Access to France for foreigners is governed by strict rules that must be followed to avoid being turned back at the border. All foreign nationals wishing to enter France must be able to present his or her passeport and the following documents at the border:

• purpose of stay
• means of subsistence in France
• conditions of accommodation in France

As a general rule, a visa is required, unless otherwise exempted, which is the case for all nationals of the Schengen European Area.

The basic travel document: the passport

To enter France legally, all foreign nationals must be in possession of a valid passport. The passport is one of the documents required to enter the Schengen area. It identifies the passport holder, and can be endorsed with an entry visa when required.

French nationals and citizens of all EU member states entering the Schengen area must also be in possession of a valid passport or other travel document.

In addition to these minimum standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, some countries have added the requirement for electronic passports to include biometric data, notably a photograph, biometric data, including a digitized photograph of the face and two fingerprints, also stored on the microchip. Passports enable holders to prove their identity and nationality.

A valid passport must have been issued less than 10 years ago and be valid for at least 3 months after the planned date of exit.

Asylum seekers are initially exempt from passport requirements, but their admission is subject to administrative and police inquiries. The Schengen Agreements (see below) and the Dublin Asylum Conventions have contributed to the emergence of a common European asylum policy. In particular, the 2013 Dublin Regulation requires refugees to lodge their asylum applications in the first European country they enter.

Access to France for foreigners and the Schengen Area

In 2024, the Schengen area comprises 29 states in which nationals can move freely without internal border controls :

• 25 of the 27 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  Since March 31, 2024, Romania and Bulgaria have been members of the Schengen area for air and sea borders only (free movement initially concerns only internal EU air and sea border controls).
  Ireland has a special status, and participates in only part of the Schengen arrangements.
  Cyprus, a member of the European Union, does not yet participate.

• 4 associated states, not members of the European Union: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.

Conditions if you are a foreign national wishing to enter France and do not reside in France

Whether or not you need a visa to access to France as a foreigner, you must be able to justify the following points:

• You must be in possession of an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and death-related expenses likely to be incurred during your stay in France, including the cost of repatriation for medical reasons. Click on “Travel Insurance Company” that meets these criteria.
  European Union nationals must hold a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) – See our post “Medical expenses for tourists in France: who pays? – Travel insurances“.

• If you are staying in a hotel, you will need to provide a hotel reservation and the ability to spend a minimum amount per day of stay, which differs according to the Schengen country you are visiting. For France, this amount is :
  • 65 euros per day of stay if you provide a hotel reservation ;
  • 120 euros per day if a hotel reservation is not submitted;
  • In the event of a partial hotel reservation: 65 euros per day for the period covered by the reservation and 120 euros per day for the remainder of the stay.
  • If you’re staying with a private individual, you’ll need to provide a “attestation d’accueil” issued by the town hall (in France) and completed by the person inviting you (nb: when crossing the border, you’ll also need to provide proof that you’re in possession of a minimum sum of 32.50 euros per day of stay, in addition to your “attestation d’accueil”).

These conditions are rarely checked, but may be at the discretion of the border police when you arrive in the Schengen Area.

Free movement of people within the Schengen area

Any individual (EU or non-EU national), once entering the territory of one of the member countries, can cross the borders of the other countries without being subject to controls. Air flights between cities in the Schengen area are considered as domestic flights. This is the principle of the free movement of persons, article 3 of the Treaty on European Union.

However, a state may re-establish controls at its own borders in the event of a threat to public order or national security (for a maximum of six months), and after consulting the other states in the Schengen group.

In 2013, this period was extended to 24 months in the event of a “serious breach by a Member State of its external border control obligations”.

This possibility of temporarily reintroducing passport checks at national borders was used, for example, in Poland for Euro 2012, by several countries (Austria, Denmark…) to deal with the migratory crisis in 2015, by France after the November 2015 attacks, and again in 2020 by several countries to deal with the health crisis caused by Covid-19.

What tools are available to control the Schengen Area’s external borders?

