Your French residency permit
We support international students in understanding the steps to take and the contents of their file, in their dealings with the OFII (French Office of Immigration and Integration)
and the Préfecture du Rhône
Attention, however, in law, a student holding a residency visa is solely responsible
for the details provided.
1- Before arriving in France
If you are not a national of a member countryof the European Economic Area (EU countryand Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) or Switzerland,you must apply for a long term student residency visa giving you the right (VLS-TS) to studyin France for a period longer than 3 months.
If you are a national of one of the 41 countries under the ‘Studies
in France’ programme* (below), you must compulsorily apply for a long-term student residence visa via the Internet.
Use the same site as for your online pre-registration for French higher education. If your country
is not a member of one of these groups, contact the French consular authorities in your country of residence.
Visit www.campusfrance.org a mine of information for foreign students in France!
2- Once you have arrived in France 
When you arrive in France, you must validate your ‘long term student residency visa’ (VLS-TS) with the Lyon OFII, the French Office of Immigration and Integration. You have three months to complete the procedure.
Ms. Mayet will support you throughout this process.
Whatever residency permit you hold, in order to allow us to best support you, please send us a copy of it (photo or scan) in JPEG or pdf format as soon as you have it!
3- Residency permit
If you already have a ‘student’ residency permit, you must complete the renewal procedure two months before the expiry date, with the Lyon prefecture.
To do this, simply contact Ms. Mayet who will guide you throughout the renewal process.
