KEY STEPS FOR YOUR VISA APPLICATION 

Do you need a visa?

  If you hold a passport from a non-European country, you will probably need a visa. 
  You can check your specific situation using the French-Visas website: Home - France-Visas

Visa support documents from the ESRF

The ESRF can issue 2 documents to help you with the obtention of your visa:

  • A standard ESRF “Invitation letter” - indicating only the scheduled beamtime and the arrival and departure dates of your stay at the ESRF (The dates mentioned in the A Form). It may not be sufficient to obtain a French visa.
  • A “Convention d’Accueil d’un chercheur ou d’un enseignant étranger" (Hosting agreement for a foreign researcher or teacher) - this is a more official document (CERFA).

Contact the French Embassy or the French Consulate of your home city for information on documents to provide (the ESRF cannot give any information on visa matters). 

Usually the document is sent to you as a soft copy (email). 
Ask the Embassy/Consulate if this will be enough for your visa application or if they request a hard copy (DHL).

Processing timelines

Please check with your Embassy/Consulate the delay to obtain a visa.  
Because of processing and shipping delays, you must request the Invitation Letter/Convention d’Accueil at least 1 month before your appointment at the Embassy or Consulate.

Prerequisite

You must be listed on the submitted A Form of the experiment (submission is done by the Principal Investigator).
The document can only be issued for the arrival and departure dates of your stay at the ESRF (as mentioned in the A Form).

How to request a 'Convention d'Accueil'

Please e-mail the following information to the User Office, CRG Liaison Office or BDO Office :

  • First name
  • Surname
  • Gender (M - F)
  • Nationality
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Private address
  • Employer's name (Institute...)
  • Dates of your stay at the ESRF, as entered on the A Form
  • Address during your stay in France
  • Your Proposal ID (e.g. CH-1234 or A01-1-001) and beamline
  • Specify if you need a soft signed copy (send by email) or a hard copy send by DHL

With the following documents:

  • A copy of your diploma, translated into English by an official translator. Only the following documents are accepted:
    • PhD diploma
    • Masters diploma
    • for PhD students: your Bachelors diploma plus a certificate of enrollment in your doctoral programme for at least 2 years (from date of enrollment until arrival date at the ESRF)
  • A copy of your passport, translated into English.

And (if a hard copy is needed (DHL)):

  • Email address / mobile phone number

Who to contact for the documentation

  •     ESRF (non CRG) beamline users: Contact the User Office at useroff@esrf.fr
  •     CRG beamline users: Contact the CRG Liaison Office at crgoff@esrf.fr
  •     Industrial users: Contact the Business Development Office at industry@esrf.fr