France Issued First-Time Schengen Digital Visa

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 06-02-2024

France Issued First-Time Schengen Digital Visa

International news 4 min read

France has started issuing Digital Schengen visas. The country plans to distribute around 70,000 digital visas for the upcoming 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games in Paris.

France became the first country in the European Union to hand out these visas starting from January 1, 2024.

Digital visas to visit France

French Digital Schengen visa may be available to two groups of non-EU citizens requiring entry visas, according to French authorities.:

Those who are a part of the Olympic and Paralympic Family and are seeking accreditation should apply through their respective committees.
Additionally, other official guests who have been invited by the Olympic or Paralympic Committee (OCOG) can also apply for accreditation.
However, visitors who wish to attend the Olympics will need to apply for a regular Schengen Visa.

Schengen states

Austria, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland have all agreed to the Schengen Agreement and are therefore Schengen states.
The Schengen area includes all EU member states, except for Ireland and Cyprus. Currently, Bulgaria and Romania only apply some of the Schengen provisions.
The Schengen area allows for free and safe travel without internal borders for EU citizens, non-EU residents, and visitors.
Until these three countries fully apply the Schengen acquis, which is their aim, passport controls will remain in place at internal borders.
Besides this , the EU countries mentioned above, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein are also Schengen states.
A separate visa is needed to travel to other EU states that are not Schengen states.

About Paris Olympics:

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from July 26, 2024, to August 11, 2024. Whereas football and rugby competitions will begin early on July 24, and handball tournaments will start on July 25.
During the three-week event, a total of 329 events will be held across 32 sports. 206 NOCs, including the Refugee Olympic Team, will participate in the games.
Paris 2024 is introducing a new sport called 'Breaking' for the first time, which made its debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018.
The sport of break-dancing, along with skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing, will be included in the list of sports at the Paris Olympics 2024.