If you’re a Ukrainian citizen planning trip to France, the very first thing to consider is if you need a visa to travel from Ukraine to France. Although you might think the answer is no, whether you need a visa or not will depend on how long you are planning to stay in the country and if the reason for your trip is purely for tourism.
So, before you book flights and start deciding which of the most popular tourist destinations to include on your travel itinerary, take a look at this complete guide to French visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens.
Ukrainians have not needed a visa to travel to France for short stays since May 2017. This is when the European Union approved visa-free travel for Ukrainians to all of the 27 EU member States, including France, as well as the 4-non EU member countries in the Schengen Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).
Accordingly, Ukrainians are currently granted visa-free access to France for a stay up to 90 days within every 180-day period for tourism, business, or transit purposes. To gain visa-free access to France, it is currently only necessary to present a valid biometric Ukrainian passport on arrival.
Nevertheless, this will change by the end of 2022, when the ETIAS visa waiver program will be implemented for all of the countries in the Schengen Area, including France.
ETIAS is an electronic travel authorization program approved by the European Parliament in 2016. It is expected to take 5 years to fully implement. Once implemented, it will become a mandatory requirement for all visa-free nationalities from outside of the Schengen Area to travel to France for short stays.
As Ukraine has not signed the Schengen Agreement and is not part of the passport-free zone, Ukrainians will be required to obtain an ETIAS to travel to France by the end of 2022. Luckily, the application process is simple and can be completed exclusively online within a few minutes.
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To apply for an ETIAS for France from Ukraine, travelers will only need to complete a simple online form with basic passport, personal, and travel information. It will also be necessary to answer a few questions relating to health and security and to pay a processing fee using a debit or credit card.
All of the information provided on the ETIAS form will then be screened against several European security databases before the travel authorization can be approved. This is because the main aim of the ETIAS program is to identify any potential threats to the Schengen external border before visa waiver travelers board their transportation for France.
As an approved ETIAS will be electronically linked to the traveler’s Ukrainian passport, there will be no need to print a paper document. You’ll simply be able to furnish your Ukrainian passport to board a flight to France and to immigration officers on arrival at a Schengen Area border checkpoint.
Some more good news: An approved ETIAS for France is valid for 3 years and multiple entries for short stays in the Schengen Area. This means that you won’t need to submit an application from Ukraine before every trip to France.
If you’re planning to visit France as a Ukrainian citizen for purposes other than tourism, business, or transit for consecutive stays of more than 90 days, then you’ll need a visa to do so. The first step will be to make a visa appointment at a French Embassy or Consulate in Ukraine.
The main Embassy of France in Ukraine is located in Kyiv, but there is also a French consulate located in Lviv. You will be able to apply for an embassy visa from France at either of these diplomatic offices.
To apply for a French embassy visa, also known as a Schengen visa for France, it is first necessary to print and fill out an embassy visa application. On this form, you will need to indicate the type of visa you require depending on the purpose of your trip, whether for tourism, business, work or study, or another motive.
You will then need to bring this completed form to the confirmed embassy appointment, along with some supporting documents in paper form. These include 2 recent photographs of the applicant, a valid travel insurance policy, proof of accommodation, and evidence of sufficient finances to cover the trip.
Depending on the type of French embassy visa you require, you may be asked to supply some additional supporting documentation before the application can be processed. Please note that it may take several weeks for a visa from a French embassy to receive approval, so you should start applying well in advance of your intended arrival date!
