Do I need a visa to come to France?

• For online administrative procedures, the official website www.service-public.fr is a good starting point (in french);
• For information on the procedures, and to apply for a visa, you should visit France-Visas, the official website for visas to France.

If you are a national of a Schengen country (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, as well as Bulgaria and Romania starting from 31 March 2024), you can travel within the Schengen area without automatic border controls.

If you come from a country outside the European Union, you need a short-stay visa (90 days maximum) to travel to France. This visa also allows you to travel to other countries in the Schengen area, unless it is only valid in France or in one or more defined countries in the Schengen area.

Some fake sites may look like official sites by using the “Marianne” logo or the blue-white-red colours. Beware!

• Check the internet address (URL) of the site: the URLs of the French administration end with “.gouv.fr” or “.fr”. If the site ends in “.gouv.org”, “.gouv.com” or “-gouv.fr”, it is certainly not an official site. Also a website ending in.fr is not necessarily an official website and might be owned by a non-French company.
• Before carrying out any administrative procedure, check if it can be done on the official website www.service-public.fr.

Depending on your country of origin, you may or may not be exempt from a visa requirement.  Consult this page (in french) “conditions d’entrée des étrangers en Polynésie française sur le site officiel”.

If you are a national of an EU country, you can travel with a passport or identity card. Find out more about it on this website (in french): site de la Préfecture de la Polynésie française. 

If you are a non-EU national, find out what documents you need on the website (in french) “site de la Préfecture de la Polynésie française”. See also (in french) “liste des documents de voyage pays par pays”.

If you are coming from countries of the European Union or from a third country, identity checks by customs officers can be carried out close to the border between France and a neighboring country, or on a highway, on a train, at a port, or airport.

To learn more about how travellers will be checked when entering France, visit the service-public.fr website.

Yes. You should be in possession of your passport with your valid visa.

More information about identity controls in France, visit the service-public.fr website.

If you have any questions about your visa, contact the consulate of your country.

If you are a victim of a fake administrative site, you can report it in a few clicks via SignalConso.

If you have been unknowingly subscribed to such a site, contact your bank for a possible chargeback procedure.

For all other consumer problems:

• If you live in France, you can receive assistance from a consumers’ association, whose contact information is available on the DGCCRF’s website. You can also report your problem with the hotel operator or the rental property owner on the SignalConso platform.
• If you live in another EU Member State, Iceland or Norway, the European Consumer Centre for your country can assist you. Visit the ECC Network website for its contact information.
• If you live in a non-EU country, contact the embassy or consulate of your country in France or report your dispute on the website econsumer.gov, via the complaint form or contact the members of consumersinternational.org.