VLS-T Visa Dates
Date Considerations
This web-page consolidates information that may assist people when planning visa dates and when to apply for a VLS-T visa. It was created in January 2024 to reflect new information from the Consulate and TLS.
Based on experience in 2023 a limiting factor is that the French Consulate in the UK requires a 6-month gap between the end of one VLS-T visa and the next one. Thus, if you had a 6-month visa starting on May 5, 2023 then your earliest visa start date would be May, 5 2024.
It is unclear whether you are permitted to enter France under the 90/180day rule and roll directly into your VLS-T visa. If you arrive in France before the start of the VLS-T then the cautious position is a) to assume that you remain in France under 90/180 day rule until you leave the Schengen Area and b) it will be necessary to leave the Schengen Area and then return to France to trigger the of start your VLS-T visa.
It has been confirmed that at the end of your visa you may remain in France and roll directly into the 90/180day rule
An appointment with TLS must be no more than 3 months before the proposed visa start date (see note below).
Experience has shown that TLS generally release future appointment days in batches with appointments offered up to 4 weeks in advance.
Other Factors
A few other thing should be considered before finalising your visa-dates:
The visa start date may be altered at the appointment provided that it is compliant with the 6-month rule in Point 1 AND the 3-month rule in Point 4 in the section above.
You will be without your passport for a period after the appointment. This is generally no more than 15 working days and may be shorter; however it might be longer.
At the time of the appointment, you may submit a brief letter requesting a 4 or 5 month visa. This would enable you to start the visa process earlier in the next year. You should not attempt to stipulate a specific end date. In 2023 most requests appear to have been met but there were some disappointments.
Check that your passports and EHIC cards have expiry dates that are compliant with the visa rules. These are explained on the Key Facts web-page:
The calculation of three months in advance of the visa start date
A simple visual manual method of calculating 3 months is to look at the day of the visa date (x) and then calculate the earliest appointment day in the month as value(x+1). For example, if your proposed visa start date is May 5, 2024 then the earliest appointment is February 6, 2024.
In 2024 there appears to be no TLS system validation of the visa start date when you make the online applications but a manual check is made at the appointment. One person’s method of calculating 3 months might differ by a day or so from somebody elses!
An example of picking an appointment date is here
Spending a long period in France
If the aggregate number of days in France in any calendar year approaches 180 days there is an increasing risk that you might be officially asked about the total number of days spent in France; and this in turn may raise further official questions and have other consequences.
We do not intend to cover this subject area which applies to a small number of VLS-T visa applicants.
If you are in this position then you may wish to take professional advice on your personal situation so that you are well informed about the impact of spending more than 180 or so days in France.
Note, that under customs regulations, a UK registered car may only remain in France/Europe for a total of 6 months in a year.
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