<p>On a slightly different angle, does anyone have info on the type of visa required by a undergrad student conducting research, and receiving room/board/travel expenses from a non-US research grant, but receiving a stipend from a US grant? This summer, D will be in Sweden for 3-4 weeks and Zurich for 6-7 weeks doing chemistry research. There is some support from her LAC and the professor associated with the foreign entities and profs, but I cannot find anything on either consulate’s website about what type of visa is required since she will be both a student (not in a <em>study abroad</em> situation) and a worker. Any advice out there? She does have a valid passport, so we’re past that.</p>
<p>It is possible get emergency student Visas within a few days. We’ve gotten two from the Chinese consulate.</p>
<p>Why do you need evacuation insurance from France? I bought it for boys travelling in China and Africa–but why from France? Travel insurance is a good idea–and your travel agent should recommend the best deals.</p>
<p>Well, mission accomplished. D & I flew down to Atlanta yesterday, spent the night, staying at hotel directly across from the French Consulate. We walked over first thing this morning - I waited in the lobby while she took care of business.<br>
After about an hour, she reappeared with a confused look on her face, saying “The Consulate doesn’t know if I need a visa, or maybe it has to go through the Consulate in DC.” They instructed her to call the French Consulate in DC (from her cell phone in the lobby), asking them how to handle student visas. Very strange that they didn’t call themselves, but sent her downstairs to figure out how they should handle it. She dutifully talked with the Consulate in DC, but they didn’t provide any instruction on visas. They were, however, interested in who exactly she was trying to work with in Atlanta consulate office. Back up the elevator she went.<br>
To abbreviate the rest, the Consulate in DC must have given them a call, because by the time she got back up there, they “figured it out” (?!), and all she now has to do is register on the Study France website they provided, then fax the document that will be generated from that website.<br>
So… Once that register/fax duty is complete, she’s good to go. I think they felt kinda bad about the confusion, because they didn’t even charge her for the application (usually ~ $77)</p>
<p>people,
Thank you so much for the update. Does this mean that after all that, your D doesn’t need a visa after all?</p>
<p>In the end, they did accept all of her documentation and kept her passport, telling her that everything is in order. They never really said she didn’t need a student visa; they just expressed confusion, not knowing for sure - My D said she overheard one of the agents say that things are “in a state of transition”, whatever that means. It sounds like the French Consulate in DC is the mother ship, so to speak, and straightened out the Atlanta consulate with a phone call.<br>
There’s no way I was going to let her NOT get a visa - I didn’t want her to just take their say-so, and then get denied entry at customs in France for not having one.
I checked out the French Consulate websites for DC and NY, and they all stated that tourists & general visitors don’t need a visa, but that students do. That’s the info we acted on, not wanting to take any chances.
It’ll be worth all the trouble in the end - This actually was a good experience for my D, learning to patiently grind through bureaucracy.</p>
<p>aHA! I found the “Campus France” website, where the Consulate directed my D. It does appear that this is something new, so I can understand the Atlanta Consulate’s hesitation.
<a href=“http://www.consulfrance-washington.org/article-imprim.php3?id_article=475[/url]”>http://www.consulfrance-washington.org/article-imprim.php3?id_article=475</a></p>