Even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously announced that international students’ visa applications would be processed as a priority, Jalal could not follow his dream.

“We wrote to officials at the French Embassy in India. All my documents are ready, I have started the visa procedure beforehand, but they cannot finalise it because the offices are closed” Jalal stressed.

Jalal is not the only one affected by the Coronavirus restrictions; under the same situation is another student, Isha. She revealed that she had paid accommodation in Cergy.

 “I have already taken accommodation in Cergy for which I have already paid 600 euros to reserve it. It’s expensive, so we really want to go,” she said to rfi.fr.

Isha said that she took out a loan in India, which she planned to repay when she would become an intern in France. Despite the unfavourable situation, Isha still hopes that the visa offices will resume their work in time.

In June, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs invited all international students to study in France, stressing that on July 1 consulates abroad would start processing residence permit applications as priority.

“Attention, international students! As of July 1: visa and resident permit applications will be processed as a priority – you’ll be allowed to travel to France, wherever you’re travelling from,” the Ministry tweeted.

SchengenVisaInfo.com had previously conducted a survey which sought to get the opinion of 2176 international students wishing to study in European countries. The survey showed the perspective of students about online learning.

According to the survey, 30 per cent of students declared that they would for sure cancel their studies if universities decided to choose online classes. A total of 22.3 per cent of respondents said that they probably would cancel their education, while 17.1 per cent of the students were undecided regarding the issue. 17.3 per cent of students stressed that they would not withdraw their studies.