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What type of visa should I apply for attending an academic conference in France?

I am a postdoctoral candidate in an institute in India. I will be attending a conference in France. When I tried to apply for a visa, I could not see an appropriate visa application type. None of them seems to fit perfectly.

I asked the conference organisers, and they suggested to talk to the embassy. I have sent an email, but there wasn't any response from the embassy.

Edit : I am attaching the screenshots of all options that are showing in the visa application form.

It is not clear which one of them are correct choice.

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  • AFAIK this activity is permitted under the ‘C’ type short-stay visa. What options does the application present you with?
    – Traveller
    Nov 22, 2021 at 9:26
  • @Traveller Many people are surprised by this but every activity is permitted under a type C visa as there is no other short-stay visa beside the airport transit visa. If you want to work (the one type of activity that is restricted) and you are not covered by an exemption, you need to secure a permit before applying for the visa and that visa will still be a regular type C Schengen visa.
    – Relaxed
    Nov 22, 2021 at 18:49
  • @Traveller Please see the edited version.. I have added screenshots of the options
    – Praphulla Koushik
    Nov 23, 2021 at 5:14
  • @Praphulla Koushik The visa type is a short-stay (C) visa. As mentioned in the answers to your question, the best fit amongst the options to state your reason for applying (main purpose of stay) is Business, or Other. The visa-issuing authority will be able to tie that up with your paperwork proving your intended attendance at the conference.
    – Traveller
    Nov 23, 2021 at 8:54

2 Answers 2

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What type of visa to apply for attending a academic conference in France?

A short-stay visa. See https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/short-stay-visa for details:

It is also issued to persons entering to France to take part in short training programmes, internships, conferences and corporate meetings, or to engage in remunerated activities (whatever the form), not exceeding 90 days.

Choose business -> scientific event, as checkmarked below:

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  • Even in short term visa there are some options... Please see the edited question..It is not clear which one is applicable..
    – Praphulla Koushik
    Nov 23, 2021 at 5:15
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    @PraphullaKoushik choose business travel.stackexchange.com/a/39493/1810
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Nov 23, 2021 at 5:24
  • Wouldn't the scientist/researcher option be more appropriate here. Or does it mean something else?
    – rashid
    May 9, 2022 at 10:59
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The rule is surprisingly simple: For a stay under 90 days, you need a Schengen visa (type C visa or uniform short-stay visa). There is only one type of visa and it covers all purposes (e.g. on subsequent trips, if you get a multiple-entry visa; the point is more academic for single-entry visas).

Annex II of the Schengen Visa Code provides a “non-exhaustive” list of supporting documents that includes this:

for journeys undertaken for political, scientific, cultural, sports or religious events or other reasons:

— invitation, entry tickets, enrolments or programmes stating (wherever possible) the name of the host organisation and the length of stay or any other appropriate document indicating the purpose of the journey;

That's very broad but it does seem to fit an academic conference. You could therefore choose “Business/Cultural, artistic, scientific and sports event” in the website menu. On the official form, you could also simply check “other” (“autre”) and write “academic conference”.

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  • Even in short term visa there are some options... Please see the edited question..It is not clear which one is applicable..
    – Praphulla Koushik
    Nov 23, 2021 at 5:16
  • @PraphullaKoushik I see. Those are not really different types of visa and it's unfortunate whoever made the online removed the “other” option that's present on the official form. I will expand on that in my answer.
    – Relaxed
    Nov 23, 2021 at 21:02

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