Visa Hell

Getting my student visa was 100% the most difficult part of preparing to move abroad. My recommendation to those who are planning on studying in France:  START THE PROCESS ASAP. I thought I was on time with everything, but wow was I wrong! I also had a difficult time finding a good resource to step me through obtaining my visa, so I'll take it upon myself to put one out there.....

Before you do anything, you must register with Campus France online. You'll need to answer a few questions about yourself and your study abroad program, upload your acceptance letters to the program, and send by mail a money order of $100 (along with a photocopy of the money order). It usually takes 3-4 weeks for the Campus France application to go through, and only after you are approved can you finally make an appointment with the consulate for your region. 

Appointments fill up very quickly. I was finally approved through Campus France in early June and went straight to the consulate website (in Atlanta) to make an appointment. However, there were no slots open until AFTER I was supposed to start my classes at NEOMA! At that point there was really nothing I could do but seek out help from my study abroad director, who ended up getting me an appointment within the same week that I reached out to him. So, I took off two days from work, frantically tried to gather all the paperwork I needed, and made the trek to Georgia to get my visa. Below are the required documents I had to bring, but make sure to check the website and specifically for your region as they could change over time and per area

1. Original passport AND copy
2. Driver’s license or student ID card or proof of residency AND copy
3. Processing fee (mine was $50) – by cash or credit card
4. Application form (found on specific consulate page)
5. ID photo glued or stapled to application form (same type of ID photo for a passport) AND extras
6. “Attestation” from Campus France (email from Campus France) – will be sent through your Campus France account so be sure to check there
7. Receipt of payment from Campus France – also sent through your Campus France login
8. Acceptance letter from the French university AND copy
9. Financial guarantee – either your bank account statement or your parents that has designated amount for each month you will be in France (find specific month to month breakdown on consultate site)
10. If your parents are your financial guarantee – a notorized document that they will support you during your time in France
11. OFII form – found on consulate site, only part needs to be filled out for this appointment
12. Airline reservation (copy)
13. Self-addressed, prepaid envelope (they will keep your passport and send it back with your visa inside in this envelope) – find specific details of how to address on the consulate website

     So in the end, it all ended up working out and I got my visa. Now I am off to Europe! First stop: Barcelona :)