France student visa: a step-by-step guide

Campus France Egypt runs the Études en France platform. Which route you take depends on how you were admitted.

• Applying through the platform: you create an application file, choose up to 7 programmes, upload your documents and pay the application fee. Campus France Egypt invites you to an interview, then the universities decide.
• Already accepted directly by a school (common for private business and design schools): you open an “I am accepted” file on the platform, upload your offer and documents, pay the pre-consular fee and attend a short pre-consular interview.
• At the end: you download your acceptance certificate from the platform. You need it for the visa appointment.

Both are paid by bank transfer. Holders of a French baccalauréat obtained in the last 4 years do not pay the application fee.

Prepare for the interview: why this course, why France, how it fits your plans, and how you will pay. It is usually in French or English. French baccalauréat students applying to the first year of a bachelor’s go through Parcoursup instead.

From 1 August 2026 you must show at least €877.50 a month for living costs, up from €615. For a 12-month year that is €10,530. Tuition is on top of this.

• Bank statements for the last 3 to 6 months, in your name or a parent’s, showing the money is available.
• A parent as sponsor: add a signed letter from the parent promising to support you, and proof of the relationship, such as your birth certificate.
• A scholarship: an award letter can count towards the amount.

Fill in the long-stay student visa application on France-Visas, the official visa website, then book your appointment with TLScontact, which handles French visas in Egypt. Bring originals and copies:

• Passport issued in the last 10 years, valid at least 3 months after your visa ends, with 2 blank pages.
• Photos: 2 recent passport photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, on a white background.
• Campus France acceptance certificate and your offer letter (programme, dates, campus).
• Money: the bank statements or sponsor letter from step 2.
• Accommodation for at least your first 3 months: a student residence booking, a lease, or a host’s certificate (attestation d’hébergement).
• Civil documents: a recent birth certificate and family record (قيد عائلي), with translations if asked.
• Academic documents: your latest diploma or certificates, translated if they are not in French or English.

TLScontact tells you the amount in Egyptian pounds and how to pay when you book.

If you will be under 18 when you travel, you also need:

• A guardian in France and their hosting certificate (attestation d’accueil), stamped by the local town hall, with a copy of their ID or residence card.
• Parental permission: a notarised letter from both parents allowing you to live and study in France.
• Both parents’ passports (copies of the photo page).

Within 3 months of arriving you must validate your VLS-TS online, on the French government’s foreigners’ portal (ANEF), and pay a residence tax of €150. If you do not, your visa stops counting as a residence permit and you cannot leave and re-enter France.

Your student visa also lets you travel in the Schengen area: 29 European countries since Bulgaria and Romania joined fully on 1 January 2025.