France extends validity of Visas and Permits for another three months due to Coronavirus crisis.

France extends validity of Visas and Permits for another three months due to Coronavirus crisis.

THE French government has decided to extend the validity of all residence permits with an expiration date between March 16 and May 15, 2020, for another three months, due to the continued increase in the number of people infected with Covid-19.

According to the government, the three-month validity prolongation of the permitted period of stay for non-French nationals in France during the pandemic follows another three-months extension granted on March 18.

“Given the health context, all residence permits, receipts and long-stay visas which expire between March 16 and May 15, 2020, which had already been extended by three months, are extended by an additional three months, by ordinance n° 2020-460 of April 22, 2020, ie a total extension of six months,” a notice explains.

They also explain that the measure concerns long-stay visas, residence permits, provisional residence permits, receipts for residence permit applications, which have expired between March 16 and May 15, 2020.

The decision to extend the validity of stay for those stranded in France was first taken after the French President Emanuel Macron, called the situation in the country due to the Coronavirus a “health war,” in a televised address to the nation.

At the time, France had also decided to stop issuing visas, in all of its embassies and consulates abroad, until further notice, including short-stay Schengen visas, long-stay visas to France, visas to overseas territories.

President Macron was the first of the EU leaders to confirm the shared decision to suspend travel between non-European and European countries until mid-April, which later was extended to May 15.

The EU and the Member States have been looking to a way of lifting the existing measures and restoring the sector of tourism. However, it is possible that the Schengen Area border closure may remain in place until September.