Hi All,
Sorry for the short essay but I’m in a sticky situation and was hoping for any advice you might be able to offer!
I came to France in September 2013 on a Visa Concours because I had to sit an audition before starting my studies. Not sure if anyone is familiar with the Visa Concours but it's actually a 3-month Type C visa (which is usually a tourist visa), rather than the usual Type D student visa - just for those interested in the technicalities.
My problem is that, while I did pass my audition, I've been unable to get my carte de sejour and I'll be returning to Australia in March, just shy of 3 months after my visa has expired, and I'm concerned about having problems when leaving the country, e.g. getting a fine or worse. I've read on various blogs that there can be a certain grace period after a visa expiry where the immigration officers at the airport won't give you a second glance...but not sure if it would extend for 3 months...especially as, at first glance anyway, I was not on a student visa but a "tourist" visa.
The reason I couldn't get my carte sejour is crazy - the prefecture would not accept my justification domicile. They advised me to overstay my visa during all the to-and-fro that went on, and most recently said to return to them with a lease and said if I didn't secure a proper lease I would need to leave France. I haven’t been able to do this yet (although I will keep trying until March) and due to a number of related and unrelated factors, I’m happy to leave in March and not return if need be – I’m just worried about having problems leaving.
I often see advice along the lines of "go in to the prefecture and talk to someone else and you'll receive a different answer" but there is only one prefecture office I can go to due to my visa type (I have tried all the other ones) and the staff know me now since I've been in so many times - I'm even at the stage where I can walk in and get seen to immediately because they know me!
Even though I was told to overstay my visa, I can see how an immigration officer at the airport would not care about that. I just didn’t think about this at the time. I'm just wondering if anyone has any stories of being told to overstay their visa, and what ended up happening? Or anyone who overstayed their visa for another reason - any problems leaving France? The prefecture said I wouldn't have problems leaving France but I think they are just being lazy and not accepting responsibility for telling me to overstay. I would assume they could provide a letter for me or something...? But they won't do it (although I will of course ask again).
I've seen that, upon the expiration of a visa, one can leave the EU and return to activate the "visa-free period" that some people can get (and which I can get, being Australian). I wonder if that will go down as a legitimate excuse for staying so long past my visa? Could I claim that I had a visa, then used my “visa-free period”, then left the country after that? When I leave France should I hope they don’t notice me, or should I admit what happened and explain why I overstayed?
Any advice anyone has would be so greatly appreciated!