France Business Visa (Schengen Type C)
Schengen short-stay business visa for Indian professionals attending meetings, negotiations, conferences or contracts in France — up to 90 days. Apply online via France-Visas, biometrics at VFS.
- Processing time
- About 15 days
- after you submit
No visa is ever guaranteed — the final decision always rests with the France visa authority. We make sure your file is presented at its strongest.
Processing
15 calendar days standard. Apply at least…
Stay Duration
Up to 90 days in any 180-day period
Starting Fee
≈ ₹8,300
Apply At
11 VFS centres
Your whole France Business Visa,
handled for one honest price.
A strong France file clearly explains your travel purpose, funds, and ties to India. We structure and submit everything properly — so your case is presented clearly and professionally.
All-in · 18% GST included · no hidden charges
File-ready in 3–5 working days after documents
5★ · 100+ reviews · reply in 5 min
Everything below — included, nothing extra
- Document checklist
- Application form guidance
- Document review
- Cover letter
- Purpose of travel structure
- Financial proof review
- Sponsor document guidance
- Submission & appointment support
- Post-submission guidance
Not sure you qualify? Start with a refundable ₹499 possibility report — an honest Yes / Maybe / No, credited to this fee. Read the full guide
Price is for our consultancy service only and includes 18% GST. No agency can guarantee a visa — the final decision rests with the visa authority.
Your fee, in one glance
What the ₹16,999 fee covers for a France file
- We work out what your case actually is, before touching a form
- We build the checklist around your profile, not a template
- We read your documents against each other, not against a list
- Financial proof review
- Purpose of travel structuring
- Cover letter / explanation support
- Return ties review
- Sponsor / invitation guidance
- Application form guidance
- Submission & appointment support
- Biometrics guidance
- Post-submission support
Government, VFS, insurance, ticket and hotel costs are separate and charged at cost. Read what each item means, in full.
Good to know before you apply
Rules that apply to every France visa type — worth a quick read so nothing trips up your file.
- 1France is ONLINE-FIRST: complete the application on france-visas.gouv.fr first, then book the VFS appointment, then submit in person for biometrics.
- 2Passport must be issued within the last 10 years, valid for at least 3 months beyond your intended departure from the Schengen area, and have at least 2 blank pages.
- 3Handwritten passports are not accepted.
- 4Applications can be submitted at the earliest 6 months before the intended date of travel.
- 5Travel medical insurance is MANDATORY — minimum €30,000 coverage, valid across all Schengen states, covering the entire trip (including medical repatriation).
- 6Biometrics (fingerprints + digital photo) are captured in person at VFS and are valid for 59 months — if captured within that window for a previous Schengen visa, you may be exempt from giving them again.
- 7First-time applicants and children under 12 (no fingerprints) must still attend in person; under-12s do not provide fingerprints.
Who Can Apply
- Indian professionals attending business meetings, negotiations or contract signings in France
- Delegates attending conferences, trade fairs or exhibitions in France
- Employees sent for short-term consultancy, training or coordination by an Indian company
- Company owners / directors travelling for business development
Not eligible under this visa:
- Anyone taking up paid employment in France — a business visa does NOT authorise local work
- Stays over 90 days — apply for a National (Type D) long-stay visa
- Pure tourism / leisure — apply for the Tourist Visa instead
- Visiting family or friends — apply for the Visit Visa (Family & Friends) instead
What it costs
Government & VFS fees
Paid directly to France / VFS — these are not our service fee, and we never mark them up.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Schengen Short-Stay Visa fee — Adult | ≈ ₹8,300 |
| Schengen Short-Stay Visa fee — Child 6 to 12 years | ≈ ₹4,150 |
| Schengen Short-Stay Visa fee — Child under 6 years | FREE |
| VFS Global service charge | ≈ ₹2,100 |
The visa fee in INR is set by the French Consulate exchange rate and changes periodically — always confirm the live amount on france-visas.gouv.fr and the VFS Global France India page before paying. The visa fee and VFS service charge are payable per applicant. Visa fee, service charge and any value-added service fees are NON-REFUNDABLE regardless of the visa decision. Optional value-added services (courier, SMS, premium lounge, prime-time collection) do not affect the decision or turnaround time.
