Visa types
You may be coming from outside the EU to work at INRAE. The type of visa you must apply for will depend on your nationality, the length and reason for your stay (e.g., business, research or teaching, post-secondary studies, internship), and the financial resources you have to cover your living expenses in France.
For the sake of reference, we describe the three most common types of visas based on stay length.
For more information, contact French consular authorities in your home country and/or check out the website France-Visas.
Your stay will last 3 months or less
A Schengen “C” category visa allows for short stays: it gives you permission to enter and travel within France and other Schengen Area countries for 90 days maximum within a rolling 180-day period (i.e., 90/180 Day Rule). If you are coming to INRAE, you might request this visa type in the following situations:
- You have been invited to participate in a scientific collaboration, workshop, or conference at the institute, and you are employed as a researcher or doctoral student in your home country
- You are coming for a training course or internship lasting less than 90 days
- You are contractually employed, and your employer has provided prior authorisation to work (category salaried employment)
There is no need to validate your visa upon arrival in France. You will need to leave France and the Schengen area before your visa expires.
Helpful links
Your stay will last longer than 3 months
Passeport talent visa
There is a Passeport talent–chercheur long-stay visa for researchers and doctoral students who have been hired on a French work contract or who are coming to France to conduct research while remaining salaried employees in their home country.
This visa may also be granted to foreign researchers and doctoral students who have a research grant and who are coming to France as part of a research hosting agreement. In such cases, scientists must have total monthly financial resources (grant + any complementary funding from INRAE) that are greater than or equal to the minimum salary of a publicly employed PhD student (i.e. €2,044,12 for contracts established as of January 1, 2023; see here for official information).
This type of visa can be issued if you submit a specific form entitled Convention d’accueil d’un chercheur ou d’un enseignant étranger (Cerfa n° 16079*03), which must be filled out and signed by your host institution in France. Consular officials place their seal on this agreement and return it to you.
As a research institute, INRAE is an authorised signatory of this form.
For stays of 4–12 months
You can apply for a long-stay visa that also serves as a residence permit, a visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour (VLS-TS) bearing the specification “Passeport talent–chercheur”. It remains valid for 1 year, and, as long as you validate it within 3 months of your arrival in France, it also serves as a residence permit.
For stays of 12+ months
You will come to France on a simple 3-month visa for researchers (Passeport talent–chercheur). Within 2 months of your arrival, you will need to go to the prefecture to apply for a multiannual residence permit bearing the specification “Passeport talent-chercheur“. It is valid for the duration of your hosting agreement (maximum of 4 years).
Helpful links
Long-stay visa & residence permit
If your circumstances do not allow you to apply for a Passeport talent-chercheur long-stay visa, but you are planning to be at INRAE for longer than 90 days, you can apply for a long-stay visa that also serves as a residence permit (VLS-TS). This visa allows you to remain in France for 4–12 months. It also acts as a residence permit, as long as you validate it within 3 months of arrival in France and pay a tax in addition to the visa fee.
Validation can be carried out online via a portal provided by the French Ministry of the Interior (Foreign Nationals in France); you will be asked to provide additional elements of information:
- Certain details indicated on your visa
- Date of entry in France
- Residence address in France
- Bank or credit card to cover the residence permit fee or the tax stamp specific to your situation
Make sure to keep track of your log-in information; you will need it to track the progress of your application and, potentially, to renew your residence permit.
Helpful links