Your stay must be prepared well in advance. The main steps consist of obtaining a pre-admission document from the IAE and, for students outside the European Economic Area (EEA), a student visa. Citizens from the EEA countries of Switzerland, Andorra, San Marino or the Vaticando do not need a visa to enter France.
All students outside of the EEA, must request a long stay "student" visa (visa D) before leaving their country to study in France. A student with either a short stay visa (less than 3 months - tourist or other), or with a visa marked "exempt from residence permit", should not ask for a residence permit.
To obtain the visa, go to the French consular services of your country which will provide a list of the documents required. No conversion of a short stay visa into a long stay visa is possible in France.
To obtain the list of the French embassies and consulates abroad, consult : www.expatries.org
If you are from one of the countries on the list of the Studies Center in France (CEF) shown on the Campus France website, obtain your visa through Campus France.
