Hi Everyone
I am taking a year long sabbatical from my job in Canada (Canadian citizen) and am registered to start a year long French language course in Toulouse in January. However, I need early (the middle of November) so I can also take a TEFL course so I'll have a way of making a small amount of money to subsidize my savings while studying.
I have tried to find out if I can arrive 6 weeks prior to my official course start date but none of the Embassy websites indicate this. I've tried calling the Consulates both in France and in Canada but the phone numbers only go to automated information lines and apparently no one is available to actually talk and answer questions. I've also contacted Campus France and they have said I can say my course starts in November however they do not know if my long stay visa can or will be issued for the nearly 14 months I require to complete both courses.
Can anyone assist me with this? As it's already mid October it's down to the wire for me in terms of getting the paperwork processed in time, but I don't want to run the risk of showing up at the immigration point in the airport and being turned away because I arrived too early!
Thanks very much for any insight into this.
Shelley
Hi Peter, thanks for your reply and the links you've provided.
The Fodors website thread mentions leaving and then returning but I guess I am concerned I may be prohibited when I go to re-enter for the 2nd course, or worse - that I may end up unknowingly be violating the rules for how long I can stay while taking the 2nd course.
The Consulate website states long stay visa's are only issued for one year yet the application indicates an option to request more than one year (yet another contradiction). I need a total of 13 1/2 months for both courses (30 days for the first, then a 17 day break because of the Christmas Holidays, and then 12 months for the second).
Would you happen to know if I put in both course dates on the Long Stay Visa application if this can be extended once in Toulouse to cover the extra 2 months if the Long Stay Visa is indeed limited to a maximum of 1 year or if it's true that if I only need to leave the Schengan area during Christmas and re-enter in January for the 2nd course to be compliant with the rules?
So many contradictions and so much to risk if I miss-step. Thanks.
Would it be possible to simply specify both the TEFL institution and the main institution, quoting the course dates for each? The Visa application form doesn't have a lot of space, but you should be able to get both in the space available.
A variation on this question appears here. As some of the contributors to that forum seem to be quite knowledgeable about these issues, you might do worse than also post your question there.