SCHENGEN VISA'S

I contacted the French embassy here about staying longer in Europe and below is the gist of their reply.Does anyone else get the impression that they don't want people staying more than 90 days?!

Long Stay Visa Without Work for Metropolitan France
REQUIREMENTS PER APPLICANT

4 Long Stay Visa application forms * duly completed, dated and signed

4 passport photographs pasted on to the forms

1 visa information form

1 check-list duly completed

* translation of the long stay visa application form (not to be filled out)

Original documents + 2 copies of :

valid passport

police certificate(s) of country or countries of residence of more than one year over the last ten years :

for Australia, a National Criminal History Record Check (less than three months old) : standard disclosure - police name check - issued by the police authorities of your State or Territory.
for other countries, in the event of impossibility of obtaining a police certificate in less than two months, applicants must submit evidence of application thereof accompanied by a statutory declaration relating to conviction status and an undertaking to provide the document when available.
evidence of sufficient financial resources : bank statement(s) and professional advice from accountant, bank manager or financial adviser

proof of ownership of property in France (if applicable), or copy of lease, or signed letter from host together with copy of host ID (passport or driver’s licence) AND certificate of board and lodging (attestation d’accueil). In all cases, a proof of ownership or rental of the property must be presented

statutory declaration (duly legalised by a Justice of the Peace) that you will not take up employment during your stay in France

evidence of comprehensive private health insurance scheme covering the entirety of your stay in France

travel itinerary / return ticket to France

for accompanied minors, provide a birth certificate, and if under 16, a letter certifying enrolment in a French school.

Applications should be lodged in person at the Consulate-General of France in Sydney with all the requirements, in the order indicated above. Alternatively, if applying by mail, please provide a pre-paid, registered and properly filled out self-addressed envelope for the return of your passport.

All Long Stay Visas for more than 6 months have a validity of 3 months. Therefore, with the exception of Working Holiday and Student Visas for under 18’s, the applicant must contact the nearest "Préfecture de Police" to their place of residence within 8 days after their arrival and apply for a "carte de séjour" (residency card) or a "permis de travail" (work permit).

Please consult the list of applicable fees

Important: only credit card will be accepted.

Processing time to obtain the visa : 2 months minimum for a complete application

Book an appointment here

Updated 22/08/2008

Having sent a copy of my itinerary (which required 96 days for walking plus 2 rest days in SDC at the end - or "spare days") to the French Consul here in Adelaide, by way of explanation of what I was doing, I got the following repsonse:-

The problem that you will encounter with your visa application is in regards to the accommodation booking. You must provide all bookings to the consulate in Sydney. If one night is missing they will not give you the visa. I am sorry but the itinerary is not a proof of accommodation what you need are receipts of booking from hotels or bed and breakfast etc...

Your best option is to shorten your stay and go only for 89 days.

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Mind you I did not elaborate on the fact that one doesn't under normal circumstances book accomodation for more than one or two days ahead. I think that the rpely summarises what Kevin found out. I would love to start lobbying to get a longer period of stay. I want to do the right thing and am prepared to pay for the visa's etc but it is very difficult even to find things out! When I rang the French Embassy here in Australia the recorded message stated very plainly that they did not deal with personal visa requests.

Any suggestions on how we can start lobbying would be very welcome.

ivar said:

The UK is not in Schengen I believe... Since Ryanair flies from many points in continental Europe to London... So maybe a Ryanair flight to have a cup of tea with the Queen? That would give you another 90 days, right?

Not ideal, but.. an option since these flights can be cheap...

:|
Ivar

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No ivar.... it doesn't give another 90 days.... because the 90 days is the maximum you are allowed in a six month period. Once your 90 are up, you basically have to wait three more months before your next 90 day allocation starts.
Margaret

Ivar
I'd already thought of nipping over to the UK then returning to Europe but since found out that the 90 days applies to any 6 month period so there goes that idea. I do wonder however how stringent spanish customs would be in going through your passport to see when you arrived in Europe then counting the days to make sure it's less than 90. Trouble is my passport expires in may so will have to get a new one so it will only have one or two stamps in it!
I suppose you could plead ignorance and show your credencial with all the dates to show you were on a pilgrimage....?

Is it possible for pilgrims to apply for another category visa which will allow them to walk between Rome and Santiago (± 1800km), Canterbury and Rome ( ± 1900km) or Canterbury to Jerusalem (± 5000 kmm)?

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Sil, Or even walking from Vezelay to SDC via the Camino del Norte means one has to push it fairly well (by my calculations about 1850kms), and going from further afield from Reims (about +450 kms on top of that I think) would be very difficult to do in the time! Thank you for starting this thread Sil - it would be good if we could start making people aware of these difficulties, and ultimately get something done about it. Perhaps we need to bombard every Embassy with the same letter as it seems that they will all have a say in any changes. Janet