France student visa documents checklist
The documents a France student visa application needs, taken from the official guidance. The list is the easy part; the three rules underneath it are what applications actually fail on.
At a glance
| Visa | VLS-TS "étudiant" — the long-stay visa that doubles as a residence permit (visa long séjour valant titre de séjour) for courses longer than 90 days. It is not a Schengen visa and it is not a separate permit: for your first year the visa itself IS your residence permit, provided you validate it online within three months of arriving. A VLS-TS for study is valid for a maximum of one year; staying longer means applying to your prefecture for a residence permit, between four and two months before it expires. |
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The checklist
- Validated Études en France (EEF) file — the gateway document for this route
- Valid passport
- Admission or pre-registration from the French institution, carried through the EEF portal
- Proof of financial resources of at least €877.50 per month — savings, a guarantor, or a scholarship
- Academic transcripts and qualifications, uploaded to the EEF file
- Proof of language ability for the language the course is taught in
- Proof of accommodation in France
- Campus France processing fee payment, declared on the portal
- Consular visa fee of €50
- TLScontact service fee — or the Campus France exemption letter, if you qualify
The three rules that decide a document
- Consistency. Your name, date of birth and parents' names must match across passport, certificates and bank papers. A single spelling difference needs an affidavit and weeks.
- Translation and certification. Anything not in the accepted language usually needs a certified translation, and "certified" has a specific meaning that varies by country.
- Currency. Bank statements, medicals and police clearances all expire. A document valid when you gathered it may not be when you submit.
Assembling the file
- Start with the documents you do not control — transcripts from an old university, police clearances, attestations.
- Scan everything at the required resolution before you need it.
- Keep originals together; several routes ask to see them at biometrics or interview.
- Make one list of what has an expiry and when, and check it the week you submit.
The most common avoidable refusal in every route is a document that was not asked for being missing — people read the list as exhaustive. It is a minimum; an officer may ask for anything that supports your case.
Documents — FAQs
2 questions
The official checklist is set out above. Treat it as the minimum rather than the complete set — an officer may ask for anything that supports your application.
Anything not in an accepted language generally needs a certified translation. What counts as certified differs by country, so check the official source linked below.
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Sources
Checked against these sources on 10 November 2026.