<p>The same requirements apply to international students wanting to study in the US. Why should people be surprised that France requires such documents?
S just went to Canada. He needed his passport just to get back.</p>
<p>Is this visit to France NOT through a US study abroad program? My daughter had to get Visas for China and India for a US study abroad program. It was no big deal with the cover letter from the study abroad program. </p>
<p>If I could make a suggestion. If it’s a five week program, why don’t you just apply for a plain old fashioned tourist visa? Are you jumping through hoops unnecessarily? I don’t even recall visas being required for European travel.</p>
<p>What does the guidance from the study abroad program say?</p>
<p>Diplomatic protocols are tit for tat…If you have requirements we have requirements. Even for visitor’s visa.</p>
<p>I’ll qualify my complaining: Most of it is just based on my total lack of exposure to the “abroad” experience. I’ve never known what students (either entering US or leaving) have to go through for the privilege. Well, I’ll be much more appreciative of students that go through this effort in the future! </p>
<p>No, this isn’t through the Study Abroad office on campus - My daughter found the program she wanted on her own. Her school doesn’t offer anything in Paris for summer study, so… I will, however, recommend she spend time in that Study Abroad office - They should be able to offer SOME sort of guidance… I hope…</p>
<p>I’m not sure she could get away with just going as a tourist, could she? I wonder if I’m going through this unnecessarily, as you suggested…</p>
<p>People:</p>
<p>Does her college have an international office? Although such offices are designed to help international students, they may also know how to navigate the requirements for American students going abroad.</p>
<p>
I wouldn’t try this if I were her. The immigration people will typically ask her the purpose of the trip, where she’ll be staying, how she’ll support herself, etc. They’re very good at being able to tell if a person is lying or not. It’s a good idea to be truthful with these officials. She doesn’t want to find herself placed on the next return flight and miss the study abroad experience. It may be a pain but she should just go ahead and follow the rules to be safe.</p>
<p>This is weird. My son did a three week Spanish language course at a school in Spain last year and only needed his passport.</p>
<p>“The immigration people will typically ask her the purpose of the trip”</p>
<p>Heck you want to come to the USA all you got to do is wade across the Rio Grande. Not only do you not need papers but you’ll get instate tuition with no residency requirement.</p>
<p>France wouldn’t be a half bad country if it wasn’t full of Frenchmen.</p>
<p>how old is D…maybe HS programs are different from College</p>
<p>higherlead- not nice and not funny</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t know. I haven’t researched it and don’t know enough about your deal to research it.</p>
<p>I know that when my daughter spent five weeks each in China and India, her program specifically told her NOT to apply for student visas, but to apply for tourist visas. The only thing she needed for China was an airline itinerary showing her departure flight and the usual contact information (as supplied by her program).</p>
<p>Tourist visas are, by definition, short term. They are designed to cover stays (for business, travel, or whatever) for a period of some weeks. Student visas are, by definition, a longer term affair.</p>
<p>I don’t know what visa you need!</p>
<p>You need a student visa. Don’t mess with this. Do not get a tourist visa or assume that a tourist visa is ok.
Also, please check whether you need a certified letter or other documentation from both parents. In some cases if only Mom goes with to the consulate office, you need a certified letter from Dad. This applies, in some cases, whether parents are married/divorced/separated, etc. Check before you go.</p>
<p>Just thought of one more point, that may or not be obvious. Careful, interview style dress will not hurt any. Showing up in jeans, flip flops, etc. will not make it easier. Sorry if this is obvious…</p>
<p>Is this some new rule/law, because both of my kids travelled to France and other countries, one through the NYU Study Abroad programs and the other just visiting the sibling, but this was in 2005. The younger sibling is planning on attending a summer study abroad program through NYU, and so far, there hasn’t been any mention with regard to obtaining a student visa. I’m wondering, also, if it depends on whether or not the student is participating in a study abroad program through a U.S. college/university - in this case, NYU.</p>
<p>NYUMom, I can only tell you what my kids have HAD to do. When my oldest worked in France this past summer, she just needed a passport. But when she studied abroad through a US university in Italy this past fall, she had to get a student visa from the Italian Consulate. It was very involved. I’d say about 12 documents were needed. Every student going had to get this. These weren’t requirements that the university came up with but were ones that the Italian Consulate required.</p>
<p>My younger one just got back recently from a trip to Brazil through NYU in fact (all expenses paid trip with Tisch Scholars). She also had to get a visa at the Brazilian Consulate. The documentation required for that was far less than what my other D had to procure. </p>
