Guide to obtaining a student visa to France, part 1

- Bonjour! Parlez-vous francais?

If you answered "yes" and you also know what DALF is, this article is definitely for you. In France, there are more advantages and chances to get in if you want to study in French. But don't worry if you only have English in your arsenal - there are plenty of international language destinations, too.

After choosing a university and program, applicants often forget about one small but important thing - to familiarize themselves with the rules of the student visa.

What do I need to know about the French student visa?

Visas for students coming to France come in two types: short-term and long-term.

1) Short-term student visa

• It is granted for study programs lasting up to 90 days.

• It cannot be extended or converted into a long-term visa

2) Long-term student visa

• Approved for programs of study lasting more than 90 days.

• The validity period of this visa: from three months to one year. It can be extended after its expiry.

Most often, of course, it is the long-term visa that the student has to deal with. It is possible to apply for it no earlier than 3 months before the beginning of the study. A nice bonus: during its validity, it acts as a Schengen visa, and the student can visit the countries of the European Union for not more than 90 days every 180 days.

Depending on the length of study, a long-term visa can be of two types:

• Long-term temporary residence visa of 3 to 6 months. No additional formalities are required upon arrival in France.

• Long-term visa equivalent to a residence permit, to study for more than 6 months. After arriving in France, you will have to start your journey with a visa confirmation. Without this procedure, after three months you will be illegally in the territory of the French state.

And an important note: two months before this visa expires, you can ask the prefecture to grant you a residence permit, because, of course, you want to stay in France.

With a long-term visa equivalent to a residence permit, a student can work 20 hours per week, travel freely throughout the Schengen area, receive a rental subsidy, and renew the visa without leaving France.

The whole process of documents registration and visa application is not as complicated as it may seem. The main thing is to take into account all the nuances and properly collect the package of documents.

Please also note that there are several destinations for which you cannot apply without being a French resident.

It is not possible to enroll candidates who are not permanently resident in France at the time of application for the following programs:

- DU en médecine and DIU en médecine,
- Diplôme d'état de docteur en médecine,
- Brevet technique des métiers supérieures (in any specialty),
- Brevet de maitrise (in any specialty),
- Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle (CAP, in any profession),
- Certificat d'études supérieures en medecine,
- Formation complémentaire d’initiative locale (in any specialty),
- Formation en alternance (in any specialty),
- Formation des fonctionnaires,
- Préparation aux concours de la fonction publique.

In the next article, we will go through the steps of applying for and obtaining a visa for students in France.

Select a university and a suitable program on our website.