Problem: How to stay 37 days without a visa (U.S. tourist)

I rushed to buy bargain Tahiti Nui tickets from LAX to Papeete with complete confidence that U.S. tourists with passports wouldn't encounter visa problems for French Polynesia. I set the trip for 37 days, departing 18 February. Now I find most sources say U.S. citizens may only stay 30 days without a visa. Even though I have a French consulate here in San Francisco, their visa requirements are are pretty outrageous according to their website (and they won't answer the phone to clear up the ambiguities). We're expedition kayakers and really need all 37 days, for which most of the time we'll be camped out in the Tuamotas. The consulate's web site wants continuous hotel reservations (even if we're camped, apparently), evacuation and medical insurance, pay stubs (even if you're retired, apparently), bank statements, marriage licenses-- all for seven extra days of paddling). I may as well be going to Russia.

My internet research has turned up conflicting info as to whether I really need a visa or not. Most say yes. One says no. One says "Don't know." One says you can get an extension after you arrive. I'm certainly not going to book hotels for 37 days, but I don't want to bet sent home for not having proper tickets.

Can anybody speak from experience? Otherwise I will have to go be abused in person at the French consulate and still probably not get the right answer...

Douglas in San Francisco

Post your question on Tahiti Explorer, there's a poster there who has gone through this a couple of times (getting a visa for a stay longer than 30 days).

You may also want to look through the posts on Tahiti Talk, I believe there have been discussions of the process there.

Do post a report when you return, sounds like a great trip.

The most reliable source of info on this should be the French consulate, so why not give them a ring instead of just looking at their website?

Airline databases claim "Visa not required for a max. stay of 1 month." for US citizens, which might (at least in theory) mean they won't let you board your flight without a visa if your flight out is later than 1 month though.

I had a problem back in 1988 going to Tahiti. France was mad at the US, so everyone form the US had to get a visa in advance, even for 30 days or LESS!

As I lived near SF, I just went in and applied, and a week later it was issued. No problem at all. They were very friendly about it.

Now, that was for 30 days or less, pretty standard. But I'm sure it would be worth a trip to the consulate in SF, just apply and hopefully ina week you'll know the situation. Then if it's not issued, or they require more stuff, you can take it from there.

PS--Since I drove in from Berkeley, the biggest problem of the whole ordeal was finding a parking spot both dropping off my passport and picking it up a week later!

Book a hotel on line, print the booking details, cancel the res, show 'em the print out. The Tuamotus are gorgeous, good luck! I almost booked an Air Tahiti Nui special I saw yesterday, but my wife can't take the time off.

Ed

Ed---go without the wife! You'll enjoy the Tuamotus again, and you'll probably both enjoy things more when you get back home!

When a French citizen flies from Paris to Tahiti, he needs a US transit visa (if he doesn't have a biometric passport) because the plane stops 1 hour in LAX...
When a Tahitian citizen needs a visa to go to the US, he first must take a flight to Suva/Fiji in order to show himself at the US Embassy... The US Embassy in Suva does not accept a mail correspondance...

Do you think this is normal ?

All the mess you have now to do is just because Tahiti takes reprisals against the US government, like many other countries around the world rightly do.

Get a Canadian passport... :))

Good Luck

I have friends in Tahiti that go to the US all the time. None has ever had to first fly to Fiji to get a US visa!

And after April 1, it will be almost impossible to fly PPT to Fiji anyway.

Where are you getting your information from???

I heard that also (#7) from the people that owned a pension in FP that I was staying at (last April). It was not a problem in the past for them, they had visited several times before.

The State Department Web site says: "If you are traveling to the United States for business or tourism with a French passport issued on or after October 26, 2005 that does not have an electronic chip, you will need to apply for a U.S. visa".

People are fine all over, its the governments that screw things up for them.

Ed

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>We're expedition kayakers <hr></blockquote>

Without hijacking your thread, I would love to hear more about your expedition as I am investigating a two month trip there myself.

I want to use kayak, but if there is too far between islands and/or difficulties getting a kayak, I might try a dinghy or pirogue.

Maybe in a new thread ?

Douglas,

I hope this reply is not too late -- I just found this forum!

My husband and I travel to FP several times a year, with at least one trip a year longer than 30 days. If you are a US citizen with travel plans for more than 30 days, you DO need a "short stay" visa from the French consulate nearest you (for me, that's in LA, for you, it's SF). I would advise downloading the form for the "Short Stay Schengen Visa" from the website for the SF French Consulate (do a google search), and taking it with your documents (passport, orginal airline tickets, verification of reservations for entire stay, last 3 month's bank statements and pay stubs, proof of health insurance while overseas, passport photos, etc. -- see the site for requirements) IN PERSON as soon as possible! The whole process now takes about 15 days, sometimes quicker. Everything must be sent to France for approval and returned. (Just a few years ago, you could get your visa the same day you brought your docs in, but no more.) Perhaps they have a "rush" process. Make sure you check the hours for Visa applications on the consulate site; some are open only for a few morning hours for this process. Yes, it's a hassle, but you don't want to go through the mess in Papeete if you arrive without a visa!

Years ago, it was quick and easy to get an "extension" in Papeete to stay beyond the 30 days -- this is NO LONGER true! When you arrive in Papeete and go through immigration, you have to show your return ticket; if it is beyond 30 days, they will not admit you, and you will go through a great amount of difficulty, potentially being put on the next plane back to the U.S.! Security and regulations everywhere in the world became much tighter after 9/11...

If you cannot get through this process in time before you leave, I would advise you to change your return flight to the 30-day limit date, and cut 7 days off your trip.