High handedness of the French Consulate in Atlanta

bhartiy

Registered Users (C)
My close friend lost his mother in India. The sad news reached him on Saturday (Mar 27) late night.
Just couldn't do anything till Monday morning.

His AP expires on April 9th. His EAD expires on April 8th.

Since it was Atlanta Delta was the obvious choice. Subsequently Paris was the stopover and as per the WEB site if you would be traveling on an AP, a transit visa is a must.

When he called them up they said they couldn't issue the visa on the same day. After the situation was explained to them they agreed upon same day issuance.

When my friend his wife reached there they were made to wait for 3 hours.
When all the papers were accepted and credit card was charged for USD 86.00, the person behind the counter says that the AP expires on April 9th. As per the rule it should be valid for 90 days or more on the day of transit.

My friend tried to negotiate but a French rule is a French rule and he gave up (not having enough energy either mentally or physically to fight any longer)
His wife though still had the presence of mind to ask for the money refund and the person behind the counter very coldly showed them the board on the wall, which stated in bold "No refunds under any circumstances"

Besides feeling helpless myself, I cannot think of any good reason, why a country through which you are just transiting would have a law so stupid and though not important at this juncture there is this question of refund.
It's a feeling of getting picked by a suave French thief.

The country to which he is traveling doesn't have any problem and the country which issued this document doesn't have any problem.

I am not posting this to start a debate whether who is right or who is wrong.
Just be careful when any one of you go to the French consulate and ensure that all you papers are in place to avoid such a situation.
 
You dont need transit visa in Paris

According French consulate, you dont need Transit visa, as long as you are in legal status (VISA) in USA.
heresis the link
Transit rules

Hope this helps

Here is the text

Visa Section of the Consulate General of France in Chicago


205 N. Michigan Avenue - Suite 3760 - Chicago, IL 60601
Ph.# (312) 327-5229 - Fax # (312) 327-5201
Email : visas@consulfrance-chicago.org




AIRPORT TRANSIT VISA REQUIREMENTS



You are required to apply for an airport transit visa to go through France if you are a citizen of the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo (Ex-Zaïre), Erythrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Haïti, India, Iran, Irak, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian refugee, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Sri-Lanka, Senegal, Syria.




Exception #1


You do NOT need an airport transit visa if you comply with all the following conditions :
- you hold a valid passport of one of the above listed countries
- you have a valid U.S. Green Card or a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card, or are a permanent resident of the European Economic Area
- you hold a confirmed plane ticket to an onward country outside of Europe

- you will not be going out of the international area of the airport in France




Exception #2


You do NOT need an airport transit visa if, in addition to a valid passport of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, India, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Senegal or Syria, you also have a valid U.S. visa glued in your passport which will guarantee your re-admission in the U.S. upon return from your trip (note that it only applies to actual US Visas, not to the I-20, I-94 or advanced parole or any other attachment).




Note: The airport transit visa is only valid to transit through the airport and is only valid for France. It does not allow entry onto the Schengen territory and it does not enable its holder to go out of the airport. Airport transit visas are usually processed within 24 hours if applying in person, within 1 week if applying by mail.




* Required documents to apply for the airport transit visa:


1. Passport valid for at least three months after your departure from France. Make sure your passport has blank pages left to affix the visa + 1 copy
2. Processing fee
3. One short-stay application forms (N°64/VI) fully filled out and signed
4. One passport photo glued onto the form
5. Proof of legal status in the US (visa, I-20, I-94, IAP66, advanced parole, etc) + 1 copy
6. Plane ticket or e-ticket or airline invoice + 1 copy




* To apply by mail, please also provide:

- a pre-stamped, self-addressed return envelope (Express Mail only)
- a filled out form for payment of the processing fee (Visa or Mastercard only)




All original documents will be returned to you.
All incomplete files will be returned to you without being processed.
The consular administration has full authority to evaluate and request more documents than those submitted by the applicant. Please be aware that submitting the aforementioned documents does not guarantee the approval of the visa.



Last update, January 27, 2004
 
Read the prints carefully...

Originally posted by Seth_Chamaklal
[/B]
not to the I-20, I-94 or advanced parole or any other attachment

Since bhartiy's friend is on AP, he will still need a visa according to this.
 
Bhartiy, I am very sorry to hear about your Friends mother and his problems. I am very surprised that the French Consulate did not give the Transit Visa.
When I went there last year, since I had missed my flight the previous day, they were so helpful and understood my situation completely. I was in the same situation with AP and Delta did not allow me to board without a Transit Visa.
 
j54231! I do not think anybody in this forum tries to kid around anyone. I guess people should be little sensible.

Thanks
 
If travel through Paris/France is a problem, what about Frankfrut/Germany?? Delta Airlines has a code share with Lufthansa.., can travel via Frankfrut to Bby. We have travelled previously.
 
Originally posted by j54231
bhartiy, are you kidding us or your friend is kidding you?

If you think anyone has a sence of humor to kid in times like this, then I have nothing to say to you.
Rather, pl. forgive me that you have to go through this.

To all the rest who were kind to post their constructive views, I really appreciate your response.

My friend finally travelled by Northwest (via Detroit - Amsterdam ) to Mumbai and by this time he should be there to perform the final rites.
Netherlands does not require transit visa for AP holders.
 
bhartiy, I apologize. I believed the info Seth_Chamaklal provided and didn't know AP was not in that category.
 
Show some pride

Lets all not travel through France or England who doesn't respect Indian citizens. Let us not fly on Air France and British Air. We should go through Germany or some place else. Spread the word.
 
This is an important issue!

May be a separate high level thread (in parallel with 485 Issues in Nebraska Service Center) can be started, where people can share latest/detailed/correct information with requirements of transit visa etc. with airlines/countries.

My father is about to book his tickets (via London) to visit us, and I had no idea so far 'bout transit visa requirements.

How can we create such thread?
 
Re: Show some pride

Originally posted by Seth_Chamaklal
Lets all not travel through France or England who doesn't respect Indian citizens. Let us not fly on Air France and British Air. We should go through Germany or some place else. Spread the word.
I second that. BA just lost two customers. My parents will use Lufthansa instead.
 
What countries waive visa to Indians

othar than Nepal, Bhutan, and Yogoslavia. Sad, we have only three friendly countries.
 
Hongkong does not require visa for Indians, for less than 14 days of stay.

I happen to visit there last month w/o any visa.
 
Re: What countries waive visa to Indians

Originally posted by Seth_Chamaklal
othar than Nepal, Bhutan, and Yogoslavia. Sad, we have only three friendly countries.
We are talking about the requirement for a visa while transiting through a country, not about visitors visa.
 
I understandyour point

Hey but I dont know (may be many of us) that Cypress and Hongkong allow us to go trough their country without any hassel. For example, Cathay Pacific's hub is in hongkong, you may go through without transit crap or visa stuff. As I said before, if they dont respect Indians why should we do business with colonial French and English folks? Let others give feedback, its a legitimate issue to talk about. There are 1.6 million Indians live in USA and may be 3/4 million in Canada. With this outsourcing business or H1 or L1 visas how many people travelling every day from US to India, so forth?.
 
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Is there a forum or email for BA&AirFrance where we can express our displeasure and tell they are loosing business becuase of their government's policies.
 
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