Visa and permits

To find out if you have to apply for a student visa in order to study in France, please visit the France-visas website https://france-visas.gouv.fr/fr_FR/web/france-visas, where you will find all the necessary information and systematic guidance on your visa application.

Students applying for a long-stay student visa must pay a visa fee of €99 . Those who applied through Campus France pay a reduced visa fee of €50 .
French government scholarship holders, grant holders from foreign governments or foreign foundations, and beneficiaries of the European Community programmes (Erasmus, etc.) are exempt from visa fees.

Non-EU students with a valid residence permit issued by an EU Member State for a stay of more than 90 consecutive days must apply for a "mobility student" visa before their stay in France.
If you hold a EU Long Term Resident Card or a Student Residence Permit "Mobility Programme", you are not required to apply for a visa for your stay in France.

Within three months of your arrival in France, you must validate your visa online. You will have  to pay a tax stamp of €50. The whole visa-validation process must be completed through the website of the administration for foreigners in France (ANEF) : https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/particulie….

You will then receive an email with a confirmation document attached as a PDF file. Please save it for future use. As a matter of fact, it contains a ten-digit foreign identification number that you will need when renewing your residence permit.
Reminder! The email address you use when validating your visa must be the same as the one you will use when renewing your student residence permit. You must save this email address otherwise you will not be able to renew your student residence permit on the ANEF platform.

From your ANEF account, you will be redirected to the dedicated website for an electronic stamp purchase (https://timbres.impots.gouv.fr/). You will need a credit card for that matter.
You can also purchase the stamp tax at tobacco shops or other licensed institutions.

So far, the ANEF platform does not process visa validation for minors. You need to wait up to two months after coming of age (18 years old and 2 months) to apply for your first student residence permit at the prefecture of your place of residence. If you reside in one of the sub-prefectures of the Essonne department, you must submit your application through the dedicated websites below:
- Palaiseau Sub-Prefecture: https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/jeune-majeur-palaiseau
- Evry Prefecture: https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/jeune-majeur-evry
- Etampes Sub-Prefecture: https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/jeunes-majeurs-etampes

International students holding such a visa must apply for a first student residence permit within two months of their arrival in France. Apply through the ANEF platform: https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/particulie….

It is legally required to apply for a VLS-TS/student residence permit between the 4th and the 2nd month prior to each residence permit expiration date. Note however that the ANEF platform only allows renewal applications to be filled between the 3rd and the 2nd month before the expiration of the residence permit.

Reminder! You are required to submit your student residence permit renewal application between the 4th and the 2nd month before it expires otherwise you will have to pay a €180 fine.

Yes, you can apply to renew your student residence permit on the ANEF platform after its expiry date.
However, if your residence permit expired  more than six months ago, you will no longer be able to access your account on the ANEF platform to renew it.

It takes at least 2 months. Delays can increase the processing duration to over 2 months.

Yes, you must pay a stamp fee of € 75 for the renewal of a student residence permit.
A € 180 fine may be added to this amount for any delays in filing your application.

The e-photo can be taken at a “Photomaton” booth or at a licensed photographer’s shop. You can also take an e-photo from your smartphone via this link: https://www.smartphone-id.com/etudiants-titre-sejour-en-ligne/.

To fill in the residence permit application form, you will need the code linked to your digital photo ID. You must then type in the application form the digital code linked to your photo, validate, and sign the form.
Note that an e-photo code is only valid for six months and can only be used for one administrative procedure.

The document confirming the filing of an application for a student residence permit proves that the student has submitted his/her application and that it is being processed by the competent prefecture. In the next few days or weeks, the student will receive a notification requesting more documents if documents are missing from his or her application or a certificate of approval or denial.
Reminder!  The application “confirmation document” is not a proof of the regularity of the stay and does not allow benefiting from rights associated with a regular stay.

The certificate of approval issued after a first residence permit does not allow the student to travel. If the student goes back to his/her home country with this certificate, he/she will have to apply for a return visa at the embassy or consulate in his home country.

