Coming to Nancy

Preparation

After having been selected for the Fusion-EP program, you will be contacted by the local coordinator, who will ask you to provide some documents:

  -   a copy of your passport/ID card
  -   a document (or several) containing your grades of all past university years
  -   a birth certificate
  -   a certificate of enrollment at your current university, prior to the master program
  -   a filled in form which the coordinator will provide alongside the mail (asking for your pre-university education and other diplomas, and a motivation letter)

These documents (except for an ID card, I suppose) are accepted in French, English, German, Spanish, or Italian. All other languages must first be translated at your own expense. In many countries, a copy of your birth certificate can be obtained free of charge through your city hall. The coordinator also provides the name of the person responsible for accomodation. These people will (hopefully, I am writing this paragraph two days after recieving this email) help you prepare your time at Nancy.

Registration

There are several registration processes which will occur when you arrive in Nancy. Due to the joy that is French bureaucracy, these procedures are enough to keep you running around for 2-3 months, if you are unprepared. The ability to speak and understand some French will make things smoother, as most of the people you will deal with in these places speak only French. However, it is still possible if you do not understand any French, provided you have all the necessary documents ready beforehand. Be sure to have all your documents translated to French and/or English beforehand! Translators can be hard to find in France and are very expensive.

Visa Registration - Non-European Students Only

TO UPDATE You have three months from the issue of your visa to visit the OFII office, however make this visit as soon as possible since they will give you an additional sticker in your passport which many other administrative procedures will be checking for. The OFII office is located near Place Stanislas. You need:

  -   a passport with visa,
  -   proof of the address / residence where you will be staying, "justificatif de domicile" (ask the residence staff),
  -   proof of enrollment or proof of acceptance to University of Lorraine (ask your coordinator),
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program,
  -   proof of scholarship or financial independence,
  -   two passport photos, taken according to French standards (there are photo booths at the train station),
  -   a stamp proving you have paid the visa tax (around 58€), obtainable online or at the ground floor of the OFII office building.

These documents are accepted in French or English. All other languages must first be translated at your own expense. The office will provide you with two appointments, one for a medical check-up and another for a chest x-ray. The date, time, and location for these appointments will be given to you. DO NOT MISS THEM!!! Bring all the documents mentioned before to these appointments, as well as any documents related to your previous medical history, though they will likely not require anything but your passport. After the appointments, return to OFII office with the papers that they give you, as well as all the documents above, in order to receive the sticker validating your visa.

Enrollment in University - Getting Your Student Card - All Students

The day and time for this will be arranged by your coordinator and will take place at the "Faculté des Sciences et Technologies", or FST, where most of your classes will be. For student registration, you will need:

  -   a passport with visa or European passport or European identity card,
  -   proof of acceptance to University of Lorraine (ask your coordinator),
  -   a birth certificate, stating the names of your parents, original copy, 
  -   your Bachelor's degree, original,
  -   proof of inscription from your previous university, original copy,
  -   a transcript from your previous university, stating which courses you took and your grades,
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program,
  -   two passport photos, taken according to French standards (there are photo booths at the train station).

These documents are accepted in French, English, German, Spanish, or Italian. All other languages must first be translated at your own expense. Other things may be asked for so bring all the documents you have, just in case, and note that it is not uncommon for the registration process to temporarily fail. At the end, you should receive your student card and a yellow sheet with lots of information on it, both of which are important.

Registering for Social Security - Non-European Students Only

TO UPDATE After this you will register for "Securité sociale", which is an additional sort of health insurance that is mandatory in France. Go to MGEL, which is close to the science campus (FST). You will need:

  -   a passport with visa,
  -   the validation sticker provided by registering with OFII,
  -   the yellow sheet given to you at the end of the enrollment process,
  -   the RIB (IBAN and BIC) of your bank account, printed copy.

The program already paid the necessary fee for you regarding the social security, make sure you do not pay any more money for this.

European students

European students are still required to visit MGEL with their passport / identity card and the yellow sheet, but they can avoid registering with a local doctor by bringing your European health insurance card with you. This is not true anymore I think?

Other Mandatory Insurances - All Students

You will also need to purchase another thing called "Responsabilité civile", which can also be done at MGEL. This insures you in the case you have damaged someone else's property, and costs around 14€ for the year.

