What's New

Embassy of the United States of America
Press and Information Office
2, avenue Gabriel
75382 Paris Cedex 08

Press Release
February 2, 2006

The U.S. Embassy in Paris continues to experience huge and increasing demand for visas. Currently, French travelers who need a visa have a nine-week wait to obtain an interview appointment and the back-log is growing.

In order to reduce the waiting time for French travelers, the U.S. Embassy in Paris is shifting diplomatic staff to conduct roughly 50 percent more visa interviews per day. Additionally, some U.S. embassies or consulates elsewhere in Europe will now accept visa appointments from French citizens.

French citizens may now contact the U.S. embassies or consulates in Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Florence, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Rome for visa appointments. Those web addresses and telephone numbers are listed below.

Despite our best efforts, many people who intended to travel to the United States in the coming weeks may not be able to obtain a timely visa appointment. We regret these exceptional circumstances. We urge French travelers to ensure they have the correct travel documents before they purchase airline tickets.

We hope that biometric passports will soon be issued by the French authorities so that French citizens will once again be able to travel to the United States, in most circumstances, without a visa.

Information on the nearby U.S. embassies or consulates now accepting appointments for French visa applicants is listed below. Visa applicants must telephone to make a visa appointment.


Berlin/Frankfurt
http://berlin.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 0049 (0) 9131-772-2270.
Cost : 15 euros per call, credit cards accepted.

Bern
http://bern.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 0900 87 84 72
Cost : CHF 2,50/minute, credit cards accepted.

Brussels
http://belgium.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 0032-(0)2-788 1200
Cost: 15 Euros per call, credit cards accepted.

London
http://london.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 09042-450100. Please note this number cannot be reached from outside the UK, and it is the only means of getting an appointment. Callers are advised to have a UK-based friend or family member call for them.
Cost: 1.20 Pounds/minute, credit cards accepted.

Madrid
http://spain.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 0049 9131 772 2087
Cost : 15 euros per call, credit cards accepted.

Rome/Florence
http://italy.usembassy.gov
Phone appointment service: 0039 02.3032.9656.
Cost : 15 euros per call, credit cards accepted.