Yes, the approval certificate allows you to travel across the Schengen area if it is clearly stated on it. To travel out of the Schengen area, you must simultaneously hold the residence permit you obtained before and your renewal approval certificate.

The certificate of extension of instruction is issued when the prefecture needs more time to process the application. It allows the student’s stay in France and justifies the maintenance of all his/her rights.

The application approval certificate keeps the student in a regular situation while the residence card is being manufactured. This certificate is valid only with the Long Stay Visa or the residence permit previously held. It authorizes its holder to work part time. It also allows travelling outside the Schengen area. The student will be informed as soon as his new card is ready for withdrawal.

In order to get more information on the problem encountered, the student must contact the Citizen Contact Centre (CCC) of the ANEF by telephone at 08 06 00 16 20, or fill out the contact form via the site through the «Contact us» section.

Similarly, the student can go to the “Guichet d'Accueil des Talents Etrangers” (GATE) located in the Bréguet building at CentraleSupélec, 3 rue Joliot-Curie, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, or contact us at visa.etudiant@universite-paris-saclay.fr.

The student must show a proof of the problem encountered (i.e: screenshots, etc.).

Bear in mind that before you go to the GATE you should check the opening hours at https://gateprep.dsi.universite-paris-saclay.fr/.

From your ANEF personal account, you can access the list of documents you must provide to apply for your residence permit renewal.

You must submit all the required documents when applying for your residence permit. If some documents are missing, you have three weeks to add them. After this period, your application will be cancelled and you have to will start it over.

Reminder! For an efficient processing of your application by the prefecture, you must submit all the required documents. For assistance in checking the completeness of your application, you must go to the Digital Welcome Point (PAN) of the GATE located at the Bréguet building of CentraleSupélec, 3 rue Joliot-Curie 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette where prefecture officers can check the completeness of your application prior to submission. Check the GATE opening hours on the dedicated website before you go there: https://gateprep.dsi.universite-paris-saclay.en/.

Within two months after your arrival in France, you must apply for a first student residence permit.
You must apply through the dedicated website:
https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/particulie…
Keep in mind! The laws in France governing the conditions of access to residence for Algerian nationals are written in the Franco-Algerian bilateral agreement of 1968 about the residency of Algerians in France.

The request can be submitted on the website https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/particulie….

You can apply for a Job Search and Creation (RECE) residence card if you meet the following 2 criteria:
•    You are staying (or have stayed) in France with a student residence permit
•    You have obtained a vocational degree, a Master’s Degree, a Master of Science or of Arts (certified by the conference of  “Grandes Écoles”) or another diploma at least equivalent to the Master’s degree

Important! If you are a national of a country that has an agreement on migration flows with France, you can apply for a Provisional Residence Permit (APS)

You must apply for your Job Search and Business Creation (RECE) residence card at least two months before the expiration date of your residence permit.

The residence permit Job Search and Business Creation is valid for one year and cannot be renewed.

The job search residence permit cannot be renewed. You must make a change of status and apply for a professional residence card before the expiration date of the card. Depending on your situation, you must prove that you have a job, a job offer, or a business creation project.  You will have more information on the job search residence card on the dedicated website of the Ministry of the Interior.

Ukrainian nationals wishing to travel to France and holding a biometric passport do not need a visa to travel to the Schengen area and therefore to France.

Ukrainian nationals who do not have a biometric passport must go to one of the border posts of the border countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania) where their situation will be examined. Once in France, the length of stay may not exceed 90 days.

Ukrainian refugee students receive “temporary protection”. They can apply for it at the prefecture of their place of residence. Students residing in one of the boroughs of the department of Essonne must apply at the prefecture of Evry. For more information, visit the dedicated site of the prefecture of Evry.

Students from third countries impacted by the Ukrainian conflict and present on the French territory after 24 February 2022 can apply for their first student residence permit at the prefecture of their place of residence. They must justify registration to a programme for the 2022-2023 academic year in order to submit their application at the prefecture.