Is there such thing as refugee visa?

[Anonymous]

I found a site which says france grants refugee visa to those who come to french consulates and prove they are being persecuted

Yes

No

[Soteris]

I mean.. no? Not really. Refugees are guaranteed entry into any country by international laws at least long enough to apply for asylum. They do not need a visa and they also are cleared from any crimes in relations to entering the country illegally since it is seen as something done in pursuit of saving their life. At least this is true in accordance with international laws, some countries (like USA) is iffy on some of these parts.

[Soteris]

Reading your question again I feel I should probably clarify. While it is true that any country under international law has to accept refugees who seek asylum, what France is offering in this situation is to allow this process to start in their own embassies/consulates which are located in other countries by granting the refugees a temporary French visa which allows the refugees to travel in a more official capacity to France and continue the normal asylum process inside the country.

In other words, if you are fleeing from your own country then you could stop by a French consulate on your way to secure the legal documents you would need to actually reach France. Normally these international laws only start to apply once you cross the border of that country which is why this does not apply to all countries.

[jennifer_bloom]

Other people’s lives are not ammunition for people to play anger games with hate and xenophobia, a lot of refugees will die if they are not given asylum in a new country. Not everyone is a scam artist.

[KostasKouvalis]

I don't know about refugee visa, but I know they have refugee passports