Studying Abroad in France: Paperwork

Getting to France is truly more complicated than I first thought, though I suppose it is part of the whole experience to have to deal with international red tape and administration. To put it simply and without a lot of the drama that I experienced, I had an appointment and flights to LA from Denver (in order to visit the French Consulate to obtain my Long Stay Visa) before Campus France had finished processing my Campus France stuff. 

Fun fact: citizens of Colorado and surrounding states cannot use the Denver French Embassy to get their paperwork. Instead, they all need to report to the French Consulate in Los Angeles, California.

Thus, I was on the phone with the French Consulate for two weeks trying to get it fixed and expedited so that I could go to LA and apply for my Visa. As it turned out, it worked out at the very last second as in I ran from the plane in LA to the international terminal, rented the internet, printed the confirmation receipts and then took a $60 taxi to the consulate. I was almost an hour late for my appointment but they let me in and everything went a little more smoothly from there, thank God.

Lesson learned? Give the international offices as much time as possible and you won’t have quite as many problems. When the problems come, as they will, don’t be afraid to ask for help and make a few phone calls. Above all, reassure yourself that if you can make if through the trouble, the trip will become so much more meaningful; a reward, if you will.

Getting to France is an adventure. One of my favorite Francophone artists is Indila: she has her own French adventure in this excellent music video. 

I studied abroad in Rennes, France in the spring of 2011. This post was written in November of 2010, so some details could have changed. Double check with your study abroad office before making appointments.