Home: 180 Days in France

Newsflash June 26

In late June 2025 the French Consulate in London advised that a visa appointment date may be up to six months before the visa start date for application made in the UK . The France Visas system has been modified to remove the validation of the visa start date; TLS will check dates at the appointment. 

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The text below summarises the guidance about using the VLS-T visa

Applying for a VLS-T Visa

• Your visa appointment date may be up to six months before your visa start date.

• There is a minimum six months between the end of one VLS-T visa and the start of another VLS-T if it starts in the same calendar year; you may choose any date if it starts in the next calendar year.

Arrival

• You may arrive in France before the visa start date and your visa will automatically start on the visa start date. 

• If you arrive in the Schengen Area before the visa start date but enter France after the visa start date then you will operate under the Schengen 90/180 until you enter France.

Departure

• You can remain in France beyond your visa end date provided that you remain within your 90/180 limits. You DO NOT have to physically leave France.

• You may exit France directly to any country.

Other Points

• The Schengen Rules applies to any Schengen country so any visit to Schengen before or during the visa period may cut into the 90 days available to you before or after the visa.

• The VLS-T visa is a multi-entry visa. You can enter or exit France on any day within the visa period.

• Border officials have the right to question you about your travel dates. It is prudent to anticipate this, and to be able to demonstrate where you have travelled and when.

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The other pages of this website will be progressively modified in the next 30 days to reflect this very welcome change. As of June 29 most have been done.

Main parts of this website 

• The Key Facts page provides an overview of the information needed when planning your trip to France. It is a good starting point for those who have limited knowledge about the VSL-T visa.

• The VLS-T  pages provides detail of how to apply for a VLS-T visa and about preparing for the appointment. This preparation takes a long time so plan ahead.

• If you just want the crib-sheets then click here.

• The Visa Appointment pages give practical information about the appointment itself and provide TLS contact details.  Much of the information is based on feedback from those who have had an appointment.

• The Travel Info pages provides other detail related to rules about travelling to and from France as a tourist/second home owner.

Other Parts of this website

• Search function (the magnifying glass on the top right hand corner) is very powerful. Guidance on how to use it is here

• One of our team started a campaign Facebook page France Visa Free in 2022. There is more detail here

• The Archive contains pages from 2022 and before that are no longer maintained

• Major updates to the website are listed here 

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