Welcome to my first blog post!!! I'm not in France just yet, but today was one of my first big steps towards getting there: the visa appointment! This process can be very nerve wracking (I was sweating and shaking the whole time for no real reason!), so hopefully sharing my experience will help others feel more prepared for their own appointments.
I live in central New Jersey, so the closest VFS center for me was the one in New York City. My mom accompanied me, and we took a train to Penn Station. It was an easy 18-minute walk from the train station to the visa center. I didn't wear anything special: just a sleeveless floral blouse, pink shorts, and black Vans. My appointment was at 11:15, but we got there early, at 11:05. My mom wasn't allowed to come up with me and there was no waiting area in the lobby, so the man suggested that she hang out in a nearby Starbucks (but she ended up killing time in the Old Navy across the street instead). I had a large bag with a water bottle, cardigan, raincoat, and accordion folder with all my documents in it, and they let me in without even checking it. Masks were required in the building; this may change in the future, but considering very few non-medical places still require masks I thought this was worth mentioning. They gave me a ticket with a number on it and directed me to a waiting area on the fourth floor, but I only waited for about 30 seconds before they called me. There were four agents, and they told me to go to #2.
It took just a little over 10 minutes to go through all my paperwork, then they sent me to sit down again to wait for someone else to call me over for the biometrics (fingerprinting). Phones were strictly forbidden in the waiting area: the guy next to me took his out and was immediately told to put it away. There were also signs saying no food or drink, but the lady in the biometrics room let me drink my water and she herself had Starbucks, so they must not enforce that rule as strictly. This was another short wait of less than a minute; it was exactly 11:19 when I sat down, and 11:20 when they told me to go into Room 1 (at first I didn't realize there was another room, so I went to agent #1 instead, and they pointed me in the correct direction). This was the only hiccup in the whole process: there was a problem with the computer, so they had to take my prints three times, and then a fourth time after restarting the computer. Even with this delay, though, this step took less than 15 minutes: I was back on the streets of New York at exactly 11:34. Both of the agents I worked with had very heavy accents (the paperwork man was French, and the biometrics woman was, I believe, Nigerian), and the masks and plexiglass muffled their voices, but I didn't have any real trouble understanding them. Plus, at least one of the other agents working with other people had a neutral accent.
Now for the part that most people are probably wondering about: what documents were required. Here is everything they asked for:
1. Appointment confirmation letter (they also asked for this at the front desk in the downstairs lobby)
2. Printout of the online visa application
3. Passport
4. Arrêté de nomination
5. Diploma (I gave them copies of my high school and college)
6. Copy of passport (I didn't have this, but that was fine because they had a copier right there and took a copy for me)
7. One European sized passport photo (I heard of some people needing to retake their pictures because their ears were covered in the pictures they brought, but they accepted mine even though my ears were covered; they also offered to take a picture for me in the biometrics room before they saw that I already brought some with me)
Things I brought with me but were NOT asked for:
-College transcripts (unofficial and official)
-Birth certificate
-TEFL certificate
-Drivers license
-Social Security Card
-The last two pages of the appointment confirmation letter (the one with COVID safety measures and the Additional Services page)
-Extra copies of arrêté de nomination
That being said, I would still recommend bringing these things just in case. For example, another TAPIFer went to the same NYC office last week and they did ask for her transcripts. Better safe than sorry!
Lastly, I paid for the visa fee and the optional courier service when I made the appointment (I don't remember doing this but I had a receipt in my emails lol), but I believe if I hadn't I would have been able to pay those fees there at the center.
Please note that this is just my personal experience, and I can't guarantee that it will go smoothly for everyone. I hope this at least answers some questions, though, and reassures some of you that are worried about how it will go!
P.S. The NYC VFS office is super close to the Hard Rock Café, so depending on what time your appointment is, I highly recommend going there to eat afterwards! I had the nachos, they were awesome.
