Step-By-Step Guide On How To Apply For France Study Visa

France is a popular study destination for both the undergraduate and postgraduate program. France is one of the best destinations in the world for students to pursue an MBA program. It is the fact that the quality of education in France is excellent in domains such as business, management and classical studies. If you want to study in France, you will be required to get a French visa or permit depending on your nationality and situation. Different application procedures may apply depending on what you will be studying in France, and how long you will need to live in the country. So with this blog I'm Ms. Shivani, Admission Process Executive at Edugo Abroad going to share with you the complete details regarding the French Student visa category.

Let’s begin with the types of student visa category in France.

Type of Student visa category

Now talking about visa process, there are different types of student visas in France depending on the duration you wish to live in France

Schengen short-stay student visa also known as “Visa de court sejour pour etudes”

A short stay student visa is applicable for the candidates seeking an opportunity to study in France for training or course which does not exceed more than 3 months in duration like a language course or a short term course offered by the French institute. With this type of visa, you can travel to France and study for up to three months without the need for a separate residence visa. Short-stay visas are issued free of charge and cannot be renewed.

Visa to appear entrance exams also known as “Etudient concours”

On this type of visa, you can go to France to take an entrance exam at an institute of higher education. If you pass the entrance exam you can directly apply to French local authority or administrative office in France. This visa is valid for 90 days and upon clearing the exam and getting enrolled in the French institute, the residence permit card can be renewed with the validity of one year.

Temporary long-stay visa also known as Visa de long séjour temporaire pour études

This visa allows you to study in France for between three to six months without the need for a residence permit. It is a non-renewable visa as it is for a temporary stay in France for the duration of 3 to 6 months, so you are not required to apply for the residence permit separately.

Long-stay visa also known as Visa de long séjour études

If you have applied for a programme and the course duration is more than six months, then you will need to apply for the long term student visa in France. The long-stay visa is for all international students who wish to enroll in a course at a French institute of higher education. All you need is to provide information about your academic background, language proficiency and adequate financial resources (approximately €615 per month).

Long-stay visas are equivalent to residence permits and are called VLT-TS. From the year 2013, a long stay study visa (which is also your residence permit) lasts for the duration of your course in France i.e. three years for the bachelor’s program, two years for a Master’s and four years for PhD.

Student Visa Requirement

The candidate/Student must meet the below-listed requirements in order to be eligible for a student visa for France

1. The Student must be at least 18 years of age at the time of application.
2. The Student must have already selected his or her program of study in France.
3. The Student must be enrolled in a program of study in a French institution of higher education.
4. The Student must have a valid government-issued passport with a date of expiry which should be valid for your entire course period.

Documents required at the time of student visa application

1. NOC letter (No objection Certificate) issued by Campus France
2. Valid Passport and Government ID
3. Passport size Photograph
4. VFS Appointment Letter
5. Motivation letter/Covering letter/ Statement of Purpose mentioning the educational background, intentions of the student to apply for the course, university, country and his/her future goals.
6. Curriculum Vitae or Resume
7. All academic documents, experience letters, extracurricular certificates and other documents presented at the time of admission.
8. English Language Proficiency Certificate like IELTS/ TOEFL etc. or Medium of Instruction letter
9. Official Acceptance Letter from the university with the complete details including start and end date of the course and it must be printed on the University’s Letterhead.
10. Tuition fees payment proof
11. Copy of bank statement containing the fund required to show the living expenses of approximately €615 per month. Financial document for fund proof and visa process is required to be shown in any of the below-mentioned forms of either fund in sponsors savings account in the nationalized bank or Education Loan Letter (if the student has been granted education loan from the nationalized bank)
12. Income tax returns (4, 00,000 INR) of the last 3 years of the sponsor.
13. Affidavit of a sponsor (Sponsor should be either parents or grandparents).
14. Affidavit of Oath (declaration of student)
15. Accommodation letter
16. Air ticket Booking
17. Travel Insurance: (30,000 euro) (One year).
18. Birth Certificate in English – Apostle (not a mandatory document)

Get more details at VFS Checklist For France Visa

Steps to apply for France student visa

To make this whole process easy to understand, we will go step by step.

