Consulate General of France — Local services in New York

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. I would recommend traveling to Boston or DC and going the consulate or embassy there.

I was horrified about how rude the people are who work in the French Consulate of New York. From the aggressive and ill mannered security guard to the hot headed and vile consulate woman, the experience was shocking.

The security guard was very short with me and refused to allow my mother to stand in the building at all. He closed the door in her face as I was saying goodbye to her. He touched all of my belongings and even pressed buttons on my phone to make sure it was off. He demanded to see my paper work and even though I had everything said I was missing a page and should come back another day. I insisted that I wasn't missing a page after which he let me through, but said he was confident that the French consulate workers would turn me away.

When I finally got to the room where I could get my visa it was packed. A small stuffy room with 35 or so chairs was totally full. It was completely madness. Even before I went up to the counter I could hear one woman in particular screaming at several different people for a misaligned staple or a photo that was too small. There was one American woman there was applying for something or other that required her to pay 89 USD. The woman had 90 USD but the french consulate worker refused to accept her payment unless it was exact change. She would have to book another appointment to do this even though she already had her documents in place. Luckily, every one in the waiting room had her the nasty woman yell at her and offered her money so she could pay the exact amount.

When it was my turn I got yelled out for having a small mark on one of the papers from where the staple had been, missing a copy of one paper, and looking at the camera the wrong way.

There is no sense of discretion or confidentiality at the Consulate. They seem to yell at everyone so the people in the waiting room can pretty easily understand everything being said to every person.

In reading other posts the common thread seems to be the aggressive security guard and (although all of the staff is pretty rude) that one woman in particular who is absolutely wretched. I hope (but highly doubt) that this will one day be taken into consideration by the french government and both...

I'm a student that will be studying all of next year in France and applying for the long sejour visa for students. Therefore, I can't speak for other visa situations, but I had a fine experience at the visa office. I appeared at the office precisely at my appointment time, 9:00am, and was let in with no problems. Note that for visas you must go to a building around the corner at 10 E 74th St (maybe .1 miles away max). I didn't even have my appointment form, but the man at the entry still let me in with a smiling face after verifying my passport. After going through security, you wait in a room upstairs with your number. Waiting times for this part are highly variable, as your fate is decided with a number given to you at the door. I had number 4 and didn't wait very long. Once called, I went to the window and gave a woman my documents. She was fine with speaking english, was in no way rude, and took my documents in a quick and easy manner. DONT TRY TO PAY WITH CASH. Many people were scrambling for exact change which they require (no more, no less). It's stupid, I know. Just avoid this bureaucratic idiocracy with a credit card, or come with a fifty, a ten and 20 ones to cover for the exchange rate. She then sent me back to the waiting room to wait for my interview. Maybe 20 minutes later I went to another window where I met a smiling frenchman. He saw I spoke french and we continued the interview in french. However, french was in now way a requirement for the interview. He took my documents, fingerprinted me, took a picture, and I was on my way. I even was missing a sheet and he supplied it. He even cracked a joke! Unfortunately, you do have to come back to get your visa. Overall, I met with one fine, straightfaced worker, and one jovial 45 year old guy. Maybe it was because I was a student. Maybe it was because I spoke french (I don't think so). Maybe it was because I was prepared (probably). Maybe it was because it was early in the morning. In any case, I had a fine experience at the consulate.

Tips: Don't try to pay with cash. Pay with a card. Have your documents prepared. Follow the instructions closely online for what you should bring. Bring extra copies and more than enough information. They didn't ask me for anything that wasn't...

as a foreign national living in the US, I had to apply for a schengen visa for my trip to France, I am a permanent resident (have my green card) and have been living in the US for 20+ years, but that didn't change the fact that I pretty much had to provide my DNA to get my visa. Pro-tip, book your visa appointment before you book your tickets since the online appointments are always full at least 2 months in advance, your visa is valid for a month which will give you leeway in booking your flight. The wait was about 1-2 hours, which wasn't bad considering, however the employees at the windows were RUDE. I'm used to all government employees being brusque and uncaring (trust me I'm familiar with the DOT), but this was outright RUDE.

I literally got SCREAMED at and called a liar. When I would ask her a question she would either roll her eyes or tell me to stop talking because she hasn't addressed me yet. It was CRAZY...I really don't know how everyone else had pleasant experiences, perhaps they were American... again I am a foreign national living in the US so I don't have a US passport, perhaps the experience would've been different. I will say that the commissioner (Senegalese lady?) was really nice and polite. If this is your first time going, it will be a jarring experience, the only people who weren't appalled by it were the veteran visa applicants. I will also note that my situation was outside the norm, I am a student (don't work) and the trip was being paid for by my boyfriend (different last names) so I went through extra hell. Pro-tip: if you have a financial sponsor, there is a sponsor form you have to fill out and get notarized (on the website, it just says...