Accidentally overstaying a French visa if flights are delayed or cancelled

[Ken1]

Our Son is currently in France on a 12 month long stay visa that expires on September 1. He has a return flight booked on SQ for 31 August in Y. Having read of people having problems returning home with flights being cancelled or denied boarding and having to re-book we're wondering what would happen regarding the French Visa that expires on September 1 if he overstayed by a day or two due to airline problems. Has anyone heard of a situation like this with European visas? I know it is definitely not recommended to overstay but these are unusual times for International air travel at the moment, especially with a limit at the moment of 30 passengers per flight into SYD

We are looking at booking a J flight with QFF points for him in case of problems with his Y SQ flight on 31 August, and are thinking of booking something for September 2, even though that would mean an overstay of one day, but are not sure whether to at this stage. One advantage of classic flight rewards is that they can be easily cancelled. He has tried to contact the authorities in France but doesn't seem to be able to find any information. He arrived in Paris on September 3 last year so if he left on September 2 it would still be just inside a year but would still be over by a day from the date on the Visa in his passport.

 

[glasszon]

I don't know about french visa specifically, but I would try to do whatever it takes to avoid overstaying the visa, for example by going to UK.

While France might not penalise you per say, but in future visa applications for any country your son would have to disclose that he has overstayed by a day.

At best it is an annoyance, at worse he might be denied a visa in the future and you always left wondering whether it is due to the overstay.

 

[VPS]

Could he contact the authorities now and explain his situation. I'm sure in this climate they would be willing to review it especially if he has evidence of intending to travel. It's better to do it earlier rather than later to allow for unforeseen circumstances.

Where is he living and where is he flying out of - are you better to try and get him out of a neighbouring country because he'll automatically have three months if he goes somewhere else.

Also - if he left even for a day after his visa expired surely he would come back as a tourist and have a three month visa

Let us know how he gets on

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Difficult times. Agree that the consequences of overstaying, even by a day, could cause future problems getting visas.

In the event a flight is cancelled/changed/plans interrupted, I would wholly recommend still travelling to the airport on the scheduled day of departure, presenting at the airline desk, and getting them to assist your son contacting French immigration. This will be much better than simply turning up on the new date and potentially missing that flight as well because of incorrect documentation. (Probably not a bad idea to be at the airport anyway as there may be a no show and your son gets in the original flight.)

 

[Julesmac]

Would DFAT help untangle this?

 

[DC3]

Overstaying a visa, even by one day, is never a good idea, regardless of the circumstances. I would put more effort into contacting the French authorities for a possible short-term extension/options.

Edited

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Would DFAT help untangle this?

I think this is something a person can sort out themselves?

Might also be worth considering booking an earlier flight if it looks likely the scheduled date might not be possible?

 

[Thibault]

He would need to go as soon as possible to a 'Prefecture' of any department he is actually in and explain his case.
So one in Paris or one larger like the one in Nanterre.
But he will need to be there quite early as it's always very very very busy.

He needs to ask for a 'titre de sejour' letting him overstay and being lawful in France/Europe. Very long to get.

Careful, a long stay visa in France is considered as a Schengen visa so you cannot really overstay in any other countries in Europe.

I am sure that will be okay but it's best to make the first move in order to avoid issues at the airport later on.

They previously extended long stay visas expiring mid-June for a further 3 months automatically but nothing yet for September expiring visas

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[Ken1]

Thank you everyone for your replies. We've just heard that his SIN-SYD flight on 01 Sep has been cancelled so the booking has been moved to depart CDG from 31 August to 29 August. The next available flight with a connection to SYD from CDG was 03 September. I will still suggest to him that he goes to a Prefecture as described by Thibault in case of delays or maximum numbers on the SIN-SYD flight.

The article on AFF published last week says there is now a 30 passenger cap per flight.
It's Getting Progressively Harder to Return to Australia

"Passenger numbers limited
The number of passengers allowed to arrive on international flights is now severely capped at most Australian airports. There is currently a limit of just 30 passengers per flight arriving in Sydney and Brisbane, or 50 passengers per flight in Perth. These limits are currently in place until at least 8 August, but could be extended. There are also new daily and weekly arrival limits."

Our travel agent friend who booked the flights for him spoke to SQ today and moved the date to August 29. She said she was told by the SQ agent that there are only 40 confirmed passengers on the SIN-SYD flight at the moment but he had thought the limit was still 50 passengers. Since the CDG-SYD flight was booked nearly a year ago his would have been one of the earlier bookings on that flight so hopefully that may help him to possble be among the passengers allowed to fly that day.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Late to the party but good luck to your son

 

[MEL_Traveller]

She said she was told by the SQ agent that there are only 40 confirmed passengers on the SIN-SYD flight at the moment but he had thought the limit was still 50 passengers. Since the CDG-SYD flight was booked nearly a year ago his would have been one of the earlier bookings on that flight so hopefully that may help him to possble be among the passengers allowed to fly that day.

