Documents to be presented upon arrival in France.
 

As if there has not been a sufficient number of new concerns for visitors with the apartment crackdown in Paris and the implementation of ETIAS either later this year or early 2022, here is something else that is getting new attention: required supporting documents of all TCNs which must be presented at the request of the Border Police upon your arrival in France:
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Proof of accommodation covering the whole duration of the stay (hotel reservation and/or certificate of staying with a relative validated in the town hall);

Documents to be presented on arrival in France
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That latter item is an Attestation d´accueil which must be applied for at the Mairie or Hôtel de ville by the host before a guests/family members arrival at the border and which costs 30€.

ETIAS will start in 2022.

There is a charge of 7 euros for everybody over the age of 18. Under that age it is free. Also, it is valid for 3 years or until expiration of the passport.

Sarastro......thank you for the reminder....I had completely forgotten this good news and will add it to my "one more thing" list......

Actually this is a new law that became effective 1 May.

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes...TA000042777191

More good news , Sarastro! You are making my day!

Does this mean tourists from the US in the future will need more than a passport, which is all that is needed now?

If entering as a tourist:

1. Passport
2. Proof of accommodation ie booking confirmation
3. Proof of sufficient financial means
4. Return air ticket
5. Travel insurance to cover medical etc

Is that different to what is needed now?

Right now you need your passport, PCR results, a sworn statement that you will quarantine for 7 days, a compelling reason statement (though no one from the USA has been asked for this for several months), and a sworn statement to abide by health rules.

If those from the US are allowed to enter France from June 9th, you will also need approved verification of Covid vaccination and possibly an attestation d´accueil or hotel/apartment rental verification. Dropping of the quarantine requirement has not been officially announced.

When the ETIAS program begins, you will also need to pay for an application which tracks your entry/exit into/from the Schengen zone.

Could someone explain what I need to do to prove "sufficient financial means"? Do I need to bring all my latest bank & brokerage account statements? Same with travel insurance. Do I need insurance if my financial records state that I have 10 million dollars? Do any of these new requirements expire in the near future?

Stu Dudley

Huh? In English, please
What's an ETIAS?
What's a TCN?

Am I misreading this?
One can no longer just tool around France, booking a different lodging every couple nights after getting advice from the tourist office? Accommodations must be always booked in advance, never ad hoc?
If so, buh-bye, France.

Thanks for the info, Sarastro. I'd better start getting our ducks in line. Not that we're rushing out to buy plane tickets.

Thanks for the information Sarastro, I don't see any of this as a problem for me.

What Tom says, good questions.

Yes, please explain what is a TCN and what is a ETIAS?
We do have airline reservations for August to visit our daughter and family who live in France. We can change/cancel our tickets, if necessary, but we have to pay a penalty.
Does our daughter have to get a document from her local city hall to prove we are staying with them?
We are fully vaccinated and we have cards to prove it. Do we also need to get a COVID test 72 hours or so before our departure date?
Thanks!

TCN - Third Country National - Citizen of a non-EU country.
ETIAS - EU Travel Information and Authorisation System - developed by the USA and now being adopted by the EU. Kerouac has explained the costs above.

Our questions are NOT being answered:
StuDudley asked about proving "financial means". Answer: nada not even crickets
Tomboy asked whether one henceforth had to have confirmed bookings for every night of a traveler's stay, which would obviate simply touring from town to town, picking up accommodations each night from the TI...................Answer: never addressed no crickets

When you don't know the answer, it is generally best not to reply about such things rather than try to guess.

Tomboy - I´ll see that you get your deposit back.

This law went into effect 18 days ago. With the borders effectively closed to most Americans, no one knows for sure what is going to happen. The link to the law is provided above and anyone can read it, it is not long. If you do not understand it, contact the nearest French embassy, and they should be able to help you with your crickets.

You may not have to present the documents, just the border police might ask for them. Except for the hotel booking, I think they had the right to ask for these items before, correct?

as for the hotel booking, is it not currently required to register with the police after a few days of your stay like in other countries? Which a hotel or vacation rental would do for you but if no paid lodging, most people never did (like me, oops.). I am not sure if France is like Italy in that way. Maybe they are just trying to streamline the system and hopefully will make it easy, like with an app or online form. There are various departments who like to keep track of who is in the country, from where etc.

Showing bookings for a whole stay is a bit silly. One can just cancel them after arrival.

as for ETIAS I’m not holding my breath. They now say end of 2022 but a grace period into 2023, When it happens it will not be some giant hurtle to jump over.

RialtoGrl

That's pretty much what I experienced last month.
At the height of the Covid restrictions and post Brexit I was required to carry 12 separate documents. On entry, immigration officers only wanted to see two - a negative Covid test and my passport. Haven't said that , there's no way I would suggest winging it and not taking the required documents, entry always seems to be down to the discretion of each officer.