Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-06-19 12:39 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-06-19 12:39 pm
I am going to get detained at the border and my parents are going to laaaugh.
....sjdkl;jf I hate bureaucracy.
According to the website of the French embassy in the US, American citizens don't need a short-stay visa for visits of under 90 days. One of the exceptions listed is students, who need some sort of short-stay and/or student visa, but the required paperwork includes transcripts from the American school you're currently studying at. I'm not in school right now, I'm not getting academic credit for the immersion program, and I'm not sure I count as a student.
On the other hand, the website for the French ministry of foreign affairs has this to say:
Le visa de court séjour pour études
Ce visa permet à son détenteur de venir étudier en France pour un séjour ne pouvant excéder trois mois. Les étudiants désirant suivre un enseignement linguistique ou tout autre formation de courte durée peuvent solliciter ce visa qui dispense son détenteur de titre de séjour sur le territoire et n’est pas renouvelable.
I asked BLS whether I needed a student visa and their reply amounted to, "Fuck if we know; take it up with the embassy." I asked my parents, both of whom are immigration lawyers, and they both said, "Fuck if we know; you could just tell customs that you're there for tourism and not mention the program, but if they find out and it turns out you needed a student visa, you're screwed." Thanks a fucking bunch, guys.
*beats head on desk*
If I do need a visa, I then have to sift through interminable piles of legalese to figure out whether a short-stay student visa is the same thing as a type C Schengen visa, whether I need one or the other or both, how long it's going to take, and--if it's over a week--whether my parents can pull strings and/or supply money to get it expedited because fucking hell my flight leaves next Saturday.
AUGH.
According to the website of the French embassy in the US, American citizens don't need a short-stay visa for visits of under 90 days. One of the exceptions listed is students, who need some sort of short-stay and/or student visa, but the required paperwork includes transcripts from the American school you're currently studying at. I'm not in school right now, I'm not getting academic credit for the immersion program, and I'm not sure I count as a student.
On the other hand, the website for the French ministry of foreign affairs has this to say:
Le visa de court séjour pour études
Ce visa permet à son détenteur de venir étudier en France pour un séjour ne pouvant excéder trois mois. Les étudiants désirant suivre un enseignement linguistique ou tout autre formation de courte durée peuvent solliciter ce visa qui dispense son détenteur de titre de séjour sur le territoire et n’est pas renouvelable.
I asked BLS whether I needed a student visa and their reply amounted to, "Fuck if we know; take it up with the embassy." I asked my parents, both of whom are immigration lawyers, and they both said, "Fuck if we know; you could just tell customs that you're there for tourism and not mention the program, but if they find out and it turns out you needed a student visa, you're screwed." Thanks a fucking bunch, guys.
*beats head on desk*
If I do need a visa, I then have to sift through interminable piles of legalese to figure out whether a short-stay student visa is the same thing as a type C Schengen visa, whether I need one or the other or both, how long it's going to take, and--if it's over a week--whether my parents can pull strings and/or supply money to get it expedited because fucking hell my flight leaves next Saturday.
AUGH.