if you are not replacing anyone)

Please note that only few signers are appointed to issue US official notes. You should contact the office in charge of the visas of your department or the SIA (special issuance agency, 1111 19th Street, Washington, DC) for further information if necessary.

For the DOD only, the cover letter can be obtained through the Logistics Services of the US Army Services and Operations Agency (LSW) located on 9301 Chapel Road, Bldg 1458, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060. The POC can be reached at (703) 614-3767.

 for spouses and children an original of marriage certificate and/or birth certificates (+ 2 copies of each document)

US official and diplomatic passport holders are advised that long stay visas for France take a minimum average time process of 4 weeks, and occasionaly up to two months. We advise you to apply at least 1 to 2 months prior to your departure for a position of this type in France. Pick up by carriers on same schedule hours for drop offs.

When a visa is ready, pick up of the passports by carriers can be made any open business day between 3:00 and 4:00pm only.

As a courtesy between nations, diplomatic or official visas are waived of visa fees for their applications.