This page has two useful sections. One concerning CampusFrance and the other for student visas in general. IMPORTANT NOTE: This whole process will most likely take aound 2 months at minimum, so make sure you get started as soon as possible.
CampusFrance
For those of you who are using this blog as a resource for travel preparations to France, then you will also have the joy of completing your own CampusFrance application. This process is not a quick one, so make sure that you begin as soon as you know you are going abroad. There are four steps that you are going to have to complete until you are ready to apply for and get your student visa.
1) Register with CampusFrance so that you can create your online file (dossier). Their homepage link can be accessed by going to the following link: http://www.usa.campusfrance.org/. This homepage has a lot of useful information that you should read concerning the process of filling out your online file and what to do once your online dossier is submitted.
2) Complete your online dossier. Here is a link which I took from the CampusFrance homepage, which will give you a pictorial aide to filling out your online file, this was basically a lifesaver for me and I highly recommend it. http://usa.campusfrance.org/IMG/pdf/Mode_d_emploiDAP-V1-3.pdf
3) Once you have completed your online dossier, you must electronically submit it to CampusFrance (valider). In addition, you must send in hard copy proof of your acceptance into a study abroad institution. The CampusFrance address can be found both through links on their homepage and also in your dossier when you are filling out the online portion.Once you have validated the online dossier and sent in your proof of acceptance,you have completed the official step one of your student visa process, and you have 3-4 weeks of waiting to do before you receive what is necessary for you to continue. That is, you must wait for CampusFrance to send you an "Attestation".
4) Receive your CampusFrance attestation. This will most likely be an e-mail through your CampusFrance account mailbox, so make sure to check it frequently around the 3-week mark.
Once all four of these steps have been completed, you are ready to begin the consulat-specific application for your Student Visa. My particular consular office is in Chicago, but you can verify your office by asking your study abroad advisor or by consulting the district map found on this website: http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?rubrique=2.
Student Visas
Again you are going to have several steps to follow in order to successfully acquire your student visa.
1. After you have determined in which district you are and to which consulate you must go to apply for your visa, then start by going to their online informational web pages which provide you with useful visa information. And when I say "useful" I mean everything you need to know. For the French Consulate of Chicago, here is your website hyperlink: http://www.consulfrance-chicago.org/spip.php?rubrique178
2. Determine what kind of visa you are going to need, then verify what is required for your application. This will all be listed on the website. You will need, for example, your attestation from CampusFrance, which will take you at least three weeks to receive from CampusFrance once you have validated your account with them and sent in your payment.
3. Start gathering your needed documentation and making the necessary photocopies.
4. PLAN AHEAD! The minimum amount of time required for a visa to France is stated at 21 days, but the recommended amount of wait-time is 6 weeks. Look at your calendar and determine by what date you need to schedule your consulate appointment so your visa can begin getting processed. Then look at your gathered documentation and make sure that you will not be waiting on anything past that date (like the attestion, or proof of your financial aid, or maybe receiving your official acceptance letters from your host institution). Once you have a deadline for your appointment set, contact the appropriate people, if necessary, to get your documents by that date. For example, you can send in an "expedite request" to CampusFrance by fax stating that your consulate appointment is within 3 days and they need to rush your attestation to you. Information can be found on CampusFrance's website if you need to know more about this option. Overall, what this step is trying to say is simple: set a timeline and make everything fit into it!
5. Schedule your appointment with the consulate. This is an online process and is extremely simple. Print out your appoint time PDF and I recomment keeping a copy on your desktop until your appointment so that you can print another in case you lose the first copy. This is extremely important because you need to present this document in order to get into the consulat's office due to heightened security.
6. Double, Triple, and Quadruple check that you have all the documents needed for your application.
7. Go to your appointment, be on time, verify you have all of your documentation, and you are good to go!
Good luck, and make sure to use the online consulate website to answer all of your questions because it is very well set up and extremely explicit. If you follow every step thoroughly then you are going to receive your student visa, unless of course you are a renowned international criminal.
