Finding a house and accommodation for foreign students, especially Iranians, is one of the biggest problems. We suggest that you finalize your housing status before entering to France. Many students just need a temporary (and unfortunately sometimes fake) certificate or attestation to get a visa, which after, a very small number of them may be lucky and find a place to rent soon, but often they have to spend weeks in hotels. It will cost them a fortune, and they will have some administrative problems due to not having a fixed address.
We suggest that you start your search as soon as possible. And be sure to book a place, even temporarily, to have a place to stay and put your belongings upon arrival. Then you have the opportunity to seek a suitable housing for your permanent residence more comfortable.
To find suitable accommodation:
First, contact your university. Some large institutions and universities offer accommodation or places for housing of their students. So, to register for an accommodation, you must contact the CROUS Accommodation Center of the university where you are enrolled. Check also the “Housing” or “International” section of the CROUS website for information on room allocation at your university residence.
You can also get information through the following sites (priority is given to scholarship students):
https://trouverunlogement.lescrous.fr
To take advantage of this, you must complete your “International Residence” file between January 15 and May 31 before the start of your school year.
Cross dormitories are the most popular accommodation for students due to many advantages, such as no charge, no separate water and electricity, and no separate internet, etc. As well as benefits such as low rent (about 400 euros in Paris and an average of 200 euros in other cities) and the possibility of benefiting from the CAF housing allowance.
And if you can not register for the CROUS, consider a private and/or a semi-private accommodation. Private student dormitories are a good choice, with prices slightly higher than CROUS, but have relatively more advantages, including group living, furnished rooms, internet, laundry, gym and …
You may use these sites also to find you desired house:
https://www.lokaviz.fr
https://www.adele.org
http://www.residencesartemisia.com
https://trouverunlogement.lescrous.fr
https://en.location-etudiant.fr
https://www.residenceetudiante.fr
https://www.immojeune.com
https://www.bedandcrous.com
www.airbnb.fr
The colocation is also one of the solutions, in which you will be living with a student or other students, which will have a relatively lower rental cost, and if your roommates are from other countries, you will get acquainted with other languages and cultures.
This method also has advantages and disadvantages that I will explain to you in the future.
One of the best sites for collection:
https://www.lacartedescolocs.fr
The next solution is to stay with a French family:
Some international students choose to live with a French family to learn about French culture and language. You will have a room in this system, with all the necessary facilities for a normal life. You will have one or more French speakers and many other benefits. And of course, you have to respect the internal laws of that family such as arrival and departure times, and so on.
There are many sites in this field, one of which we introduce is CoHomly
To book a house, it is better to have the following documents:
These documents can vary depending on the type of residence and the requirements of the owner, but in general, a copy of the following documents is required in most cases:
Identification documents:
Residence card, if you came to France with a visa,
Student card or certificate for the current year,
A letter from your guarantor and his identification documents.
Find a guarantor
In France, people who want to rent an apartment, whether foreign or French, almost always have to have a guarantor. Your guarantor must be French. If you do not have a guarantor, other solutions are available to you, for example, VISALE, which is a free deposit for renting an apartment or room in a student dormitory. We recommend that you start this process as soon as possible, even before you arrive in France, as you do not need to have an address in France to obtain a VISALE certificate.
If you do not have VISALE conditions or the owner of your accommodation does not know it, you can also use the services of the Garant Me site.
Good luck 🙂