Schengen short-stay visa (foreigner in France for 3 months maximum)

Verified 13 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)

You are a foreigner no European and you want to stay in France for less than 3 months? You must have a visa short-stay (type C). This visa is common to the countries of the Schengen area. It allows you to stay in France and in other countries of space Schengen, except in exceptional cases. You must also have other documents that vary according to the purpose of the stay. Here is the information you need to know.

You are concerned if you meet the following 3 conditions:

  • To be foreigner no European
  • Duration maximum of the stay in France of 3 months (or in another EU countrySchengen area)
  • Not having a residence permit or long-stay visa in a country ofSchengen area.

Warning  

Depending on your nationality and the type of your passport, you may be exempt from a visa. You can check if you need a visa using the Visa Assistant service. The approach is done on the internet:

Check if you need a visa - Visa Assistant

A visa is a sticker affixed by the administration of a country to a person's passport to allow him to enter and stay for a specified period.

The short-stay visa allows you to enter and travel in France and other countries in space Schengen.

Exceptionally, it may be valid in France or in one or more countries in space Schengen only (e.g. France and Belgium).

Unlike a national long-stay visa (type D), the visa Schengen does not authorize you to install in France.

Warning  

If you wish to travel in overseas for a short stay (maximum 90 days), you must get a specific visa.

Reasons for stay for which a Schengen visa may be granted

This visa may be granted for example for one of the following reasons:

  • Sightseeing trip
  • Business travel
  • Family visit
  • Short training, internship
  • Engaging in a paid activity that may require work authorization.

Length of stay allowed with a Schengen visa

The short-stay visa allows you to stay up to 90 days for a continuous stay or for several stays in the countries of the space Schengen over a period of 180 days.

At the end of this maximum period of 90 days, you must leave the space Schengen.

A simulator allows you to calculate the maximum length of stay of the non-European foreigner in the Schengen area:

Calculate the maximum permitted duration of short stays in Schengen countries

To know according to your situation the list of documents to be provided, you must consult the France-Visas portal:

France-Visas - Assistant-visas - List of documents to be provided

Warning  

To work during your short stay, you must hold a work authorization obtained for a paid activity which does not fall within the following grounds:

  • Sports, cultural, artistic and scientific events
  • Symposia, seminars and trade shows
  • Film, audiovisual, performance and phonographic production and distribution, as an artist or technical staff
  • Modeling and artistic pose
  • Personal services and domestic workers during the stay in France of their private employers
  • Audit and expertise assignments in IT, management, finance, insurance, architecture and engineering as a contracted employee
  • Teaching as a visiting professor.

You must complete your visa application online:

Applying for a visa

The request must be made at the earliest 3 months before departure planned.

After completing your application on the internet, you must make an appointment at the French consulate of the country in which you reside. The process is done on the internet.

Please note

If the main destination cannot be determined, it is the country of entry into theSchengen area who is competent to issue you the visa.

For example, if you plan to spend 15 days in Belgium and 15 days in France for tourism arriving through Belgium, you must make your request to the Belgian consulate.

Validity of passport

Your passport must be valid at least 3 months after the end date of your visa. It must also have been issued since less than 10 years and contain at least 2 blank pages for entry stamps in a territory.

Registration of applicant data

Your data biometric are saved in a file, called Visabio.

This data is the digitized images of your photo and fingerprints (children under 12 years old are not concerned).

You cannot object to this registration. However, you have a right to access and correct the file.

FYI  

The European Entry/Exit System (EES) deployed at external Schengen border crossing points (airports, stations and ports). This system records the personal data as well as data on entry, exit and refusal of entry travelers from third countries who come to France for a stay of less than 3 months.

To know the cost of the visa, you can consult the section Rates from the pages of the France-Visas Assistant:

France-Visas - Cost of visa by country

The amount of the visa fee must be paid to the visa office at the time of application.

In countries where the State has entrusted the receipt of applications to a private service provider, the application fee must be paid to that service provider. The latter may also claim additional service charges abroad.

After payment, a receipt stating the amount paid is given to the applicant.

Warning  

In case of refusal of visa or cancelation of the stay, the amount paid is not refunded.

A Schengen visa may be refused for the following reasons:

  • Do not present the proof of your stay in France (proof of accommodation, resources, medical insurance, etc.)
  • Submit false travel documents or documents of questionable authenticity
  • Have already stayed 90 days during the current period of 180 days on French territory
  • Presence in France would represent a threat to public order
  • Be registered for the purpose of non-admission in the Schengen Information System or pose a threat to the security, public health or international relations of a country of the Schengen area
  • Be subject to a prohibition measure (judicial prohibition of french territory, deportation order, return ban, administrative prohibition of territory)
  • Intention to leave French territory before the end of the visa is not established
  • Do not provide precise information about the purpose and your conditions of stay in France.

FYI  

The short-stay visa requested by the holder of a diplomatic passport or service passport a national of a State which does not cooperate sufficiently in the readmission of its nationals in an irregular situation or which does not comply with a bilateral or multilateral agreement on the management of migration flows may be refused.

Your Schengen visa may be refused:

  • Explicitly by a written decision that must specify the reason for the refusal
  • Implicitly if no response is made to your request after a period of 2 months.

You can appeal against a decision to refuse a visa. But you must first make a mandatory prior administrative appeal (Rapo).

Report

You must write to Deputy Director of Visa of the Directorate-General for foreigners in France (Ministry of the Interior), which is responsible for examining administrative appeals against decisions taken by diplomatic or consular authorities to refuse short-stay visas.

The Rapo must be formed in 30 days from the date on which the decision to refuse a visa was notified to you.

The Deputy Director of Visas may:

  • Either dismiss your appeal
  • Either instruct the consulate to issue you the requested short-stay visa.
Who shall I contact

Appeal if the Rapo is rejected

The Rapo: titleContent shall be rejected:

  • If a written decision of refusal is addressed to you (explicit rejection),
  • Or if you do not receive a response within 2 months of sending your RAPO (implicit rejection).

You can then appeal for annulment, within 2 months after the decision to reject your Rapo implicitly or explicitly.

The administrative court of Nantes is competent to examine appeals for annulment of visa refusals.

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