Chennai, August 07: Under new French regulations, trainee visas will be issued for a period of one year instead of three months as before. These regulations would apply to both students and professional trainees sent by companies, said Joelle Rayet, French Consul-General in Puducherry, here on Friday.
Speaking at a meet organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Tamil Nadu State Council (FICCI TNSC), on the new French visa guidelines, Ms. Rayet said that the visas could be renewed in France if there was a need to do it.
She said that the new regulations also allowed an “Employee on Assignment” permit, under which employees seconded to a group company in France could obtain a visa for three years, with family members given a “Private and Family Life” permit after six months.
A “Skills and Talents” permit would be given to investors involved in a project of worth one million euros or more. This new permit would be given for an initial period of three years and the Ambassador of France would decide on the merits of each application under this permit.
Ms. Rayet, who said she was scheduled to leave for France to take up a new assignment next week, addressed concerns from FICCI members on visa processing formalities. She said that it was advisable to plan for the visa well in advance and asked members to avoid applying for visas at the last moment.
M.Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman, FICCI TNSC, said that the target for bilateral trade between India and France was 20 billion euros by 2012. To attain that target, it was necessary to ease visa regulations, he said.
R.R.Balakrishnan, convenor, FICCI TNSC Energy Panel, said that small and medium enterprises could soon form the backbone of Indo-French bilateral trade and asked the Consul-General to take steps to ease visa processing for them.
D.V.Venkatagiri, Director, FICCI TNSC, said that governments should ensure free flow of persons and minimise visa processing hassles. This would be consistent with the demand of many developed countries to open up borders for free flow of capital and goods, he said.
Further details on visa guidelines can be obtained from www.ofii.fr (in French, English and other languages), www.invest-in-france.org, and www.immigration.gouv.fr (in French).
–Agencies