  -   a passport with visa or European passport or European identity card,
  -   a birth certificate, stating the names of your parents, original copy,
  -   your Bachelor's degree, original copy,
  -   proof of inscription from your previous university, original copy,
  -   a transcript from your previous university, stating which courses you took and your grades, original copy,
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program.

It is also possible to purchase house insurance, "Assurance de domicile", from MGEL as well, which is required by the CROUS residences. The cost depends on the type of room you have. For the studio at Provençal, it should be around 55€ for the year.

Opening a Bank Account

Pick a bank, any bank. The ESN office may recommend a specific bank due to some specific student deals they have negotiated with that bank, but you are free to choose as you wish. The documents you will require to open a student account are:

  -   a passport with visa or European passport or European identity card,
  -   proof of the address / residence where you will be staying, "justificatif de domicile" (ask the residence staff),
  -   proof of enrollment or proof of acceptance to University of Lorraine (ask your coordinator),
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program.

Expect to pay between 1-5€ per month as a general fee, despite it being a student account. Some banks do not have this fee, for example the BNP Baripas at 58 Rue Saint-Jean.

Obtaining Financial Aid for Housing

As a student in France, you are automatically eligible for financial aid to help pay for your rent. However, it is not automatically given to you and you must first register with "Caisse d'allocation familiale", or CAF. The CAF office is a 10 minute walk from the train station, in the direction opposite to the city center. In order to register with CAF, you will need:

  -   a passport with visa or European passport or European identity card,
  -   a birth certificate, stating the names of your parents, original copy,
  -   proof of the address / residence where you will be staying, "justificatif de domicile" (ask the residence staff),
  -   proof of enrollment or proof of acceptance to University of Lorraine (ask your coordinator),
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program,
  -   the yellow sheet given to you at the end of the enrollment process,
  -   the RIB (IBAN and BIC) of your bank account, printed copy.

In the case that you live in the CROUS residences, you will receive approximately 170€ per month paid directly to the residence and the residence will deduct the amount from your monthly rent. Despite this, they will still ask for your bank account information, so have it ready anyway. It will likely take the organization 2-3 weeks to process your application before they will pay you, so be patient. They will inform you by courier or email if something went wrong.

If you intend to take advantage of this financial aid, register as soon as possible. Officially, they claim to only pay from the date you started the application, though some students have received money from earlier months even though they were late in submitting this.

Accommodation

No matter where you stay, all students are eligible for monetary assistance to pay for housing. It usually comes up to 200 Euro a month, and retroactively covers previous months of rent so make sure to work on this!

If you are sharing a house or apartment with a group of students, all members of the group may apply for assistance, provided their names appear on the rental contract (lease). Each student must apply individually. Married couples submit just one application. Note that there is only a certain sum of money awarded to each contract, ie. If you share an appartement with two people you will share the €200 from CAF.

Applications for assistance must be completed on the Web site of the family assistance fund (CAF, Caisse d'allocation familiale) within 3 months of taking possession of your lodgings. After this, CAF will bother you with alot of documents and running around but it is worth the effort. There are two possibilities, you can either decide to let CAF pay you, or they can pay the owner of the house directly. Please see the page "Coming to Nancy" for details on how to register for CAF.

Student Housing

Students will usually be put in 3 Rue Mademoiselle CS 5217 54052 NANCY CEDEX. The original cost is 400 Euro a month, but CAF can help you with that. You have a private shower and bathroom and a very minimal kitchen. Parties are not allowed, and the Internet is heavily Firewalled leading previous Fusioneers to either buy their own private Internet subscription or use a Tor Network to tunnel through the firewall. It should be noted that previous Fusioneers recommend Free for phone service, but NOT for an Internet subscription.

The building is notorious among Fusioneers for it's "insane asylum feel."

Private Market

Apartments in Nancy are generally cheaper then the student housing, but can be a major hassle if you want to rent an apartment directly rather then sublease one. Either way a Guarantor is generally required to rent an apartment on the private market. The Guarantor must be living in France and agree to pay your rent in case you do not cover it. This requirement can often be waived for sub-leasers by agreeing to an additional safety deposit of a months rent.

The best website for finding housing yourself is: LeBonCoin When searching through it remember that the the postal code to Nancy is 54000.

