Hi all,
The problem is that your residency permit for Malta collides with other Schengen visa. You cannot get a short-stay tourist visa for France, since your residency permit for Malta allows you to come to France legally.
In your case I recommend applying for a short-term residency permit for France for 3 or 4 months. Warning: Check with the authorities in Malta that applying for a residency permit in France will not cause any trouble with your residency permit for Malta!!!
Thanks for your recommendation. The problem is France does not issue a residency permit for tourism purposes. To get such permit I need to have a job offer from an employer in France or be a student which in my case does not apply. Actually my reason for staying in Europe is attending a ski instructor training course in France and then I have do to my final exams in Austria. Given the current circumstance I have no choice other than reducing my duration of stay in Schengen zone to 90 days. I have a two week off midway through my course in February and then a month in April and I was thinking of going to Andorra since it is not a part of Schengen my stay there does not count in the 90 days limit. By the way do you know if transiting through a schengen zone counts as a day for example if I go to Barcelona and then on the same day travel to Andorra does this count as one day of stay in schengen zone?
[ 07-Sep-2010, at 12:08 by amires ]
My suggestion would be to check again with the French authorities whether you might be eligible for a student visa or similar - you will be in France for vocational training, this should count as something.
And yes, flying into Barcelona and then going to Andorra on the same day counts as a day in Schengen.
BTW, Andorra is expensive, you might want to look at other non-Schengen places where you can ski. Bulgaria might be an option.
Thanks again for your reply. The ski instructor training course I have enrolled is actually hosted by a British ski school so I am not sure if the french authorities accept that. As for your recommendation to travel to Bulgaria instead of Andorra the problem is I need to get a multiple entry visa to enter Bulgaria however Andorra is visa free. I agree that it is an expensive country however what I like about it is that it is close to France and I can easily travel there from Barcelona or Toulouse. Anyway I managed to reduce my stay in Schengen zone to 92 days. I am still working on it to reduce 2 more days. Do think the authorities will check duration of stay of holders of residency permits as throughly as they check holders of Visas?
Give the short-term residency permit for France a try, even if it is hosted by a British school. It is your best bet and it cannot hurt to ask.
IIRC Turkey is visa-free for Iranians and you can ski there. Flights to Turkey can be very cheap from Germany or the UK.
You are right, the controls aren't as strict for holders of Schengen residency permits as for holders of tourist visa, but you are Iranian and thus on the "blacklist" - I would not risk it.
Hi,
Ok I will call the French embassy here in Iran and see what I can do. Good point on advising me not risking overstaying since I am an Iranian. I really do not want to be blacklisted since I need to come and go to Schengen area a lot for my future courses.
Your recommendation for going to Turkey is really good I wonder what I didnt thought about it however I need to check the flight dates and see if they are appropriate. Thanks a lot you have been really helpful.
Cheers
[ 09-Sep-2010, at 11:25 by amires ]
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