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French Visa Requirements [Obligation du visa]

Visas are issued by French Consulates abroad. They are of two categories:

• short-stay visa [visa de court sejour] is valid for three months and is intended for visitors.
• long-stay visa [visa de long sejour] is valid for three to six months, or up to nine months in some cases. A long-stay visa may grant temporary permission to reside in France pending the issuing of Residence Permit, in which case it includes a statement of that purpose: voire carte de sejour. There are special long-stay visas for students [visa de long sejour mention etudianf].

Visas are not required for citizens of:

• the 25 countries of the European Union (EU)
• the three countries of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) that together with
• the EU make up the European Economic Area (EEA)
• 33 other countries: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brasil, 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. But visas are required for citizens of these countries for stays of more than three months.

Visa requirements may change; for updated information, contact a French Consulate or visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa site at www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/venir/visas with interactive "Do you need a visa?" [Avez-vous besoin d'un visa?] pages in French, English and Spanish.