Student visa for France: Guineans denounce a criterion related to the gender of the host.

A student admitted to the Sorbonne, who requested anonymity, states that his application was blocked twice because the certificate presented was issued by his sister. He says he was advised to find an accommodation provider of the same sex as him.

Female students interviewed by RFI report having received a similar request and are still waiting for an appointment. The testimonies suggest that this practice emerged between the end of July and the beginning of August, just weeks before the start of the university year in France.

This requirement does not appear on the official pages of France-Visas and Campus France Guinea consulted on August 21. Campus France Guinea did not respond to RFI’s questions regarding the origin and scope of the directive, which therefore cannot be presented as an official or uniformly applied rule.

A request for clarification addressed to French authorities

A petition launched on August 11 asks Campus France Guinea and the French consulate to publicly clarify the criteria applicable to accommodation certificates. Its initiators describe the practice as discriminatory and fear that it will hinder the departure of students who do not have a close person of the same sex in France to welcome them.

The Campus France Guinea website specifies that the organization advises candidates on preparing their application. The submission is handled in Conakry by Capago, while the visa service at the French embassy is solely authorized to decide on requests.

The public rules consulted require students to provide a temporary address for their first three months in France or a permanent address. When accommodation is provided by an individual, Campus France Guinea mentions a handwritten, dated, and signed certificate specifying the duration of the hosting and the relationship with the host, without any published condition related to the sex of the two individuals.

The authors of the petition plan to contact the Defender of Rights in France. As of the date of the report, no official clarification from Campus France Guinea or the consulate had been made public regarding the contested criterion.