The housing codes (T2 T3 F2 F3...) that you will see while walking around can be understood as follows. T stands for "type" (apartment) while F stands for "foyer" (house) and the number after (T/F) refers to the number of rooms. The only difference in practice seems to be that the kitchen is a bar-like for "T" and for "F" its a proper kitchen. The letters are used sloppily however, and the only importance is the numbers, which tell you how many rooms the apartment has.

If you intend to rent a room yourself (with friends for instance) then you have the option of going through an agency. An agency will usually take the cost of the first months rent as a fee, but they have access to many apartments that you can't look at via LeBonCoin. Agencies are marked as "Immobliers". For either an Agency or a direct arrangement speaking French or dragging around a French speaking friend is a necessity. In the experience of students Agencies are fairly useful, but very slow. You should plan on them taking two to three weeks between the start of the contract process and the end of it. If you do not have a Guarantor living in France you will have to find a special Agency that deals with foreigners. There is an agency in Nancy that specializes in student housing, called "". Their main advantage is that they accept non french Guarantor's.

Either through an agency, or private market, if you are not subleasing you will have to set up electricity from the EDF and gas from the GDF. This is relatively easy, all you need to do is make a call to the EDF office or pass by the office in the centre of town. Once contacted they will ask you to hand in documents or photos showing the number and current counter position on the gas and electricity counters. After that you will have to go to the office to sign your contract (which is not always necessary) and you are settled. You will also have to acquire renters insurance which should cost roughly 80 Euro for the year. Internet providers for your apartment are plenty, but FREE is NOT recommended, though their phone plans are very good. Numericable has fiber-optic lines through some of Nancy, and are very quick to install your Internet, sometimes offering it same day. The best (fastest)internet connection that is available in most private housing is by Numericable, prices are ok but Numericable has some shitty reputation on stalling people who try to end their contract so beware for any abuse. Officially, when you are able to represent a signed document stating that you are moving to another adress which is not in France you should be able to break your contract.

Finding The Department and Classes

The department, and all your classes are contained within a building/campus called "Le Campus Aiguillettes" and is part of the Faculté des Sciences et Technologies [1]. It is located near a very famous cross section called "Vélodrome" in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy. It is easily accessible by bike, either along the tram lines or by the specially made bikepath (see google maps for more details)(+/- 20 min from the city center). With the tram, you take tram 1 in the direction "CHU Brabois" and get of at the stops "Vélodrome" or "Callot" (+/- 20 min from the city center). During rush hours, trams are very busy, but during the other times it's nice and empty. Tickets are €1,30 for a one-way trip and it's €9 for a 10 trip ticket. If you plan on taking the tram twice a day, every day, you should get an abonnement at the train station, which is a lot cheaper.

There is one exception, your language class will be hosted at EEIGM, which is a European Material Engineering school at the other side of Nancy. Again this is easily reachable by bike as well as tram 1 in direction "ESSEY Mouzimpré" and the stop is called "Division de Fer".

Getting Around

The buses are useless, [except for number 2!] often having hour delays between them or simply not running at all on mystery days. The upgrades to the bus stops improved the situation, but still almost no bus runs beyond midnight during weekdays and 1AM on the weekends. The trams however run on a fairly good schedule, coming every 5 or so minutes during the busy parts of the day, and every 20-30 minutes during the less busy periods of the day. From the central train station the 1 line will ferry you either to the Velodrome or to your language classes at the EEIGM building.

Student Restaurants

Nancy hosts a lot of student restaurants which serve different kinds of food. For example, there is the chinese restaurant, which typically serves something "asian" like we can say. Meals are €3,20 and for that price you get 5 items: Bread, Main course, Entrance, a piece of fruit and a desert. You pay by putting credit on your student card, this can be done using cash at an office but these are rare. Another way to add credit is by using your "carte bleu" (French bank account card), other cards will probably not work.

Biking in Nancy

Bringing a bike to Nancy, or getting one here is a very good idea. Bikes are really useful when getting around Nancy, as nothing is really far and there are a fair amount of bike lanes present + you can bike on the tram tracks in between two trams (not really, I've seen police officers stop bikers but you can always pretend you don't understand plus it doesn't happen often). You can get a bike and if needed repair your bike at a shop called Dynamo [2]. At Dynamo you can buy cheap bickes (€30 - 50) or repair you bike, the concept is that you pay a membership fee €15 and they you can use all the equipment all year and get professional help with fixing your bike, but you must perform the work yourself. Most bikes bought at Dynamo need some work but the first set of parts you need is included in the bike price.