Visa requirements

Prospective students

Immigration and visa information

If you are planning to study at Mines Saint-Étienne and you are not a citizen of the European Union (EU), you may need to apply for a visa in order to enter France.

Immigration laws change frequently, so for the most up-to-date visa information, we recommend that you visit the French Government’s dedicated webpages (many languages are available: English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic). See this page for visa assistance.

Campus France will provide you with a full overview of the different types of student visas.

Once in France and for first 3 months following your arrival in France, for training or a course exceeding six months, you will be issued a long-stay visa, equivalent to a residence permit.
This visa is called “VLS-TS student visa” and allows you to pursue studies in France for a period of four months to one year. It must be validated upon your arrival in France.

It entitles the holder:

to travel freely in all the countries of the Schengen Area,
to work 964 hours per year, i.e. 20 hours per week, to supplement their financial resources,
to use VISALE, the free security deposit service for students,
to receive a rent subsidy from the CAF (caisse d’allocations familiales), the national family allowance fund ,
to extend their stay beyond the period of validity of the issued residence permit.

You can validate your VLS-TS visa online

As soon as you arrive in France, you must validate your visa. The process is entirely online: you can do everything remotely, at home, on your computer. You must validate your visa within 3 months of arriving in France at the very latest.

To do so, go to this website.

What do you need to validate your VLS-TS visa?

You will need:

a valid email address,
information on your visa,
your date of arrival in France,
your home address in France,
a bank card to pay online the fee for issuing the residence permit.

What if you do not have a bank card?

Don’t worry! You can buy an electronic stamp (timbre électronique) at a kiosk, at a dedicated terminal, and pay in cash.

The Student Welcome Desk, once in Saint-Étienne or Gardanne, can provide you help with your visa formalities. Take the time to have a look at

Saint-Étienne, and especially the FAQ. (link at the bottom of the page).
Gardanne.

Online appointments will be organised very soon by Mines de Saint-Étienne for its students on Thursday afternoons, mainly to check that everything is OK.

Renewing students at Mines Saint-Étienne

From 17 September 2020, the procedure for renewing student residence permits becomes dematerialised. You must submit your renewal application on the ANEF website (national site). There is no other way to renew your permit.