France - SETV - Report

[JayBird]

I was able to recently acquire a SETV from the Thai Consulate in Lyons.  The process was not too painful.  What made it interesting was that I am *NOT* a resident in France *OR* the EU.  (No EU/French Citizenship, or Carte du whatever).

 

The process required the following:

 

1) Filling in the application for an SETV (easy)

2) Making use of the Lyon Visa Service  -- The consulate does not except mail sent to them, you either have to go in person or have someone else go in person for you.  I used these people (www.lyonvisa.com)  to handle the leg work.  They were very friendly, spoke sufficient English, and responded on e-mails quickly.  And their surcharge was a lot less than travelling to Lyons and back.  Also they do express mail (Chronopost) so you can get it quickly.

3) In addition to the application, supplementary information showing that you LIVE in France (even if you are not a resident) was important -- I showed a Utility Bill with my name on it. 

 

The whole process took about one week.

 

This may not be for everyone, but it could be useful to people who have a second home in France but have no legal residence in the EU/Schengen area.

 

Note: Sadly/Amusingly the Thai Consulate put the *WRONG* Visa Stamp into my passport.  Specifically they put *someone else's* passport number instead of mine!  However, they caught their own mistake before sending the passport back and voided the wrong visa.  It looks funny and takes up another page in the book, but the end result is no harm done.  However, it would be worth while to always double check the passport number and details are correct when you get the passport back :)

 

I may try an METV in a year or so, and I'll post results accordingly.

 

Thank you.

[geisha]

Just wondering how this visa service works financially seeing that SETV visa is now free of charge until end of February ? 

[JayBird]

I got this before the 'promo' hit in.  It would not have made much of a difference as the bulk of the fees were with Lyon Visa Service (sending and receiving secured mail, and their fees).  The actual visa fee was pathetically small in comparison

[autoc]

Good to know that we can get it without being EU citizen.

 

Thank you for the report.