I know EU261 doesn't apply to cancellations, but I wonder if it would still apply in this case for overbooking? Clearly the flight is not overbooked now, so your son would have a good case for compensation.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thank you everyone for your replies. We've just heard that his SIN-SYD flight on 01 Sep has been cancelled so the booking has been moved to depart CDG from 31 August to 29 August. The next available flight with a connection to SYD from CDG was 03 September. I will still suggest to him that he goes to a Prefecture as described by Thibault in case of delays or maximum numbers on the SIN-SYD flight.

Is there any reason why he/you aren't trying to get him out sooner than towards the end of August, now that 31 August is cancelled? That's cutting it fine in case of last-minute cancellations. If it was me (and with no other ties there), I'd be trying to get out ASAP to allow for delays.

 

[Ken1]

Is there any reason why he/you aren't trying to get him out sooner than towards the end of August, now that 31 August is cancelled? That's cutting it fine in case of last-minute cancellations. If it was me (and with no other ties there), I'd be trying to get out ASAP to allow for delays.

We suggested months ago that he come home then but France was at the peak of virus infections and in lockdown and he felt safer staying there than rather than travelling through multiple airports while flying home. Also he had already paid his apartment rental for the full 12 months and said he wanted to stay as long as he could.

We were just saying last night that if it was us we would have organised an earlier date or have already returned home. We would prefer him to be on an earlier flight and will talk about it with him again, especially since the 29 August flight he has been moved to is the last one he can get without overstaying his visa. We didn't get to speak with him last night as he was out but I sent him the replies here regarding overstaying his visa as he was saying to us a couple of days ago that he didn't think it would matter if he overstayed by a day or two, which is why I posted here yesterday as I thought it would matter, especially since he wants to go back there again. I will suggest strongly that he also follows Thibault's advice to go to a Prefecture in his area and request an extension in case of any flight delays.

 

[DC3]

.... We suggested months ago that he come home then but France was at the peak of virus infections and in lockdown and he ago that he didn't think it would matter if he overstayed by a day or two, which is why I posted here yesterday as I thought it would matter, especially since he wants to go back there again ...

I would guess that he’s having a great time and would leave it all as long as possible. Can’t say as I blame him.

 

[Ken1]

I would guess that he’s having a great time and would leave it all as long as possible. Can’t say as I blame him.

Yes that's what he's doing! After being in lockdown for a long time he can finally get out and he wants to enjoy the remaining time he has there. We can only offer advice but he's an adult and makes his own decisions.

 

[RooFlyer]

We can only offer advice but he's an adult and makes his own decisions.

Absolutely. We can only hope that the 'life experience' he gets from those decisions isn't too severe.

I'm in an entirely different situation ( age and amount of travel already done) but I was due to spend 10 days in France in mid March. I got to Paris and immediately cancelled the last week and got home as fast as I could.

 

[harvyk]

Yes that's what he's doing! After being in lockdown for a long time he can finally get out and he wants to enjoy the remaining time he has there. We can only offer advice but he's an adult and makes his own decisions.

Adult or not, I echo the sentiment above, get out as soon as possible. Who knows what could happen between now and September, we could end up with no passenger flights to AU (or full stop). These are not ordinary times and trying to pretend they are is a recipe for disaster.

Remind him that this is (in all likelihood) not going to be his one and only trip overseas, and that covid will end, and when it does he will have all the time in the world to get out there and travel. Also remind him that bureaucracies tend to operate on a reality that's not based on the real world, so he could be putting his future abilities to travel overseas into real jeopardy by not getting out as soon as he can. A black mark like a visa overstay can range from an annoyance to an all out "computer says no" when next trying to travel, and that black mark can potentially last a lifetime.

Finally, remind him that now he is an adult, he needs to make adult decisions about things.

 

[DC3]

....Finally, remind him that now he is an adult, he needs to make adult decisions about things.

"Yes, dad. I heard you last time"

 

[sydunipete]

It sounds like things are under control but a few years back I had a temporary residence permit for Sweden and I wanted to stay longer. I emailed my case officer and she explained that following the term of my permit the standard Schengen 90 day visa waiver period would kick in. We organised an overnight flight to London just to be sure. This gave me 6 months under the resident permit followed by 3 months schengen visa waiver.

in fact I did 3 months schengen waiver then 6 months under permit then 3 months schengen waiver. All totally legit.

I don’t know if this would apply in your son’s case.

 

[psmall]

Our family was nearly at a stage where we were going to go over on our Visa's by a few days due to a medical emergency that my husband had in America and I spoke to the Australian Embassy. I was advised to get a family member to fly over to America and take our children back home so that they do not over stay on their visa. They said it stays with them for the rest of their life and it does not matter what the reason is and every time they wish to travel, they will be questioned by immigration for awhile.