Can i renew my student visa based on a french Language course?

Students often ask about the joining a french language course and then applying for an extension of their french student resident permit. Well, the answer depends on what they want to do after the french language course.

If you are really interested in improving your french language skills, you can join a language course. It can also be used to apply for an extension of your student resident permit.

However, you should keep in mind the following aspects.

• If you enroll in a language course and extend your student resident permit, you will lose your right to apply for an APS Master or Carte de séjour – Recherche d’emploi ou création d’entreprise. To know why, APS : French Job Search Or Business Creation Resident Permit.
• If your objective was to prolong your stay in France using a language course and look for a job, it is not a wise decision. If you find a job, your employer has to follow the same process like recruiting someone from outside France. This might cost you the job opportunity.
• An APS Master or Carte de séjour RECE allows you to start working right away without the need for a separate work permit.
• You can do the same french language course with an APS Master or Carte de séjour RECE.
• Do not become a victim of some private language schools which do these promotions without explaining the risks.
• Any reputed language institute like Alliance Française, etc will never follow these practices.

Here is an actual example of student who was misguided by a private language school. He was not able to get an APS. Unfortunately, There are hundreds of such examples every year.