Top 2 reasons your French long-term visa application could fail

Requesting a French visa from abroad will be done through the consulate subcontractor. In the UK, this is TLS while in the US, Australia, South Africa and a few other countries, applications will be processed by VFS. While the agents are usually very helpful and the aim of the subcontractors is to help applicants complete a successful visa application, some applications do get turned down. Because of the plethora of visas and the different individual circumstances, it is difficult to pinpoint the leading cause of application failure for French visas.

However, if you are looking to apply for a French long-term visitor visa, an ideal visa for spending some of one's retirement in France or for a sabbatical or multi-stay year, there are two main reasons why applications get rejected:

• Inadequate proof of income and/or
• Lack of visa compliant health insurance cover

Reason 1: Inadequate proof of income

To satisfy the income requirements you will need to show earnings that is equivalent to the minimum wage in France. This is known as the SMIC (le salaire minimum de croissance) and is currently around 1300€ per month. Couples have a leeway and if you are applying as a couple you are required to show means of around 2000€ per month rather than 2600€.

Different sources of income, for example pensions, dividends, rental income or interest from savings, can be combined to make up the required amount. Even if after combining all sources of income the applicant is still slightly short, there's no need to panic as any available savings can also help you qualify for the visa. These savings must be ‘available' in form of liquidity which means having a property or assets won't help but money available from a savings account will.

The savings available will need to be enough to allow monthly withdrawals that are at least equivalent to the SMIC. Given that we tend to go through savings quicker than salaries, the visa center will often require amounts slightly over SMIC levels for a 12 month period but as long as you can show you won't be a burden to the state you should be able to qualify.

Reason 2: Non compliant medical insurance

Health insurance cover can prove slightly more complicated. Unless you have a British state pension, you will most likely require a policy that provides cover equivalent to that of the French national healthcare system (la sécu). The France-visa official website clearly states this requirement but the specifics of the type of policy required aren't clearly defined and many applicants only discover that their policies are non-compliant during the interview process. This means that you will be required to undertake another interview as the application will be turned down although most of the time the center will offer another date/appointment rather than a direct rejection.

Thanks to post-Brexit reciprocal agreements, the British S1 is still acceptable but it's only available if you have a state pension. However, securing an S1 before actually becoming resident in France is not possible so you'll have to ask for a confirmation letter (stating that you're eligible) that will act as ‘proof of medical cover' for your interview at the visa center. 

A fail-safe tip is to ensure the insurance certificate (or COI - Certificate of insurance) is perfectly clear to avoid the TLS or VFS agent having to dig into the insurance documentation.

In fact, they generally prefer not to do this, instead simply rejecting the insurance cover and getting you to do the leg work. If you can highlight the parts they want to see, this will make their job easier and your application is more likely to succeed.

So just what do they expect to see on the insurance certificate or COI?

• The coverage date should match the duration of the visa
• In-patient and out-patient benefits should be mentioned
• No excess or deductible elements are mentioned (ideally the policy should state that you're covered “from the 1st euro” as the French say
• Repatriation should be included
• Cover provided should be at least 30k (100k+ is safer as some centers are more picky than others for completely unknown reasons)
• No medical exclusions should be mentioned and they will expect to see that you've paid for your policy. This means they require “proof of payment” so do make sure you also have this before your meeting at the visa center.

If you comply with these requirements your application should go smoothly and the last thing you will need to do is remember to activate your visa once you are in France at the OFII.

Pro-tip: Some policies are systematically declined and these include travel insurance, Schengen insurance, repatriation plans, policies with any type of excess (such as deductible elements, co-pay or co-insurance) and emergency only plans.

Conclusion

When applying for a French long-term visitor visa, inadequate proof of income and non-compliant health insurance are the top reasons for application failure. To meet the income requirements, you need to show earnings equivalent to the minimum wage in France and have sufficient savings. Health insurance must provide coverage equivalent to the French national healthcare system. Insurance policies with deductibles or excess elements, as well as travel or emergency-only plans, are usually declined. Make sure to have clear documentation and proof of payment for your insurance policy. Finding the right policy can be challenging but some insurance brokers are focused on providing visa compatible policies.

Here at Fab Insurance, we've been helping the English speaking community relocate to France and other countries in the EU since 2015.

If you need assistance with your French visa application we're also happy to help. 

And if you're looking for the best plan in your situation you can use our online calculator for visa compliant insurance. This will only display options that have been ‘battle-tested' with other customers in the same situation / age group & medical category as you, so try us out or give us a call on +33 5 33 06 29 47.

Bienvenue en France !