Lyon St Etienne
If you are a citizen of the Schengen area, you may travel to France on the strength of a national passport or identity card.
If you have any other nationality, you have to apply for a student visa (long-term type D) during your Semester 2 in Belgium and at the French embassy or consulate before leaving Belgium for France.
In France, you are required to apply for a residence permit to OFII (“Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration“) upon arrival. When the VLS-TS (visa long séjour valant titre de séjour – long-stay visa valid as a residence permit) visa is issued, the consulate will give you an official form (with instructions). Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL) has entered into agreement with OFII. You will be guided at UCBL to contact OFII. Following documents will be required:
• The official form you received from the consulate that issued the visa;
• A copy of passport pages showing the visa holders identity and the stamp indicating entry into France (or into the Schengen area);
• a fee of about €74 will be charged.
You may be in addition requested to have a medical check-up before issuance of the residence permit. The residence permit is a sticker on the French visa and is usually valid 1 year and allow you to stay up to 90 days in any country of the Schengen area. Algerian students need to apply for a residence permit within 2 month upon arrival and will be also subject to this tax. However, because they do not obtain an extended-stay visa with residency permit, they may not use the virtual stamp purchased online. Instead, they must purchase the paper version.
You need to show a “residence certificate” during your visa application. That’s why you need to book a room in France beforehand.
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 offers a student housing option at the CROUS residences. You can of course decide to rent a flat by your own to a private landlord, before or upon arrival. Note that in this case you’ll have to deal with the administrative process alone and we won’t be able to support you in concluding a contract nor dealing with potential issues arising from this contract.
We don’t have partnerships with travel agencies; flight booking and travel arrangement are your own responsibility. We advise you to book your flight ticket as early as possible. A return ticket is always cheaper than a single one: think ahead if you wish to go back home for the winter break or if you will only return during the summer break.
Open a Euro bank account
Students need a Euro bank account during the period of the study. Students may ask UCBL to support them in this process.
This account is needed for us to disburse the scholarship you’ve been awarded or to proced to reimbursements when applicable, and in any case to allow you to have means of payments during the period of study (the visa card can be used in all hosting countries of the Programme). Upon your formal acceptance, we request an early (before your arrival in France) opening of the bank account that allows us to disburse the first instalment of your scholarship as soon as possible. Formal student agreement is then signed between the student and UCBL during the integration week.