While the free movement of people within the Schengen area is effective, controls at the area’s external borders are strengthened by :

• the development of judicial and police cooperation with the creation of the SIS (Schengen Information System), operational since 1995, followed by SIS II implemented from April 2013. This computer database, shared by all Schengen member states, provides information on missing or wanted persons, stolen vehicles, stolen weapons, counterfeit banknotes in circulation, etc;
• the introduction of common rules on entry requirements and visas for short stays, and the processing of asylum applications;
• the maintenance of flying controls carried out by police or customs authorities to combat terrorism and the development of organized crime;
• the creation in 2004 of Frontex, the agency responsible for managing operational cooperation at the EU’s external borders. This agency, which concerns the whole of the EU, not just the Schengen area, was transformed in 2016 into the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, with a reserve force of 1,500 guards.

Visas issued by France to access to France for foreigners

The French authorities are competent to process your “Schengen visa” application in the following cases:

• The sole destination of your trip(s) (multiple-entry visa possible) is France;
• You travel to different Schengen states, but France is the main destination of your trip(s) in terms of duration or purpose of stay;
• You are traveling to different Schengen states, but no main destination can be determined, and your first entry into the Schengen area will be via France (French border post).

France issues several types of visa of access to France for foreigners. Only transit or short-stay visas are issued to tourists passing through France:

• Type A “transit” visa for passengers who need to stop over in France for a connecting flight at an airport within the Schengen area.
  The conditions for issuing this visa are not specified in the common Schengen consular instructions, but in practice the French embassy requires a plane ticket with flight confirmation and proof of admission or readmission to the destination country.
  But beware: this type of visa is only valid if you do not leave the international zones of the airport!

• Type C short-stay visa for a tourist trip or family visit, for example. This visa can be issued for one or more entries into France.
  • The maximum stay is 90 days over a period of 180 days from the date of first entry into France.
  • Note that this type of visa is also required for simple transit through France, if you are leaving the airport zone of the airport where you arrive, for exemple:
    • Changing airports to continue your journey
    • Waiting for a connecting flight at a hotel or a friend’s home.

France-visas, is the official (Government) website for visas to France. It is the single portal containing all the information you need to guide you through the process and assist you at every stage of your application (file preparation, data entry, submission and follow-up).

Below, we deal only with type C (short-stay) tourist visas.

Do you need a type C (short-stay) visa to access to France for foreigners and as a tourist?

Checking whether you need a visa is the 1st step to take. You can do this easily by clicking on “Assistant visa” – and filling in the form presented to you. This will tell you immediately whether a visa is required, what documents you need to present and how much you’ll have to pay.

To make this easier for you, we have also listed all the countries for which a visa is required to enter France. Click on “Visa required to enter France – List of countries concerned“.

But then, what happens if you need a visa?

The 2nd step is to copy the list of required documents. You’ll need to obtain them strictly as requested.

Step 3 is to click on “Apply online”. This enables you to submit your preliminary application online. You will also be given the address of the French Consulate or Embassy where you should go at the date and time indicated for an appointment (may be modified). Payment is made upon request. The waiting time for an appointment is 15 to 30 days, depending on the country.

The 4th step is to honor the appointment that has been proposed to you, with all the documents requested.

What happens if you don’t need a visa?

This is the case for all nationals of the European Union and the Schengen area (see above), but also for many other countries that offer the same reciprocity for French or European nationals in their own countries.

But don’t forget that you still need

• a valid passport, i.e. one issued less than 10 years ago and valid for at least 3 months after the planned date of departure from France

and be able to justify

• purpose of the stay
• means of subsistence in France
• accommodation conditions in France.

New situations for Britons from January 1, 2021

Since January 1, 2021, when Brexit came into effect, nationals of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland), must present a valid passport at the border, without a visa. This “special” access to France for foreigners coming from the UK only applies to visits (family, tourist or, in specific and limited cases, for study or professional reasons) of up to 6 months. For longer stays, particularly for British residents in France, they must obtain a long-stay visa valid as a VLS-TS “visitor” residence permit (in the latter case, the secondary residence de facto becomes the main residence, at least for the current year). These visa applications can be submitted online, via the France-visas teleservice