French visa "direct appointments"

[hubner]

It's a non-EU passport holder resident in the UK trying to get a short stay tourist visa to visit France.

https://uk.ambafrance.org/Informations-about-visas

says that you have to either use the outsourced company, TLScontact, to apply (there's an extra fee as well as the visa fee), or apply yourself but the company has to make the appointment for you (no fee).

Visa appointments are free of charge and can ONLY be booked via our outsourcing partner TLScontact
....

Visa applicants who do not wish to make use of the service provided by TLScontact still have the option of applying for their visas directly at the French Consulate General in London, known as direct appointments.

Appointments are compulsory and must be made through TLScontact by calling 0845 7300 118, Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. By leaving your contact details, option 4, a Customer Service Representative will call you back shortly, usually within a day.

The person in question don't want to use the company so they phoned up then got a call back saying they have to go on to their website and register and go through the process. Their English is not fluent so there might have been a misunderstanding. I registered but can't see anything for getting a "direct appointment", maybe except for the line "ATTENTION : Booking an appointment via TLScontact is free of charge."

Does anyone know you can get "direct appointments" (free via TLScontact) or is the French Embassy's website wrong and you have to use TLScontact's paid service?

[Cunobelin]

This is only a guess.......

There are a number of sites in the UK that closely resemble official sites and then charge for "processing" when all they do is pass your application on. A colleague at work fell foul of one when applying for a passport

Could that be a possibility?

[hubner]

As far as I can tell, https://uk.ambafrance.org/Informations-about-visas is the official website.

Yes there are many company sites that look like an official website and it's hard to pick out the official site in a search.

[jsabine]

The TLS website, as you say, says that appointment booking is free, and one of the options you can select on the contact form is Appointment Booking.

Do you maybe have to register on the site before they'll make an appointment? I'd probably be inclined to use the contact form for initial enquiries, because at least then everything is in writing.

[hubner]

I would think the " Appointment Booking" on the contact form refers to the  appointment at TLScontact.

https://fr.tlscontact.com/gb/lon/page.php?pid=procedure

Step 4 - Book your appointment online

    Select a time and date at your conveniance to submit your documents at the TLScontact Visa application center. The available time slots are highlighted in blue.
    Do not forget to print out your appointment confirmation document, it will be requested by the Security upon arrival.

And why would you need to give your name, email, passport and phone number and why is it buried away if that's how you get a direct appointment at the French Consulate?

I'll phone TLScontact tomorrow, I think the person who phoned them before wasn't clear they wanted a "direct appointment". I suspect they give you the appointment over the phone because there is nothing on the website about it.