Fortunately, my visa paperwork was handled entirely by Fragomen as an external service of Microsoft (MSR).
Anyway, the procedure is available on the UK government website and depends on the type of visa requested (Temporary Worker is more or less simple than Skilled Worker).
The only consulate that deals with visas in France is in Paris at the address 35 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.
Accommodation is probably the most complicated step (at least for me 🙃), especially if your stay is short (<5~6 months).
There are different platforms (similar to our French leboncoin):
All of these platforms have associated mobile apps. SpareRoom is the closest to leboncoin, with more ads from individuals. The two others have much more agency ads and for long-term lets. It is preferable, as far as possible, and especially if you do the research from a distance, to go through an agency to avoid scams.
I was "lucky" to find an ad on SpareRoom, from the agency Paymanclub with their famous Cambridge City Studios.
Accommodation is very expensive in Cambrdge (for other cities, I can't tell you), so either you go for comfort or for "necessity". I was shocked (😂) to see Cambridge studios at more than 4000£! On average they ranged from £2000 (~20m²) to £4000+ (~T1). And flatshares could go from £500 to £1500+.
I found that, in general, landlords prefer to share their properties because, of course, the average person couldn't afford such high rents alone. But honestly, paying more than £1000 for someone to tell you that you can't have this or that in your home... I think it's a bit too much, but everyone has to make their own opinion :).
Microsoft is located in Cambridge but unfortunately there is no airport. In fact, Cambridge is to London what Sophia is to Nice. This being said you have to land in London before you "manage" to reach Cambridge. And for that, you have 2 possibilities: the plane or the train (fortunately!).
London has several airports (6), of which the 3 main ones are :
Heathrow Airport (LHR)
Gatwick Airport (LGW)
Luton Airport (LTN)
LTN is the closest to Cambridge (~1h drive) and the only one served by EasyJet.
LHR is the only one served by the national airline British Airways.
Getting to Cambridge would have been easier for me to land in Luton and then simply take a cab to my accommodation. However, the MSR booking service does not deal (and I can understand it) with low-cost airlines like EasyJet (those who have already used it will know what I mean haha). As a result, the only alternatives they offered me from Lyon were more than 10 hours long with endless bus connections on top of that!
So I chose the train (thanks to a word of mouth by chance!).
London (St Pancras International Station) is served from France via the Eurostar railway company, from the stations of [Nord in Paris and Lille Europe](https://www.eurostar.com/fr-fr/voyage/en-gare). This is good because if like me you don't leave from Ile de France and want to avoid changing stations (Gare de Lyon -> Gare du Nord), you can go through Lille Europe.
So my journey was the following: Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu -> Gare de Lille Europe -> Gare de St Pancras then a cab from St Pancras to Cambridge.
There are a lot of cab and bus companies where you can book your trip from London to Cambridge. I particularly wanted a cab that would take me directly to my accommodation to avoid the hassle of luggage. I called [MyTaxe](https://www.mytaxe.uk/) (+44 121 2859686) and I received instructions by email to proceed with the booking.
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So much for my little experience (which was very stressful I must admit 😅) because less than a week before the beginning of my internship I still didn't have a place to live 😂. Anyway, it's done, that's the most important.
Don't hesitate to complete this little doc with your own experience and your own advice, adding afterwards your procedure with the visited city.
If it's about Cambridge too, you can just complete the previous one 🤗.