French Poly Visa

[NorthPacific]

Any advice about getting a french Poly visa in Vancouver? Mrs is Thai so not as simple as it could be. They also insist that you get the visa within 3 months of your proposed visit.

[mcarling]

Many travel agencies will arrange sending the passport, visa application, and consular fees to the appropriate consulate for a reasonable fee. Many even fill out the application for you.

[NorthPacific]

Don't think that will work anymore. The only communication you have Imm gration is with email. They will not answer letters, the phone or personal counter visits. Unfortunately the one officer employed there has not answered my email.


To get a visa now you have to attend in person at a computer generated time. (Bio-visa ) system. This is from the nation that invented bureaucracy.

[Livia]

Hi NorthPacific,

We are in process of applying for ours in Vancouver right now. We had the meeting and the application is, we believe, on its way back from French Poly right now. Do you have a specific question we might be able to help with?

[NorthPacific]

Hi Livia,

This is an email I sent to the Vancouver Office and the reply I got back.

Could I have clarification of the following please,

1) I have EU and Canadian Citizenship I do not need a visa for French Polynesia for up to 90 day stay.

2) My Thai partner does need a visa.

3) She is living in BC Is it allowed that she applies for French Polynesia visa in Vancouver?

As we are sailing from BC to the Marquises we can only guess at our arrival date.

3) In our situation is the maximum application time prior to arrival in French Polynesia will still be 3 months?

4) are there any regulations that I need to know for entry to French Polynesia by Sailing Vessel?

Thank you for your consideration.

I got this back!


residents of BC must apply for their visas in Vancouver. If you do not know the exact date of your entry in Polynesia, please provide a tentative earliest date for your arrival.
You may apply starting 3 months before your intended arrival.
For customs regulations, please refer to the official French Polynesia authorities.


So I finish work at the start of July. We will leave July 1 if possible. As we live in the North it is a pain (an expensive one )to travel down. However we will do what we must LOL. So any info like : do you have to have medical and boat insurance. Lockable booze locker? Who are the official French Polynesia Authorities?

ANy help greatly appreciated?

Steve and Luksana
SouthPacificEngagement.com

(More of a Thai Cooking and Golden Retriever site at the moment.)

All the best from the North Coast

[Livia]

I thought you meant a long stay visa so I am going to be less helpful. Sorry.

Have you already read the visa and yacht entry information for FP from noonsite.com and pacificpuddlejump.com? Most of your latter set of questions are answered in the yacht info brochure the FP government has made available electronically. A copy is on the PPJ site. They will seal booze overage amounts upon request.

[nhschneider]

I just read on The global site for cruising sailors — Noonsite that the French government has lifted the 90-day visa limitation for yachties and replaced it with an 18-month visa, effective 27 March, 2013.

This is huge to all foreign nationals who were limited to a 90-day stay previously. The hoops and circles that one had to jump through to get the 6-month visa were ridiculous, like having a letter from your home police department stating the nature of your character and a copy of your marriage license, all translated into French. Not to mention two trips to the French consulate nearest to your home.

We actually overstayed our visas by a couple of weeks when we were there.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Paul L]

I just looked at the Noonsite comments and then Google translated the referenced French Polynesian law. In the translation this appears to only apply to Customs, not immigration. So your boat can stay 18 months, but it says nothing about the immigration and the crew.

[Teknav]

Who can afford to stay a month in French Polynesia, let alone several months? There is nothing cheap about these islands; except coconuts, fish, watermelon, french baguettes, cheese and Bordeaux wine. French Polynesia is a feast to your senses, but very very pricey to visit. If you can afford it, sail away! Mauritz

[Jimbo485]

The locals in the Marquesas were asking us for rum and bullets. We could help with the rum for bartering, but not the bullets. So if you stock up on enough rum in Panama, you can lower some of your costs in Fr Polynesia. And the gun toters can do their thing with bullets. The locals specifically wanted .22 bullets and shotgun ammo (whatever that is). Good luck with the local laws and the jail if you go down that path!

[Lancerbye]

Are you stopping in the US or Mexico on route? Your Mrs. will also need a visa to enter the US I think. I had a planned to go on a short vacation to the US at Xmas time but since my wife is from the Phillipines and has only a PR she needed a visa. I got the same BS as you. Since I am presently residing in NE BC the cost of flying to Vancouver and returning with my wife and daughter was going to be around $2300. I cancelled my plans to go to the US for a vacation. So much for Embassy services. The cost of going down for a stupid interview was more expensive than the trip itself.

[NorthPacific]

Hi Lancerbyr,
No stopping unless broken or scared or both!

Luksana will have to "book" her time travel 29 hours by bus and then do a turn around. and travel back.

[terminalcitygrl]

Your email says resident of BC, not citizen of Canada and your wife is a resident of BC, yes? It t would seem to me you could both apply in Van. Also it says 3 months before your intended date of arrival. So you could intend to arrive on x date for the purposes of the visa but I can't imagine you'd be turned away if you arrived earlier or later. I guess what you'd need to know is if there is an expiry to the visa.

[NorthPacific]

It is how they " french embassy word it" I emailed again for clarification. I am fine not because I am Canadian or resident in BC but that I am also European Union (ist). So no visa required. They want the earliest and latest date of arrival, and we should time our interview accordingly. The problem may be that they could be sticky and say that her visa expired on such a day.

We are going to join the Puddle Jumpers and pay the $350 fee to the brockers for her and then relax, hopefully they will smooth things out. Still a pain to have to travel down to Van just for a bloody rubber stamp. Still the French did invent modern Bureaucracy!

[NorthPacific]

Lancer bye,

Just a whine! Sort of gets the goat how a internal trip to Vancouver can cost more than a trip to Europe or Asia!