My (Canadian) experience applying for the Jeune Professionnel Visa

[LuckyS]

I am a Canadian from Vancouver that applied for the Jeune Professionnel Visa this summer.

I just wanted to write about my experience applying for this visa as it was a complete shit show with VFS Global and the French Consulate in Vancouver + Montreal. Hopefully someone will find this useful and good luck to you!

Here were some things I had to come to terms with during this process:

1. The French Consulate in Vancouver will not answer any visa related questions. They will tell you refer you to the Montreal Consulate, VFS Global, France Visas website.
2. The French Consulate in Montreal will not answer any visa related questions either. (Tried calling numerous times, they will not budge.)
3. Ultimately, VFS Global is only responsible for collecting your documents based on the checklist generated by the France Visas website. If you have any issues unrelated to that, they will refer you to the consulates. It's VERY difficult to get a straight answer from VFS Global (call center and email). You are on your own for this process.

The problem: On the France-Visas Website, under Section 1: Form (Your Plans), and (Main Purpose of Stay), the Jeunes Professionnels Visa Option isn't listed. This is a problem because if a document checklist is generated based on what you choose for this section.

What I did: Under "Your Plans", I selected "Business" and Under "Main Purpose of Stay", I selected "Recruitment or Posting Worker".

After I completed my online application, I received a document checklist that required me to present these documents:

1. Copy of Diplomas
2. Proof of qualification (CV)
3. Employment certificate
4. Work permit obtained by your employer from the DIRECCTE (Cerfa form n15187*02) sent directly to the embassy or consulate by the OFII

**All of these documents are straight forward except for Item #4. Because of the Jeune Professionnel visa falls under the France Canada Mobility Act (which is supposed to simplify this process), this step is not necessary. The cerfa form just needs to be filled out by your employer, but does not need to be stamped by the DIRECCTE of sent to the consulate by the OFII. I've confirmed this directly with the OFII and VFS agent during my appointment.

Important to note:

- On the OFII website, Recruter un travailleur étranger | OFII, it also says that the OFII will send this information to the consulate directly. This is NOT ACCURATE. Please don't make the same mistake as me, and wait until OFII contacts the Consulate. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

- On the France-Visas website Situations particulières | Canada, you'll notice that the required documents for this Visa looks slightly different. In particular, they ask for proof of sufficient funds (ie. bank statements). DON'T WORRY ABOUT THIS. At my VFS appointment, I was advised by the agent to not add additional documents than what is required on the checklist. She explained to me that the consulate has to authenticate each document received, and this will cause delays in processing.

The result: Even though I wasn't able to apply for the Jeune Professionnel visa through their website, in the end I was issued a Jeune Professionnel Visa.

Try to channel your inner peace and all the best to anyone who is going through the shitty process!

[LaurieM16]

Thanks for sharing, Lucky!

I'm Canadian too and have just applied for the Jeune Professionnel visa and received it today.

I guess I had the same situation while filling up the forms about the wording of the visa title, but I just went with what seemed logical to my situation (I'm there to work for more than 6 months). I also filled it in French, so it might have been more obvious.

My own struggle was with the CDI versus CDD - It is not written anywhere on the France Visa or Embassy website that a Jeune Professionnel visa is only issued with a CDD from the employer. My employed had offered me a CDI. So I had to take my application back home and resubmitted it once my employer changed the category of work contract in the CERFA and hiring letter.

In the French language FAQ, it is stated that a Jeune Professionnel Visa doesn't require a work contract under the DIRECCTE. It would be the case if you applied for a regular worker's visa, though. Is this information missing in the English version?

Anyhow, what bugs me at the moment is, I got my visa and my passport back but apparently I need the CERFA stamped by the Embassy to me able to confirm my status once in France. How did that work for you? Did you get the CERFA back? Was it sent to your French employer by the Embassy?

I contacted the Consulate about this, they should get back at some point. I'll post an update here since it might be useful for fellow Jeune Professionnels!

Also, I have a few questions for you - how was the process to legitimize your visa once in France? Do you intend to stay for longer than the initial year, and if so, how will you proceed?

Thanks a bunch!

Laurie

[visahunt]

Hi, I'm in a similar situation at the moment, hoping to apply for a Jeune professionnel visa. Were you able to figure out your CERFA form? And what did you have to do once you arrived back in France?

And could you confirm that when you went to you VFS appointment, they were OK to accept a CERFA form without DIRECCTE approval/ non-visé par DIRECCTE?

How was the VFS appointment? Did they seem picky about the list of documents you brought/ asked for additional documents?

Thanks!!

[atheboss]

I've seen a couple messages on the forum for French people with a CDI looking to stay in Canada via this program. I'm wondering if I'd be able to do the same in reverse. I was offered a CDI and will complete one year of it with the remainder of my working holiday visa, but then I want to transition to 3A. Most of the info I find online tells me it needs to be a CDD. I'm thinking ahead so I know what to do and share with the HR department so it doesn't get rejected. I'm also not sure if it's 18 months or 24. The France visa website updated as of recently seems to say it's 24 months like the working holiday visa. Any help would be great! Thanks y'all.

