Apply for a visa

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The visa application is one of the last stages of preparing your stay, once you have been accepted at one of the university’s academic units or research laboratories.

How to apply

Students

If you live in one of the countries covered by the “Études en France” procedure, all of the stages – including applying for a visa – must be completed via the Campus France platform.
> More information on the Campus France website
 
Important
Pay attention to the administrative registration deadline given by your host faculty/school, you must arrive in France before this date.


Other situations

Once you have obtained all the required documents, you must fill out your online application on the official visa website for France, in order to arrange an appointment with the visa application centre in your country of residence. Allow plenty of time, because at certain periods – the summer months in particular – some consulates can take several weeks to process applications.
vous devez effectuer une demande sur la plateforme nationale « France visas », qui vous permettra de prendre rendez-vous auprès du consulat de votre pays de résidence
 

Family members (spouse, children)

Regardless of your status, you can also apply for a visa to come to France with your spouse and/or your children.
If you apply for a visa under the “Talent Passport – Researcher” status, your spouse and children can benefit from a simplified fast-track procedure for their visa application, via the “accompanying family” exemption facility. In this case, it is advisable to submit their visa applications at the same time as yours.
 

Visa refusal

Consulates always give reasons for refusing to issue a visa. If your application has been rejected, you can appeal in one of two ways:

Informal appeal (“recours grâcieux”)

By sending a letter directly to the consulate to which you submitted your application, asking it to review its decision. You can enclose any information you consider relevant, including any support you have received from the university.

Administrative appeal (“recours administratif”)

Within 30 days of the refusal, you can also send an  administrative appeal by post to the "Commission de recours contre les décisions de refus de visa d'entrée en France" (CRRV - the Commission charged with visa refusal appeals).
Your request must be signed and written in French, and can be sent by yourself, a close relative or friend, or even a lawyer. You can enclose any information you consider relevant.
> More information on the French administration website (in French, "refus de visa" section)
 
Updated on  June 27, 2023