Flights · Hotels · Insurance · Itinerary
What France actually requires — and what it does not.
France applies the Schengen rules, so travel insurance is not a nice-to-have — it is a legal condition of the visa.
2 of 4 are compulsory for France
Flight reservation
The France consulate wants a return itinerary with a real PNR covering your exact dates. It does not want a paid ticket, and buying one before a decision puts your money at risk for nothing.
Where people slip: Flying into one city and out of another with nothing showing how you travel between them. Officers read the whole route, and an unexplained gap reads as a plan that does not hold together.
How to hold a flight without payingHotel booking
Accommodation for EVERY night of the stay. Not most nights — every one. A gap is a documented refusal ground under the Schengen code.
Where people slip: Free-cancellation bookings are accepted, but if the entire file is free-cancellation the officer sees a trip nobody has committed to. Some of it should be real spend.
Refundable hotel booking, explainedTravel insurance
Minimum EUR 30,000 medical cover, valid in every Schengen state, including repatriation and emergency medical evacuation, for the full period of stay. Regulation (EC) 810/2009 — this is law, not preference.
Where people slip: Buying cover for the adults and forgetting the children. Every traveller needs their own EUR 30,000, infants included — a real refusal we have seen on a family of four.
What the cover must actually sayTravel itinerary
A day-by-day plan matching your flights, your hotels and the country you applied to. France must be your main destination or your first point of entry, or you are at the wrong consulate.
Where people slip: Spending more nights in another Schengen country than in France. That gets a file rejected before it is even assessed.
The letter your itinerary attaches toWe arrange all four for your France file.
We are a B2B travel agency as well as a visa consultancy, working with partners including Riya Travel — so the flight, the hotel and the policy all come from us, issued the same day, and you deal with one team instead of four. Every booking is a real one under your own name.
What to gather
Documents required
Having a document isn't the same as presenting it right — that's the part we handle.
Core Documents
5 items- France-Visas online application form (printed + signed)Required
Completed on france-visas.gouv.fr; print and sign the form and the France-Visas receipt.
- Valid passportRequired
Issued within last 10 years, valid 3 months beyond return, 2 blank pages, not handwritten.
- Copy of passport bio-data and address pagesRequired
- Two recent biometric passport photosRequired
35×45mm, white background, ≤6 months old, Schengen specification.
- Travel medical insuranceRequired
Minimum €30,000, Schengen-wide, covering the entire trip.
Business Documentation
4 items- Invitation letter from the inviting company in FranceRequired
On letterhead — must state your identity, the purpose, and the period and place of the visit. Include host company contact details.
- Cover letter from your Indian employerRequired
On letterhead — confirming your designation, purpose of travel, period/place of visit, and who bears the costs.
- Proof of business relationship between the two companies (if applicable)
Contracts, prior correspondence, purchase orders, MoU.
- Conference / trade-fair registration or invitation (if applicable)
Travel & Accommodation
2 items- Proof of intended means of transport (return flight reservation) and itineraryRequired
- Proof of accommodation for the whole stayRequired
Hotel booking or company-arranged accommodation. If the inviting company hosts you, include their confirmation.
Financial Means
4 items- Original personal bank statement of the last 3 months (stamped by bank)Required
Required unless the Indian employer or the French host fully covers costs (then provide their proof).
- ITR / Form 16 for the last 2 yearsRequired
- Salary slips for the last 3 months
- If self-employed / company owner: company registration + GST registration certificate + ITR
Required · optional / if applicable
The journey.
5 steps from intake to approval. Curved spine on the right shows the natural pace — never as linear as government sites pretend.
