We have different types of student visa:

-       If you are interested in a short stay in France, you can apply for a Schengen visa. It is valid up to 90 days.

-       If you are planning to stay in between 3 to 6 months, go for a temporary long stay visa. For that you won’t need a residency card.

-       If you are planning for more than 6 months, you should apply for a one-year visa. For that you will need to use to long term visa application form. During the process of the visa application and after your arrival in France, you must complete all the relevant documentation with the French school or university. You are required to go for a medical check-up to a doctor from the office des migrations internationales. After you will have to contact the « préfecture de police » to get your student residency card. (To get this residency card, you need to present the visa, original document previously required for the visa, a birth certificate and medical results). After your first year of study in France, your visa will be automatically renewed, if you are able to produce the required documentation.

Requirements for the student visa:

-       You need a valid passport for the duration of your stay in France.

-       Completed visa application form, signed and a recent passport size picture pasted on it.

-       You need to present a positive reply to your preliminary application for admission or a letter of admission from a public or private institution of higher education in France. (In case of letters of admission from private institutions, you must mention the number of course hours and certify that the tuition fees have been paid in advance.

-       If you receive scholarships, you need to provide documentation on the letterhead of the granting organization, with the amount and duration of the grant.

-       In case you get financial support by someone in France, you need to produce a signed statement of responsibility, a photocopy if the identity card of the guarantor and evidence of sufficient fund to provide the promised support.

-       If you are getting financial support from abroad, you have to provide evidence of the opening of a bank account with the necessary funds deposited and a written commitment from your sponsor. It is mandatory that the statement of commitment is translated in French and has to bear a legalized signature. If the financial support comes from the student’s home government, you have to produce a letter from government ensuring appropriate funding.

-       For under 18 years old student, a parents or guardians must write an authorization. 

Processing time for a student visa:

Once you have submitted the visa application, the consular authority will process it and decide on whether to issue a visa or not. The time period of issuing visa depends upon the possible consultations that the consular authority must conduct. In case the consular authority has not responded to you within 2 months, you should consider that your visa application has not been approved.