go
to
.
Dealing with the French Consulate-General
in Australia
- UNE
in-country language students who are
travelling on a European Union passport
do NOT require a visa for residence
and study in France. The present document
therefore does not apply to such people,
although they might care to glance
through it if they have a macabre
sense of humour.
- Most
other students, and in particular
those with Australian passports, need
to obtain a long-stay visa (visa long
séjour) if they intend to be
resident in France for more than 90
days. If in doubt about your need
for a visa, check with your country's
embassy.
- All
the necessary information about obtaining
visas for France is most conveniently
accessed, in English, on the well-organised
website of the French Consulate-General
in Australia (Consulat Général
de France en Australie), to be found
at http://www.consulfrance-sydney.org/
Click on Visas, then on Long stay
(more than 90 days), then on Student
visa.
- The
resulting page clearly lists the paperwork
which needs to be downloaded or assembled,
completed and submitted to the Consulate-General
in Sydney. Two remarks are perhaps
relevant here: (i) The items are not
listed randomly; all of them, not
just some, will be called for. (ii)
In accordance with French bureaucratic
procedure, all documents will be expected
to be submitted at once and not piecemeal.
It is most unlikely that any work
will start on the application until
all forms and other items are in Sydney
or, at the very least, until a last
outstanding one is said to be on its
way. In particular, the application
fee is an essential trigger: without
it, silence will reign. The postal
address is: French Consulate-General,
Level 26, St Martin's Tower, 31 Market
Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000.
- Unless,
of course, you live in or near Sydney
and wish to do things in person (in
which case an appointment is required
during public opening hours of 09.00
to 13.00 Monday to Friday), it should
not be necessary to make a trip to
the Consulate-General to deposit applications,
discuss problems or progress, or eventually
receive the visa. Completed applications
should normally be submitted by mail,
and the visa will be delivered to
you in the same way.
- It
should be even less necessary, at
any stage, to contact the French Embassy
(Ambassade de France en Australie),
the website of which is http://www.ambafrance-au.org/index.en.htm
The Embassy does not offer consular
services, except in a few very specific
matters of interest only to French
nationals. Any UNE student living
in or near Canberra must, like students
at ANU, apply through the Sydney Consulate-General.
- Do NOT send applications and supporting
documents by ordinary mail or Express
Post. Rather, use Australia Post's
low-cost Registered Post which offers
a unique ID number for each article,
proof of posting, a signature on delivery,
and some insurance cover ($100). The
expense of courier services should
virtually never be necessary.
Retain a photocopy of every document
and piece of correspondence submitted.
- Note
the application submission/processing
times mentioned on the Consulate-General
website. Submission is recommended
1.5 to 2 months before the start date
of your course and cannot be more
than three months before departure.
This probably assumes that you will
be travelling to France only a few
days before the semester begins. If
you plan to leave Australia early,
allow the Consulate enough time to
carry out its work. With the closure
of the Melbourne Consulate, Sydney's
Consulate-General now provides French
consular services for the whole of
mainland and offshore Australia. It
is a busy place. One assumes that
staffing is adjusted according to
seasonal demands, but remember that
July and August - a peak period when
Australian university student visa
applications are being processed for
September departures - coincides with
the summer holiday season in France,
so some staff will not be in Australia
at that time. Allow plenty of time
for your application, and don't enquire
about its progress until well into
the period mentioned.
- Applications
vary according to personal circumstances.
A young person travelling alone is
in a different situation from a single
parent with child or a mature-age
student with partner. The more complicated
your case, the earlier you are advised
to apply.
- Just
as it's important to retain copies
of everything sent to the Consulate-General,
so it's wise to make queries in writing
rather than by phone. If you dig into
the Consulate-General website, you
get to a staff list or organisational
chart, what the French call un organigramme
(http://www.consulfrance-sydney.org/leconsulat/pages/organigramme.en.htm).
At printing time, this shows that
the Visa Section/Service des visas
is headed by Ms Caroline Bissières,
helped by Ms Marie-Thérèse
Demarchi. It is the only public section
of the Consulate-General to have silent
numbers, to discourage phone contact.
You are advised to write (snailmail),
fax (Visa Section fax 02 9283 0219)
or e-mail (Visa Section e-mail: visas.sydney@diplomatie.gouv.fr;
general Consulate e-mail: consulat@consulfrance-sydney.org).
Such messages will generally get prompt
replies. E-mails requesting acknowledgement
of receipt of documents cannot be
replied to. By putting your queries
in writing and getting printed replies,
you have a paper trail to use later
in the case of any dispute, whereas
unrecorded phone conversations are
open to misinterpretation (on both
sides). Write in English, unless French
is your native language.
- It
can be counterproductive to write
aggressive letters. Better to state
your case calmly, in a logical sequence,
ensuring that all necessary points
are covered as concisely as possible.
