Embassy of the United States Paris, France

Nearby U.S. Embassies to Help Issue Visas For French Citizens

February 2, 2006

The U.S. Embassy in Paris continues to experience huge and increasing demand for visas. Currently, French travelers who need a visa have a nine-week wait to obtain an interview appointment and the back-log is growing.

In order to reduce the waiting time for French travelers, the U.S. Embassy in Paris is shifting diplomatic staff to conduct roughly 50 percent more visa interviews per day. Additionally, some U.S. embassies or consulates elsewhere in Europe will now accept visa appointments from French citizens.

French citizens may now contact the U.S. embassies or consulates in Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid for visa appointments. Those web addresses are listed below.

Despite our best efforts, many people who intended to travel to the United States in the coming weeks may not be able to obtain a timely visa appointment. We regret these exceptional circumstances. We urge French travelers to ensure they have the correct travel documents before they purchase airline tickets.

We hope that biometric passports will soon be issued by the French authorities so that French citizens will once again be able to travel to the United States, in most circumstances, without a visa.

Information on the nearby U.S. embassies or consulates now accepting appointments for French visa applicants is listed below. Visa applicants must telephone to make a visa appointment.

Berlin/Frankfurt - http://berlin.usembassy.gov

Bern - http://bern.usembassy.gov

Brussels - http://brussels.usembassy.gov

London - http://london.usembassy.gov

Madrid - http://spain.usembassy.gov