Tourist Visa and Attestation d'accueil

[uramakrishna]

Hello everybody,

My name is Ramakrishna. I have to thank everyone (especially Sourav) for the great amount of useful information in this website.

This question is about tourist visa and Attestation d'accueil.

My sister and BiL are coming to Paris on their way to India. They live near Chicago, IL. For the VISA, we followed the instructions posted in http://indiansinfrance.com/forum/topic1178.html?highlight=attestation

namely: book a hotel through internet, go for VISA with the booking and cancel the hotel booking, as they would be living with me.

I have a question: Will they be asked for an attestation d'accuil (or its some other equivalents) at the port of entry?

Please let me know.

Thanks and Regards
Ramakrishna

[Sourav]

Attestation d'accueil is equivalent to the hotel reservation. You need either one, that you might need to show in the airport here.

Medical insurance is another important thing that you might need.
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[uramakrishna]

Hello Sourav,

Thanks for the quick reply. Looks like I may have to go for attestation d'accueil! (Though I have avoided it) My office secretary says that the following items are needed for getting an attestation d'accueil.

- OMI stamps (45 euros)
- Passport
- Salary sheet
- Accomodation attestation
- Accomodation contract
- Insurance accomodation
- Name and surname of the guest
- Passport numbert of the guest
- Place and date of where the passport had been delivered.


Now, I have all of these except accomodation attestation, which as she explained means, some bills of my home (phone bills, electricity bills etc.). I have none of those, as my landlord is managing all of those by himself. So, what do I need to do for that?

Thanks,
Ramakrishna

[Sourav]

Do you have the room contract? You need a proof of where you are living (the room contract will do, the space of the flat in meter square must be mentioned there), and a proof that you are living there (electricity bill in your name, for example), else, your landlord might need to apply for the attestation d'accueil.

You better go to the local mairie and ask for exact documents that you need in your particular case.
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[uramakrishna]

Sourav, Yes, I have a room contract. I do not have the bills of my home (telephone, electricity etc.) That is the problem. Other than that, the time of processing for attestation d'accueil worries me, as my folks are about to come in < 10 days.

Just now, the Mairie at Bures-sur-Yvette have confirmed that the attestation d'accueil is needed only for getting the VISA (my kind office secretary has talked to them). Not for immigration.

Has anyone been asked an "attestation d'accueil" at the immigration?

[ashwani.singla@yahoo.fr]

Hi,

Attestation d'accueil is only a document to get visa. Once someone got visa, he or she has no copy of that attestation. So once the visa has been issued, afterwards it makes no difference if the visa base is hotel reservation or this attestation.

As I replied u in email, in normal cases, the immigaration officer at entry port will ask some questions just to be insured that person is coming with some prior information and arrangement in france. So if the person who is coming has all the information regarding u ( ur name, address, contact no.; ur profession here in france...), it should be ok.

Don't worry.

Cheers

Ashwani
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[uramakrishna]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the replies. They surely helped!

My folks were asked a couple of questions at the immigration, but overall it was not that big a pain. (I had given all the documents that are listed above, but they were not pressed for them.) They had a great time in France and just left.

Cheers!
Ramakrishna

[Medusa]

Hi,
just a thought - what type of status do your sister and brother in law have in the states?
Americans and US permanant residents do not need visas to visit Frace, hey can come to visit for less than 3 months without extra documents.
It could be useful for other people to know depending on their status!

[uramakrishna]

Hello,

Sorry for the delay in reply. I had verified this answer much earlier, but forgot to post the reply.

The Chicago consulate site has the following in its FAQ.
==
Do you need a visa to visit France as a tourist?
YES, if you are a citizen of the following countries and even if you hold a US Permanent Resident card ("Green Card").
INDIA is listed as one of the countries.
==

My folks in USA have a green card, but because of the above reason had to take a VISA.

Hope it helps!
Regards

[shivigoyal]

Hey my brother in law got his letter of accomodation.for me to visit Paris... but he has got letter of x date to y date and i want to stay beyond that y date so how would be it changed or visa is issued for 90 days in short visa to all...... Please reply asap

[SwatiSG]

No, a 90 day term is the maximum for a short stay visa..it is not given to everyone as a rule...you are given your visa dates on the basis of the documents you provide. The french consulate asks for proof of accomodation for all the days you spend here...which can be either a Attestation d'accueil or hotel bookings...I know because I asked the same question for my parents but you can't have days unaccounted for even if it is a few days. If you want to stay beyond the Y date, the only thing you can do is ask your brother-in-law to get it changed on the Attestation d'accueil...of course if you have the time...or get a hotel booking for those days to show at the visa office (get the cheapest place, no matter where...and hopefully you can cancel it later).

However, the best thing to do is ask at the visa office where you will be applying. Believe me, it is the best way. they are the ones who have the last word so its best to ask them what documents will be acceptable. Good luck!

[burti16]

Hi my friends ;

Although I am not an Indian ,I found your website very helpful and I need your advice.Here is the my case ,

I'm living in Toronto-Canada and doing my master degree here.I want to visit my girlfriend who is a student in Nice-France on the Christmas.As you all know ,I need a hotel reservation or accomandation letter to apply and get the visa.We chose getting accomandation letter to cut my travel cost(any hotel costs me 500 euro for 12 days.)First my girlfiend's landlord applied for the letter to City Hall and got rejected.Then one of her proffessor applied for hosting me in his house and he got rejected too.
so my question is ,
What kind of conditions would be needed to get this letter?Both of applicants are French citizen and I guess they enough source of money to host me .
secondly , what are your advices ?

thank you all

[smitha]

For getting the Attestation d'accueil , is there any constraint on the area of the apartment.I want to bring my parents for 3 months.

[SwatiSG]

@burti: Do you know why the town hall rejected the applications in the first place? For the landlord, I suppose if he mentioned you were going to stay with your girlfriend it wouldn't have worked because from the official point of view a landlord is trying to invite someone to stay with his tenant. For the professor, not sure. In both cases, it might have been a question of space or most likely that the officials were not satisfied with the relationship between the applicant and you. What had they mentioned in their application? That they knew you well and you were a friend or that you were a friend of their tenant or student. There is no chance of it working if they say they don't know you but you are a friend of a friend or something like that.

Why can't your girlfriend apply for the attestation d'accueil? Is her flat too small?

@smitha: Space is definitely a criterion, as far as I know. However, there is no fixed rule and it depends on how many people are living in the house at any particular moment. What I mean is in a flat say of 40sq m., if there was only one person living in it and he wanted an attestation d'accueil for a friend coming over,he has more chances of getting it than say a couple living in a 40 sq m flat and wanting to invite a friend.

[Mayank Gupta 432]

HI,

I am Mayank.

I had applied for a short term Visa which was rejected.

I had done hotel bookings in Nice and had a attestation d accueil for part of my stay.

I suspect that the visa was rejected because the attestation had already been used to get a Visa for my wife who is currently in Grenoble.

Would appreciate if someone could confirm that the attestation (is for both of us as a couple) can be used twice? It was used to get my wifes visa in May and now I want to use it for my VISA. The attestation is in my name and is valid from 17th -31st July.