Consulate-General staff are human
and deserve the courtesy of politeness.
- At the date of printing this document,
the Consulate-General's list of items
needed for a long-stay student visa
consisted of:
- Two
completed, dated and signed Long
Stay Visa application forms, downloadable
from the website. The 29 questions
on this two-page form in French
are fairly straightforward, especially
since an English translation is
now offered. 13 asks where your
passport was issued, while 14
wants the expiry date. 19 only
applies to those who are not Australian
citizens and who are asked to
supply their residence permit
details. 20 asks for details of
accompanying family members. At
21, indicate studies in France.
Indicate 'Non' at 23, even if
you intend seeking part-time employment.
24 asks for more details of your
study plans. 25 is not relevant.
26 asks about financial support
for your stay, 27 about any family
links to France. In 28, they want
to know if you have any guarantor
(répondant) in France who
could vouch for you/come to your
assistance. At the end of the
form, at 'Fait à ...',
enter the name of the place where
you are completing the form, then
date it ('Le ...') and sign it.
Leave what is above Question 1
and on the right of the front
page blank, but paste a passport-size
photo of yourself at the bottom
right.
- Valid
Australian passport (i.e. valid
to beyond your return date).
- A
recent CV, which you might wish
to compose in English. This need
only be brief.
- What
is called a justification of studies
(French: un justificatif d'études).
The site requires this to be a
certificate of enrolment indicating
dates and subjects of study and
a note about accommodation. Until
now, it has been possible, under
the exchange agreements, to submit
only a letter from the French
university, since enrolment is
rarely undertaken prior to the
issue of the visa, but a proper
certificate is now being insisted
upon and will be supplied to you
by the overseas university.
- Proof
of means of subsistence in France
(un justificatif de ressources).
The bilingual downloadable form
Garantie financière - Financial
guarantee is designed for schoolleaver-age
students whose parents are asked
to accept full financial responsibility
for their son/daughter, to indicate
a monthly sum in A$ which they
undertake to provide, and to supply
as proof of parental identity
a copy of their passport or driver's
licence. Along with the form must
go actual proof of the guarantor's
income, such as copies of bank
statements and/or payslips. Of
course, many UNE intercalary students
are not in this child-parent relationship
and will have to supply a statement
and relevant documentation to
match their particular circumstances.
Anyone not travelling alone but
with a child or partner should
expect to have to supply both
more details and more funds.
- Medical
insurance. There are two categories
here. Those under 28 at time of
travel are said to need to join
a student social security fund
on arrival in France, at a cost
of 180 euros a year. For this
purpose, it is necessary to download,
complete and submit a Health Insurance
Coverage form, certifying that
you will take out this cover on
arrival. Those over 28 do not
seem to have to give this guarantee.
Those actually aged 28 appear
to be in administrative limbo!
It is not clear why additional
cover is needed when UNE students
are currently recommended to take
out commercial travel insurance
in Australia which provides unlimited
medical cover, substantial third
party liability and other benefits.
At present, discussions are being
held to design a UNE policy which
will give suitable protection
free of charge to students obliged
to study in-country, but this,
too, may be subject to the French
health insurance cover guarantee.
- An
itinerary. Keep this brief.
- A
Certificate of Police Record (Name
Check Certificate). The Consulate-General
website invites you to obtain
this from the Australian Federal
Police by completing the downloadable
form, but that is only applicable
to students resident in the ACT.
Don't waste time and about $36
on the AFP. Instead, ask at your
local police station for a similar
form; the service costs about
$32 in NSW. Only a name check
is required.
- The
visa fee, currently $172.15 but
liable to change according to
euro/dollar exchange rates. Payment
can be made by cash (if in person
at the Consulate-General), by
money order or by Visa, Mastercard
or Bankcard if you complete and
return the downloadable credit/debit
card authorisation form. Payment
by cheque is not possible.
- Once
UNE has submitted your details to
the French university, responsibility
for all subsequent non-academic arrangements
lies with you, the student. This affects
travel, insurance, and accommodation,
as well as the visa requirements.
UNE French will help as much as possible
(e.g. by asking universities to supply
you with an appropriate enrolment
certificate), but cannot accept responsibility
for matters which are outside its
control. French legislation may prevent
the Consulate-General from giving
you reasons for certain decisions
(e.g. a visa refusal), although you
should pursue matters in such an unlikely
event in order to understand how to
improve a subsequent application.
Privacy legislation also quite correctly
prevents the Consulate-General from
divulging details of an application
or advice/decisions to anyone other
than the applicant, at least without
the latter's express permission. For
these and other reasons, it really
has to be a dialogue between the student
and consular staff. Almost all applications
proceed smoothly. But since you don't
want to be waiting for the visa as
you pack to leave, get the process
under way in good time. Note, though,
that student visa applications cannot
normally be processed more than three
(3) months before departure.
December
2004 |
