France, Student Visa - I want more months!

[maxsanta]

hello everyone, i was looking through some of the threads so i hope you can help with this one, a will be an exchange student in france, i am from chile
i ll give you the details of the visa they gave me today:

France (+1 transit shengen)
from: 24-08-08 until: 24-12-08
type of visa: D
numb of entries : MULT
Days:XXX
Dispense temporaire de carte de sejour

ok, the problem is that i wanted a a 6 month visa, but they gave me a four month one, the semester lasts 3 and half month so i m ok with that, but i want to stay longer to travel throu france and other countries, can i do that??

thanks

[lapie]

Hi,

If you go and talk to the embassy telling this I'm sure they will increase the dates since this visa is for 90-180 days.

btw France (+1 transit schengen) means that you can enter France through a schengen country. But can you leave france to other schengen countries anytime since its a multiple entry visa ?

[86ti]

We discussed a similar case yesterday.

The D visa was given to you according to your study needs. I do not believe that you would get a longer visa as the reason for the longer stay would be a different one (tourism).

A D visa is a national visa and therefore you also got this transit Schengen visa . But as far as I know Chileans are not visa nationals and I do not understand why you would need one.

Being a non-visa national also means that you can stay up to 90 days without a visa but I do not know how this interferes with your D visa which is valid obviously longer. Maybe that is the reason you were given the transit visa, because you may need it when you leave France when you already exceeded the 3 months?

[maxsanta]

thanks a lot for yout answers!

now, what does mean not being a visa national?


bye

[86ti]

thanks a lot for yout answers!

now, what does mean not being a visa national?


bye

A visa national is a person who needs a visa to enter a particular country. This depends on the nationality (or nationalities)/passport(s) you have. Certain nationalities do not need visa to enter the Schengen area. If you have one of them you may enter the Schenge area for short-term visits without visa, e.g. tourism but not for work. For longer terms (>90 days) you will still need a visa/residence permit depending on the purpose of your visit.

[Hexy]

It has been my belief that once a visa has been applied for a certain reason and granted, you can not just change your plans. Its also been told to me from the consulate that if your visa is approved OR denied, there is a 6 month wait before you can reapply for a different visa. That is for the US. I do not know if there are different variations of the laws for different countries, and yes, it is correct that once your visa is expired you have to return to your home country. The visa free countries is for travel/tourism stated clearly and if you are on a visa for school you are basically waiving that 90 day visa free privilege.
All that said, one hand doesnt know what the other is doing and all consulates have different ways to explain things, so take advice from everyone, but the only way to make sure is to contact the Consulate where you applied for your D visa and get it straight from them.
Good luck and hope you do well.

[maxsanta]

yeah, i checked and for Chile you dont need a visa to get to France for less than 3 months (but you need a ton of other papers), so the question is if i can use those month to be a tourist once i finish my semester.
other questions:

it s not possible to ask for an extension once i m in france?
what if a apply for a visa for, say, the netherlands (or other country)?once i m in france?

thanks for all the answers
[/quote]

[Hexy]

It is my impression that you must request any visa from your own home country. I don't know about someone that is under a hardship, as in, hospital or under medical care.

Common sense would lead me to believe that you can not apply for an extension on a visa already granted, but heck, this isn't common sense business is it. Call or email your consulate that granted you your visa and get all your answers at once? I guess that the consulate wanted the dates of your classes beginning and ending when they processed you. If that is the case then I would only presume that they granted you your visa only based on you going to school and not touring.

[maxsanta]

yeah, i m definitely calling the embassy, but the visa service only works 2 hours a day, and precisely the time when im busy these days.

is my impression too that i must apply for visas in my home country, but when i filled the application form for the french visa, it had the options that you could be from other country, so i am not sure

about the extension, well some people has told me that is possible although i think it is not

i will inform you what the consulate tells me

bye

[86ti]

Yes, best to ask the consulate.

The question about the country could mean that France doesn't have consulates in some of your country's neighbour countries and people living there have to apply to the consulate in your country.