- 01
Confirm purpose with Visa Wizard
Use the France-Visas Visa Wizard to confirm the business category and your personalised checklist.
- 02
Obtain the invitation + employer cover letter
Get the inviting French company's letter (identity, purpose, period/place) and your Indian employer's cover letter.
- 03
Complete the online application
Fill the France-Visas application online; print and sign the form and the receipt.
- 04
Book the VFS appointment
Book biometrics at your jurisdiction's VFS Global France VAC at visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/fra.
- 05
Submit at VFS
Attend in person — biometrics, file submission, pay the €90 fee + VFS service charge. Processing is 15 calendar days standard.
What works
5 levers that flip a borderline case.
- Use the France-Visas 'Visa Wizard' first — it confirms your exact visa type and generates the personalised document checklist for your purpose.
- Do NOT buy flight tickets before the visa is granted — submit confirmed reservations only.
- Carry the ORIGINAL bank statement of the last 3 months, stamped and signed by the bank, plus ITR/Form 16 for the last 2 years.
- Keep your France-Visas receipt (with barcode) printed — VFS will not accept the file without it.
What kills cases
Top 3 refusal triggers we see.
- 1Insufficient or unexplained funds — bank balance does not match the declared trip cost
- 2Weak ties to India — no clear evidence of return intent (job, business, property, family)
- 3Travel medical insurance below €30,000, not Schengen-wide, or not covering the full trip
Download official forms
Each link opens the official France page on VFS Global (we never host third-party forms): pick your visa category there and use its "Download Form" section for the current version.
France-Visas online application form (Schengen Type C)
Create an account, complete the online application, then print and sign the generated form + the France-Visas receipt. There is no separate downloadable paper form — the form is generated online.
France-Visas Visa Wizard (eligibility + document list)
Answer the wizard questions to get the exact visa type and the personalised document checklist for your purpose of travel.
VFS Global France (India) appointment booking
After completing France-Visas online, book the biometrics appointment at your jurisdiction's VFS France VAC.
VFS application centres
Quiz not yet available for this visa type
We're actively building per-visa quizzes. For now, the best way to assess your eligibility for France Business Visa (Schengen Type C) is a 1-on-1 consultation with our team.
Frequently asked
Questions, answered straight
The inviting company's letter (on letterhead) must clearly state your identity, the purpose of the visit, and the period and place of the visit, along with the host's contact details. Pair it with a cover letter from your Indian employer confirming your role and who bears the costs.
Yes — trade fairs, exhibitions and conferences fall under the Schengen Type C business category. Include your fair/conference registration or invitation in addition to the standard business documents.
No. A business visa permits meetings, negotiations, training and conferences but does NOT authorise taking up paid local employment. Working in France requires a National (Type D) visa / work permit, which SureshotVisa does not process.
Either is acceptable, but it must be documented. If your Indian employer or the French host covers costs, include their letter and financial proof; otherwise provide your own original 3-month bank statement.
Reviewed by Sherbir Singh Grewal, SureshotVisa — a government-licensed consultancy (Licence 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024). Verify us.
How we get it done
Your France France Business Visa, from your first message to your passport back.
7 questions about this visa specifically. The first two are open — tap any other to read it.
Refused? Our full service fee comes back.Government and visa-centre fees are the one part nobody can refund.
+Who has to sign my France business invitation, and what must it say?
The inviting company signs it, on its letterhead, naming you personally, the exact dates, the purpose of the meetings and — crucially — who is paying for what. Officers verify these: a letter with no signatory title, no company registration detail and no reachable phone number is worse than no letter, because it fails a verification call. Your own side matters just as much: a leave sanction or board resolution, your employment or directorship proof, and a travel history that fits the seniority the letter claims for you.
+Can I attend meetings, sign contracts or get paid on this visa?
