LETTERS OF INVITATION & LETTERS FOR VISA APPLICATION
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CIRM can provide you with a letter of invitation if you need to show that you are accepted in one or several events (e.g. for refunds, mission orders etc). The letters are produced in both French and English and they will always indicate the support that organizers have planned for you (you will either be supported by the budget of the event or will have to self-support).
Important: if the letter is to be used at a Consulate or Passport Agency for a Visa application, note that your passport number is compulsory on the letters and should be supplied by mail when you make your request . |
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Please follow these steps to ensure that you receive your letter in due time:
1. PRE-REGISTER ONLINE for the event you are interested in, on its dedicated webpage. Please enter your contact details carefully. CIRM will not request your passport number at this stage.
NB: If you are pre-registering for an event lasting several weeks, note that you must pre-register for each week individually.
d) your passport number
e) attach a scanned copy of your passport (photo page) if this is possible.
NB: If you are pre-registering for an event lasting several weeks, note that you must pre-register for each week individually.
2. WAIT UNTIL THE ORGANIZERS HAVE MADE THEIR DECISION (there is usually a deadline announced on the event page)
If you are accepted, you will receive an automatic message from CIRM’s Event Coordinator telling you that you are selected and asking you to contact the International Coordinator if you need to apply for a visa or request and invitation letter.
3. WRITE TO the International Coordinator and include in your email (compulsory)
a) a forward copy of the automatic message you received to tell you you had been accepted
b) your full name exactly as it appears on your passport
c) the full name of your institution
d) your passport number
e) attach a scanned copy of your passport (photo page) if this is possible.
Important notices (please read carefully)
- ONLY an official letter from CIRM detailing your registration can be used to request travel authorization or a visa for participation in an event at CIRM.
- CIRM will never supply a « Convention d’accueil » from the Préfecture – this is not necessary for events staged at our centre, as their duration is short.
- ONLY actual participants in the event can be granted a letter. CIRM does not provide letters for visa application for any accompanying person.
- The same letter (provided in French and in English) can serve to confirm an enrolment in an event (for example if you need proof to receive funding from your institution) or to apply for a visa (present it to the French Consulate / Embassy in your country). The only difference is that the passport number must be supplied in the second case.
- The letter will be based on the exact dates of the event attended, always with a possible arrival on the night before the event starts and usually with a possible departure on the morning after the event ends. Note that we cannot extend these dates to fit other periods of time when you may have been invited somewhere else or might want to do tourism. In case you attend several weeks in a row, you will receive letters for each week. If you are granted week-end accommodation by the organizers, please request an email from them with the details (and show it to the consulate if necessary).
- The letter will include the exact address of CIRM where all academic work takes place and where you will « normally » be hosted in our hotel (accommodation and meals). Note that if our hotel is full you may be lodged nearby in university accommodation. The Accommodation Office at CIRM will provide details in this case.
- The letter will mention financial support. Note that some organizing teams have to wait for answers from sponsors and may decide quite late on the distribution of their budget. If the information is not known at the time your request arrives, you will need to be patient while the organizers decide on this. The International Coordinator will contact organizers to speed up the process if time is short.
NB
- CIRM hosts a very high number of participants each year (over 4000 in 2019 with 53% from foreign institutions).
- If you need Proof of participation in an event, please contact the organizers (preferably during your week onsite at CIRM). If you realize after you have left CIRM, you will find the organizers’ details on the webpage of the event.
- CIRM does not supply letters for online participation only.