Recently there have been a number of changes made to the requirements and processes which need to be undertaken by cruisers who want to apply for a Long Stay Visa for French Polynesia, according to long time French Polynesia cruiser and Noonsite contributor Chuck Houlihan.

Published 5 days ago

Applying for a Long Stay Visa

Cruisers who want to stay in French Polynesia (FP) longer than 90 days are required to obtain a Long Stay (LS) Visa/carte de sejour (CDS), which must be applied for outside of French Polynesia at a French consulate or embassy.  EU citizens are exempt from this requirement (but not Swiss, Icelandic, Norwegian or Liechenstein citizens).

For those planning to cross the Pacific to these popular cruising islands, long time French Polynesia cruiser Chuck Houlihan has provided the latest updates on some of the changes that have been made to the requirements and process for applying for Long Stay (LS) Visas.

Applying Outside French Polynesia

“One major change that I am aware of is that because the French consulate in Mexico City was overwhelmed with cruiser applications for French Polynesia LS visas last year, officials made a ruling that unless you were a resident of Mexico you could not apply for the visa there.

“However, it has not been fully confirmed that cruisers are being turned away this season, as I have just heard from one cruiser that his British wife was allowed to submit a LS visa application last week and they were long-term Mexican cruisers,” Chuck said.

The 90 Day Window

If applying at a French consulate from most other countries (such as the USA, Canada, Panama, New Zealand etc) you cannot apply before 90 days of your arrival date in French Polynesia (the Start date).

Until recently you would get issued a 90 day visa that required you to arrive in FP within those 90 days and then after your arrival in FP, you could apply for the Carte de Sejour (visa extension).  This required essentially applying and submitting almost identical paperwork (except now it needed translation).

The 90 day application window is still  in effect, but instead of a 90 day window to arrive you are now issued a one-year visa. This greatly relieves the time crunch of when to depart and arrive, because now cruisers can arrive anytime within that one year window.

All Paperwork Must be Translated

The second major change is for those applying for an extension (a carte de sejour), all paperwork now needs to be translated to French by an approved FP translator.  This includes the cover letter, letter of promise to not work, bank records, etc etc.  Unfortunately this can add considerable cost to the visa renewal.

“Constant change seems to be the norm,” said Chuck.  “This causes frustration and confusion from year to year which is why there are so many changes to the LS Visa information that we publish on Jacaranda Journey.”

For full details on the process visit: Jacaranda Journey/FPLongStayVisa.

.………………………………

Noonsite thanks Chuck Houlihan for continuing to keep Noonsite readers updated with information on French Polynesia.

.………………………………

Find out all news, reports, links and comments posted on Noonsite, plus cruising information from around the world, by subscribing to our FREE monthly newsletter. Go to https://www.noonsite.com/newsletter/.