Step 1: Application in a French Institute

• Okay, first thing first, you need to apply for your desired course into a French university because if you don't have a purpose why would you even want to apply for a student visa?
• So, apply to the university which has gained your attention to the desired programme. Now after you apply to the university you will need the basic documents which include your academics, passport, CV, work experience letter (if any) Language proof etc.
• After your application is done and the respective admission team of the French institute will review your profile and if it fits with the course then you will be approached for the admission interview.
• Interviews can be done in different ways in Different universities; generally, there are two types with which you can complete your interview process. 1) Skype Interview 2) Pre-recorded interview through video interview platforms
• Once you complete your interview you will get the results within a week. If the result is positive, you will receive the offer Letter.
• After receiving the offer letter the very next step will be tuition fees payment. Make the full tuition fees payment as it will help you in your successful visa process.
• After the tuition fees payment is done you will receive the final admission letter from the university which will have all the details including your start date and end date of the chosen course, name of the course, etc.

What after receiving the final admission letter? Once we receive the final admission letter followed by the visa documents we move to step 2 as mentioned below.

Step 2: Campus France Process

Before we begin with the visa file submission there is one important step which you need to complete which is Campus France Process. All you need to do in the campus France process is that once you get your Final Acceptance Letter, you will have to register and create an account at Campus France Portal.

The Process for the campus France is

1. Log on to www.india.campusfrance.org and click on ‘Create Your Account’
2. Fill up the online Campus France form and an account will be created.
3. Once you have created the account you are required to fill the required details and upload the documents accordingly.
4. Submit the application after filling the required details and preparing the visa file.
5. After submitting the application the Campus France will validate the file and will share a link for campus France processing fees payment i.e. 16500 INR.
6. Once you have paid the campus France Fees you will get an appointment date
7. Appear for the interview on the given date
8. You will get No Objection Certificate after the interview.
9. After Getting NOC, prepare the visa file in order to get the visa decision from French Consulate.

If you want to know about how to do campus France process, you can always check out our YouTube channel. We have a detailed video on how to do campus France process.

STEP – 3: Visa file submission

Once you get the No objection certificate from Campus France, the immediate next step would be to prepare your file according to the above-mentioned documents and book an appointment for your Visa File Submission (from the VFS website) at the nearest VFS office. The VFS will collect your documents and submit it at the French Consulate for further processing.

After getting an appointment date, be there on the given time and submit the photocopy of your documents.

Student Visa Processing Time

The whole Visa process must be completed at least before a month of your starting date of the course. So you must start your process at least 3 months before your desired intake. After you finish submitting your file you need to wait for the result as it takes about 14 working days in order to receive the visa result.

On Arriving at France

Once you arrive with your long-stay visa in France, the very first thing you need to do is submit the original form which was sent to you with the visa acceptance to French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII). The other documents which are needed to be sent along with the form are the printout of your passport which clearly shows your permanent resident and the stamp received during immigration at the time of entering France. You can either mail the documents on the given address or personally submit them. Once the documents are received by the office they will send back the receipt of confirmation and instruction about the next step. One of the things may be a medical examination and submit the report. The submission of your documents at OFII must be done within 3 months of your arrival in the French territory.

Working in France with a French student visa

The student with a valid residence permit is allowed to do a part-time job and as per the condition, generally, the students can work 20 hours a week. As an international student, you are allowed to earn while working part-time. The working hours could be 964 hours annually. This is equivalent to 60% of full-time employment. The number of hours’ changes and can be different according to conditions. Between the period of September to June, the eligible working hours are up to 70 hours while in July to August it can be up to 300 hours.

Explore More Work Opportunities In France

We hope you like the blog. We at Edugo Abroad believe in giving a quality service to our students. Our personal support team guides the students from their application form to the final interview. To get more information about France study visa you may visit Edugo Abroad. Edugo Abroad is one of the leading education consultant services in India with strong contact with top French universities.