<p>I agree that you must follow the rules to a T. Also, whatever program your D is doing in France should have some of this information. But the consulate surely has all the information laid out. You have to follow it. Some documents take some time to gather and obtain first. I don’t know the specifics in your case but some of the documents you referred to were SOME of the types my D needed for the Italian visa to study abroad.</p>
<p>Wow. These study abroad arrangements are complex. Guess that’s one advantage of living in DC, embassies are just a metro ride away. </p>
<p>That said, my passport is expired (last time I travelled out of the country was before I was 16), so I should get on that…</p>
<p>soozievt and other cc posters: Thank you so much for the tip with regard to the visa. I just checked on the NYU Tisch study abroad website, and it says that “visa requirements are being updated and will be posted here soon”. This leads me to think that there could possibly be a visa requirement for this year’s summer study abroad programs, but maybe it’ll depend on which country. Both kids will be travelling, so they both might need it - should be fun.</p>
<p>Here’s an idea of what the student visa involved for a semester in Italy studying through an American university…</p>
<p>You have to apply in person at the consulate which is only by appointment and only open three mornings per week. In our case, it was in Boston and we live 3 1/4 hours from Boston. </p>
<p>A list of documents that were required (originals plus copies) included:</p>
<p>Passport</p>
<p>Visa application form signed in presence of Consular</p>
<p>Recent passport photo</p>
<p>flight itinerary</p>
<p>a letter of current enrollment from home university addressed to the consulate confirming enrollment status (in my D’s case, she goes to Brown but her abroad program was through Syracuse, so needed this letter from Brown)</p>
<p>a letter of acceptance addressed to the consulate from the US university providing the semester abroad program (in my D’s case, Syracuse) with very specific information that must be included</p>
<p>a letter that was required to be written in ITALIAN of acceptance addressed to the consulate from the host institution in Italy or Italian branch of the US academic institution (in my D’s case, Syracuse in Florence), indicating if the university will provide health insurance, lodging, and length of program</p>
<p>Proof of health insurance coverage: an original letter, on insurance Company letterhead with policy number and insurance official’s signature, guaranteeing UNLIMITED WORLDWIDE coverage, and that the ITALIAN PROVIDER WILL BE PAID DIRECTLY BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY
or
A notarized affidavit of the applicant in which he/she commits to buy a special student policy with INA-ASSITALIA (an Italian Insurance Company).</p>
<p>Proof of funds: BANK STATEMENTS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED.
- For students financially dependent on their parents:
a) Affidavit of Support from the parent/s addressed to Consulate, stating that the parent/s will assume full financial responsibility for any and all expenses incurred by the student during his/her stay in Italy. The signature/s must be notarized.
b) original letter from the parent’s Bank on the Bank letterhead with a bank official’s signature, indicating the account number and the exact balance. A minimum of $ 1,000.00 per each month of stay in Italy is required. This letter has to have a recent date</p>
<p>If the applicant is a recipient of financial aid, a letter from the Financial Aid Advisor/Office, stating the semester costs, the amount of aid, etc. must also be submitted</p>
<p>For the Italian Consulate, you may not apply until 3 months before departure date. My daughter had to apply on the FIRST day that it was possible (exactly three months before departure) because they take your passport until they process the application. This was June 5. She had a job lined up for the summer in France starting in late June and would need her passport in hand to go to France. I had inquired about ALL of this months in advance when the appointment was made and was told she’d have her passport back in time for the date she was leaving for France (along with the visa). I was told that after she went to the appointment and gave in all those documents (and it was a job getting all those!), they would mail the Visa and passport to our home in Vermont as you don’t have to pick it up in person. My D drove 3 1/4 hours to Boston to apply and had everything she needed and they could see that, no problem. However, I had told my D to ask if when they mail it, how long it would take to get, as she needed her passport to go to France and wanted to check before she told them to mail it (vs. picking up in person in Boston), as she had to know as to not risk it not coming to our house in time for her trip, or else someone would have ot get it in Boston though we live in another state. The Visa guy got very angry at my daughter for even ASKING how long it would take to receive it by mail. He said he gives it to someone else who takes care of the mailings and my D asked if there was a way for her to ask that person the longest it would take so she’d know whether to arrange to have it mailed (which was WAY preferred as she couldn’t be back in Boston to pick it up not only due to distance, but in the interim, she was going to a ski training camp in Oregon and returning just in time to go to France). He was so mad that she even ASKED how long it took, that he said, just because she asked, he REFUSED to mail it AT ALL !!! This was outrageous as she is entitled to have it mailed and I was told that was no problem, and all she was doing was checking to find out how long that takes so that she didn’t risk not having her passport in time for her job in France. He told her she’d have to come back or give permission in writing and notarize it for someone else to pick up on her behalf. So, she lost out on having it mailed which was the original arrangement, plus what is allowed in the first place. </p>
