sinbad23

I sent my application form on friday afternoon using air secure. It cost me 38 quid and it arrived today.

canadianinleeds

yey they have my app so im a lot happier now good luck to everyone applying

CityWalk

Mine will be sent airsure. I can't afford to send both our applications off at 20-50 pounds each

DigitalGhost

I sent mine by Airsure on Thursday when I was still in the UK and I got the receipt email from the embassy yesterday morning.

Does anyone know how this proof of payment thing that's mentioned in the email will work? I was just going to send the payment online from my UK bank but some sort of form is needed then I might need to send the payment from my bank over here and then scan in and upload a copy of the bank slip, that's once I get a bank account over here obviously, since we only landed yesterday.

DigitalGhost

Mine took 2 working days and probably would have been delivered on Saturday if the embassy was open.

Third6

Hi guys, found this website while doing a Google search for more info on proof of funds documents!

Anyway, I've applied direct to the embassy this year and sent my completed application Thursday morning at 9am via Airsure and as of Friday afternoon my tracking number has been saying "Your item, posted on 20/01/11 with reference XXXXXXXX has been passed to the overseas postal service for delivery in FRANCE."

Getting slightly nervous now as I see and hear people who sent theirs later than mine getting an email from the embassy. Very frustrating!

Third6

sorry for the double post!

Can I just ask, will my track and trace update to "delivered" when my letter is delivered or not? I have heard they can't actually trace the package once it reaches France and I have also heard that they can. Does anyone know?

sinbad23

Hmmm......I was told that they can't track it once it reaches France cos it is handed over to their equivalent of Royal Mail....

Third6

That's also what my understanding was but then I don't understand how people know their letter was delivered on Saturday unless their track and trace was updated or something.

I don't know, I'm just so annoyed. I had every ready to go 2 days after applications opened and I get punched in the face by the bloody postal service!

Mr. Numbers

Yep - it does tell you on the Royal Mail when it's been delivered. Hopefully shouldn't be far away for you now!

Third6

What has happened to my letter then?! The French post has had it since Friday afternoon!

Mr. Numbers

It seems as though it will have to be paid via wire transfer only. You'd have to go into a bank, or Western Union (or somewhere else, I think you can do it on certain websites now) and organise the payment to the Embassy using specific codes (that I'm presuming they'll give us those in the e-mail).

It's a complete pain in the arse but makes sense for the Embassy I guess as they won't have to give out their account details doing it this way. It's a way of keeping transactions anonymous for both parties (which is why we'll then have to forward proof of payment to them).

There's generally a fee on top of these payments too - expect to pay at least £20. Another warning - clearing these payments can take a number of days depending on who you use or what service you choose, so don't delay too much as you only have 10 days to actually make the payment, and make sure you clarify with the bank how long the fund transfer will take.

I'm still hoping it'll just be an easy online banking transaction! But they do keep mentioning the words "wire transfer"...

sinbad23

Its probably at the french embassy but not processed- remember you only get an email saying that your application is being processed....yours is probably in a pile waiting to be processed.

Third6

This is true but it's not even saying it's been delivered which is the worrying part.

Mr. Numbers

That's the same as me, and mine was delivered late yesterday afternoon. So it should hopefully be there soon.