[Jackson]

I've seen a couple messages on the forum for French people with a CDI looking to stay in Canada via this program. I'm wondering if I'd be able to do the same in reverse. I was offered a CDI and will complete one year of it with the remainder of my working holiday visa, but then I want to transition to 3A. Most of the info I find online tells me it needs to be a CDD. I'm thinking ahead so I know what to do and share with the HR department so it doesn't get rejected. I'm also not sure if it's 18 months or 24. The France visa website updated as of recently seems to say it's 24 months like the working holiday visa. Any help would be great! Thanks y'all.

Hi atheboss.
If you have the choice, it would be wiser to present a CDD. Otherwise authorities may be concerned about your overstaying your visa. Although CDD vs CDI is not explicitly mentioned in the application package.
Regarding the duration, here is what the application package says:
Durée du séjour indiquée sur le visa : 4 à 12 mois (avec possibilité de prolongation sur place de12 mois qui peut être suivie par un autre séjour de 12 mois pour études ou stage)
https://ca.ambafrance.org/IMG/pdf/vi...b0bac6f975524f

[atheboss]

Hi atheboss.
If you have the choice, it would be wiser to present a CDD. Otherwise authorities may be concerned about your overstaying your visa. Although CDD vs CDI is not explicitly mentioned in the application package.
Regarding the duration, here is what the application package says:
Durée du séjour indiquée sur le visa : 4 à 12 mois (avec possibilité de prolongation sur place de12 mois qui peut être suivie par un autre séjour de 12 mois pour études ou stage)
https://ca.ambafrance.org/IMG/pdf/vi...b0bac6f975524f

Hi, thanks for the response. I'm assuming overstaying wouldn't be possible if said visa expires...so I don't know if this concern would hold to the authorities but I understand the reasoning. Either way, I'll look into possibilities with the HR rep when the time comes.

As for the duration, the package may be outdated (the PDF says 2017) because it mentions on the visa website that both working holiday and young professional are 24 months each. As per the most recent resource: https://montreal.consulfrance.org/Fo...des-jeunes-PVT -- I see that both working holiday and young professional visas have a duration of 2 years ("En effet, les jeunes Canadiens peuvent prétendre à 2 séjours au maximum en tant que jeunes professionnels ou bénéficiaires d’un visa « vacances-travail », dans la limite de 24 mois (discontinus ou continus). A l’issue de ces 24 mois, ils peuvent effectuer un séjour d’études ou de stage d’une durée maximale de 12 mois, ce qui porte la durée maximale de leur séjour à 36 mois.")

Thank you!

[Jackson]

Hi, thanks for the response. I'm assuming overstaying wouldn't be possible if said visa expires...so I don't know if this concern would hold to the authorities but I understand the reasoning. Either way, I'll look into possibilities with the HR rep when the time comes.

As for the duration, the package may be outdated (the PDF says 2017) because it mentions on the visa website that both working holiday and young professional are 24 months each. As per the most recent resource: https://montreal.consulfrance.org/Fo...des-jeunes-PVT -- I see that both working holiday and young professional visas have a duration of 2 years ("En effet, les jeunes Canadiens peuvent prétendre à 2 séjours au maximum en tant que jeunes professionnels ou bénéficiaires d’un visa « vacances-travail », dans la limite de 24 mois (discontinus ou continus). A l’issue de ces 24 mois, ils peuvent effectuer un séjour d’études ou de stage d’une durée maximale de 12 mois, ce qui porte la durée maximale de leur séjour à 36 mois.")

Thank you!

Thanks for sharing that resource, great to know that 2 years is possible! If you find out more about the JP visa, feel free to share your experience here so that it can benefit other readers. We will also leverage it to update our guide on the JP visa Applying for a Young Professionals Visa to France (3A visa for Canadians)

[ZacharyS2]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the process for applying a Jeune Professionel visa and I would be in need for some clarifications.

I juste had a contract with an employer and I filled out the form on the France Visas website for this type of visa. After the whole process, it was mentionned that I had to take an appointement with VFS in Montreal to apply for the JP visa. As I've previously had some huge delays with them (I've done a Working Holiday back in 2022), I took an appointement right away on October 2nd, the earliest I could find.

From what I read here, do I have to wait for VFS to contact me once they've received a confirmation by Ofii ? If that is true, I would have to take another appointement much later and that would delay the whole processus.

Also, once the appointement with VFS has been done, what were the delays until the JP visa was received ? I'm trying to plan my flights plus my starting date at my job. We were aiming to start the contract by November 1st, for your info. Would that be too early ?

Thank you for your answers.