<p>We didn’t know what we’d do, unless she notarized me to do it and I’d travel about 7 hours roundtrip to Boston to get it for her. What she arranged was a notarized statement for a college friend doing an internship in Boston to pick it up on a break from work and Fed Ex it to us in VT while she was in Oregon. Ok…so…</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we all go on a short family trip to Cape Cod right after this…she had gone ahead to Boston first to apply for the Visa and then met us at Cape Cod. We had two cars in Cape Cod because of this. When our vacation was over, we go to leave and my husband’s car would not work. Nobody could fix it on a weekend. My husband had to get home to work and my D had to leave for her race camp in Oregon and so I stayed in Cape Cod. LONG story on the car, which wasn’t fixed in a few days as I was told it would be and paid all this money to stay on in Cape Cod waiting for it, but ended up taking weeks to get and mucho bucks to tow it from Provincetown to Hyannis, long long story, and my husband had to get to Cape Cod (five hours away) to retreive it a month later. Anyway, once I found out I was never getting the car a few days after staying on, I had to take a ferry to Boston and a bus back home to VT as I was without car. So, lightbulb moment…my D faxes the notarized letter to me to allow me to pick up her Visa at the Italian Consulate when I get off the ferry in Boston as I am now going to be unexpectedly there. The ferry runs late…I run with all the luggage to get a taxi, go through major security with it in the building that has the Consulate, get to the office, just before the visa office hours end at noon and they tell me that the guy in charge of the Visas (that oh so nice man who was vengeful to my D and refused to mail her visa for daring to ask how long it took) had left early and closed up early that day. NO luck. Later that week, friend gets it, Fed Ex’s it to VT and D gets it and the end…what a ride. </p>
<p>Good news is that she had a fantastic summer in France and a fabulous semester abroad in Italy. </p>
<p>When younger D had to recently get a visa to go to Brazil, with NYU/Tisch, it involved about 1/3 of the documents that the Italian consulate had wanted. Plus that D lives in NYC and so it wasn’t as much travel involved to get a Visa. However, I’ll spare you for now, HER story of the 11th hour (LITERALLY!!!) before leaving for Brazil and a major change of plans and cancellations due to notices on the Consulate site for Brazil!</p>
<p>soozievt: It sounds like that was quite an ordeal. but I appreciate the info. This would be a short stay visa, so according to the French consulate website, it doesn’t look like it’ll be too difficult to obtain. I would think that between NYU and the consulate website, they would help walk the students through the process. One of the kids is going to be studying, but the other one is going to be teaching/working and possibly studying (but that’s not certain), but hopefully, NYU will help sort out the visa requirements.</p>
<p>NYUMom…my D who goes to Brown did the abroad program through Syracuse. Syracuse also was helpful and goes over everything that is needed too. Actually Syracuse would have sent all the students’ Visa applications together to the Consulate in NY as a group (there is a way to do that I gather) and they were doing it in July. But that was a problem for my D because she needed to have her Passport in hand to go to France for the summer and could not tie up her Passport like that. The passport is one of the required documents on that list she had to gather. So, she needed to apply for the Visa on the first allowable date (in this case, June 5, as they only let you apply to the Italian Consulate not more than 3 months ahead of departure for Italy) in order to get her passport back in time to leave for France in late June. So, Syracuse instructed her to apply for the Visa on her own rather than in the group packet to the Italian Consulate in NY. So, she had to go to Boston which is the Consulate that covers Vermont where we live. Otherwise, her Visa application and documents were going to be processed with the group. </p>
<p>For my D who went to Brazil with Tisch Scholars, Scholars also went over everything they needed and how to go about it but each student had to do it on their own with the Brazilian Consulate. There were a few things needed for that and some running around but not nearly the same or as long a list as my D who dealt with the Italian Consulate. Plus D2 lives right in NYC and so going to the consulate was only an issue as to how to fit it into her schedule which is extremely full, but travel wise, easy to get to, unlike older sister had to do. </p>
<p>Is your kid doing the program in Amsterdam? I gather you have kids at Tisch too? My D would LOVE to do that but I just can’t afford that for the summer on top of college tuition. She loved the FREE trip she got to Brazil, however. I hear the Amsterdam program with Tisch is great.</p>
<p>soozievt: Sorry, I’m just now reading the rest of your post - this is incredible!
I cannot believe you and your family had to go through such a complicated process/ordeal just to obtain a visa. It sounds like it was worth the time/effort it took to get everything together and processed, so we’ll have to be prepared for it - especially for my son - it could be more complicated, since he’ll be multi-tasking while he’s there - it should be interesting. I’ll have to keep him posted on these new developments.</p>