Meetings, negotiations, conferences, trade fairs and training you attend are normally fine. What is not permitted is gainful employment — being paid by an entity in France, or doing work that a local would otherwise be hired for, even unpaid in some categories. That line is where business visas get refused and, worse, where they get cancelled at the border. If your trip involves anything close to it, tell us the actual plan and we will tell you which route it needs.
+How long can I actually stay on a France Schengen visa?
Up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The window rolls: on any given day the authorities count backwards 180 days and add up the days you were inside. It is not 90 days per country and it does not reset when you leave and come back. Entries are single or multiple entry, as granted by the french consulate. Getting this arithmetic wrong is how people end up overstaying without realising, which follows you into every future application.
+Should I apply to France or to another Schengen country?
You apply to the country you will spend the most nights in. If the nights are equal across several, you apply to the one you enter first. Applying to the "easier" consulate when your itinerary says otherwise is a well-known refusal ground and, if the mismatch looks deliberate, it reads as misrepresentation rather than a mistake. Send us your itinerary and we will tell you which mission is the correct one for your trip — sometimes that is not France.
+How long does a France France Business Visa take, start to finish?
Three things sit between today and your trip: preparing the file properly, waiting for an appointment, and the mission's own processing. France currently states 15 calendar days standard (can extend to 30–45 days where additional scrutiny or consular consultation is required). Apply at least 15 days before travel. for the decision itself. We control the first, which is usually days. The middle depends on slot releases. The third is entirely the mission's and no consultant can shorten it — anyone telling you otherwise is selling something they cannot deliver. Tell us your travel date and we will tell you honestly whether it is realistic.
+How much of what I pay for the France visa is actually your fee?
Most of it is not ours. The France government fee (currently ≈ ₹8,300) goes to the mission and the visa-centre fee goes to VFS — both charged to you at cost, never marked up, and shown as separate lines on one GST invoice in the registered company name. Our service fee is the only part we set, and it is published rather than quoted case by case.
+How does SureshotVisa handle my France France Business Visa, from first message to passport back?
You send what you have on WhatsApp and a licensed consultant says the same working day whether the case is ready. We build the file around your profile, check every document against the others, write the cover letter to match them, and hold the file complete so the first workable appointment can be taken the moment it appears. You attend biometrics; we track the file to the decision (France currently states 15 calendar days standard (can extend to 30–45 days where additional scrutiny or consular consultation is required). Apply at least 15 days before travel.). Government and visa-centre fees (≈ ₹8,300 for this visa) are charged at cost; our own fee is published, and if the visa is refused that fee comes back in full.
Before you file
A France France Business Visa goes one of two ways.
Filed on a guessed checklist, the government fee is gone on a refusal and the refusal follows every future application. Filed after a licensed consultant has read the papers against each other, the file answers the officer's questions before they are asked. Same France rules, different outcome. How we do that is written once, in full, on the method page rather than repeated here.
Other France Visa Types
France Tourist Visa (Schengen Type C — Short Stay)
Schengen short-stay visa for Indian citizens travelling to France for tourism, sightseeing and leisure — up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Apply online via France-Visas, biometrics at VFS.
View guideFrance Visit Visa (Family & Friends — Schengen Type C)
Schengen short-stay visa for Indian citizens visiting family or friends living in France — up to 90 days. Apply online via France-Visas, biometrics at VFS.
View guideFrance Student Visa (National Type D — Long Stay)
National (Type D) long-stay visa for Indian students enrolled in a French institution for a course longer than 90 days — decided by the French immigration authorities.
View guideFrance Work Visa / Permit (National Type D — Information Only)
Information only — France work visas / permits are National (Type D) long-stay categories. SureshotVisa guides you through this route and, once you hold your own job offer or employer sponsorship, prepares and files the visa application — we are not a recruiting agent, so the offer must be yours.
View guideSource & Disclaimer
Data on this page is sourced from the official VFS Global France website and Embassy of France. Last verified 2026-06-09. Always verify with the official embassy before applying — fees and requirements change without notice.
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