Before beginning

As soon as you find an INRAE research unit that is willing to host you, you must take care of several administrative tasks, which may be particularly time consuming if you are coming from abroad (e.g., getting your internship agreement approved, applying for a visa, taking out insurance). 

Internship agreement

Anyone doing an internship at INRAE must establish a tripartite agreement with the institute and their educational institution.

This agreement is bilingual (French and English) and contains the following information: 

• Full contact information for all three parties (i.e., the intern, the director of the educational institution, and the host/supervisor at INRAE)
• Training programme and/or target degree
• Internship topic (objectives, research responsibilities, skills to be acquired or refined)
• Host research laboratory or unit and all location(s) at which the internship may take place
• Presence or absence of a stipend
• Rules and regulations
• Social benefits, individual civil liability, and insurance
• Terms regarding personal leave and internship termination
• Rules related to confidentiality and intellectual property
• Internship evaluation procedure
• INRAE work schedule (only if you are doing a work-study programme)

INRAE will send one copy of this agreement to you and one copy to your educational institution. It must be signed by all three parties before you begin your internship.

If you come from a country outside the EU and/or the European Economic Area and your internship will last longer than 3 months, you must allow more time for the tripartite agreement to make the necessary rounds.

First, this agreement must be signed by you and the educational institution at which you are enrolled. Then, it must be sent to INRAE for additional signatures. Once this process has been completed, your host research centre at INRAE needs to request governmental approval for your internship (Demande d’avis sur convention de stage) from the General Directorate of Immigration Affairs (Direction générale des étrangers) at the French Ministry of the Interior. The request must be submitted online at least two months prior to the internship’s start date.

The directorate will take between three weeks and two months to review the file, and your host research unit at INRAE will be notified as to whether or not approval has been granted. If your internship gets the go-ahead, your host unit will send you documentation to include in your visa application to the French embassy or consulate in your home country.

If you are an international student with a residence permit obtained via a student visa (étudiant or étudiant en programme de mobilité), you do not need to request governmental approval for your internship.

Required documents

In addition to the internship agreement, the secretariat of your host research unit will ask you to provide the following documents: 

• Proof that you are a student—a copy of your student ID card or a document showing you are enrolled at an institution of higher education
• Photocopy of your passport 
• Photocopy of your residence permit (non-EU nationals)
• French certificate of current health care coverage and a photocopy of your carte vitale, or a copy of your insurance card for international students, or proof of an alternative form of health insurance
• Photocopy of your ID card
• Your bank details (i.e., relevé d’identité bancaire [RIB]), if your internship will last more than 2 months (consecutive or not)
• Proof of civil liability insurance
• Signed statement indicating the amount and origin of any financial aid to be used during internships of more than 2 months (consecutive or not)

Visas & residence permit

Prior to your internship, you must deal with any administrative requirements, such as applying for a visa and residence permit. If you are a citizen of an EU country, you do not need to apply for a visa to do an internship at INRAE. If you are coming from outside the EU, you need to verify visa requirements, which will vary depending on existing bilateral agreements between your home country and France.

To obtain a visa, you must provide proof of monthly financial resources exceeding €615. 

Insurance 

All visitors to INRAE must possess four types of insurance: health care, accident, individual civil liability, and repatriation.

Here is what you need to do depending on your insurance status:  

1) If you have already taken out the necessary insurance in your home country, you must provide INRAE with proof of coverage issued by your insurance companies. Failing that, you must certify that you possess the necessary coverage using a template provided by INRAE.

If you come from an EU country, remember to request a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) before you leave home. The EHIC gives you easy access to health professionals and hospitals in France. You can find more information in the section dedicated to health care.

2) If you are not fully insured, INRAE can help you obtain the necessary coverage. Ask administrators at your host research unit for more information.

Only international interns who are enrolled at a French institution of higher education can access the French social security system (assurance maladie française), which provides health, accident, and repatriation coverage.