New Delhi: Amid the coronavirus pandemic throughout the globe, France on Thursday announced that it has opened its door for Indian students.
In a series of tweets, French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said, “Finally, the wait is over! Delighted to announce that our visa service is now open for receiving applications for the short-stay and long-stay student visa category.”
“Talent passport, professors or researchers, “Assistant de Français” – visa applicants who fall under these categories are welcome to apply as well,” he said in another tweet.
With this, France has become the first country to open its borders to Indian students, researchers and teachers who have been invited by a French academic establishment or laboratory, and to holders of the “Talent” passport.
Finally, the wait is over!
— Emmanuel Lenain (@FranceinIndia) August 20, 2020
Delighted to announce that our visa service is now open for receiving applications for the short-stay and long-stay student visa category. (1/2)
Do read about the conditions for applying and travelling to France🇫🇷→https://t.co/WhY4ag7AfR pic.twitter.com/gkajCfU5nZ
Seven French visa processing centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi became operational from August 17 to receive select visa applications, while complying with Indian travel regulations and the safety of consular teams.
French Embassy in India said that the Universities in France have readied themselves to receive international students, either wholly or partly on campus.
Ambassador Lenain said, “France is returning to normalcy and I am delighted that international students will be among the first to benefit from it. The French embassy is fully mobilised to ensure that students can pursue their studies in France in the smoothest conditions possible, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The move “reaffirms France’s priority to academic mobility”, he said.
The facility is limited to Indian students travelling to France in autumn for studies for more than three months on long-term visas, and short-term studies or internships, with accommodation in France.
These persons must possess an “International Travel Certificate to Mainland France” (Attestation de déplacement international dérogatoire), available on the website of the French interior ministry.
This certificate has to be presented to the travel company before departure and to border control authorities on arrival in France.
The certificate must be accompanied by an undertaking that the person does not have any symptoms of Covid-19 and has not been in contact with an infected person 14 days prior to departure.
The visa applications will be processed in small batches every week to ensure adequate safety measures at the processing centres.
Social distancing and other recommended protective measures are being adhered to, and mobile biometric data collection and courier services are available to limited in-person contacts at the centres.
All travellers displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 on their entry in French territory will be prescribed quarantine or self-isolation.
The number of Indian students opting for higher studies in France has risen from 3,000 in 2014 to around 10,000 in 2019.
