An update sent in by one of our members, George Rosette, posted by Sue from the F/A DB:

Nevertheless, having had a less-than-hassle-free history with United's follow-up on expense reimbursements; if it were me, I'd contact both my AFA office, my supervisor, and the service center (get a name folks) before spending any money out of pocket for this fee.

Here's the original story as we reported on Feb 14:

One of our flying partners, Sue, told us about the hassle she went through in trying to obtain a crew visa that would allow her to work trips to France.

It appears that as of February 10th 2003, crew members will have to pay
an application fee to obtain a crew visa.  The price will depend on the duration of the visa.  Apparently, the U.S. government had been charging French people fees for visas for years so I guess they feel that this is only fair.

The fees are dependent on how long your passport is valid, and you pay 50 Euros for the first year and 30 Euros for each subsequent year.

The question, of course, is who gets stuck paying the bill?  I don't know and in this case you should speak with your local Union office.  You can also review this new policy on the Chicago French Consulate visa notice.

Thanks to Sue for sharing this info with us and allowing us to print her story.
And to George Rosette from the F/A DB for providing us with the update.