France visa 2026: price, where to apply, Schengen and D

Start with why you are going. For up to 90 days - a holiday, a family visit, a business trip - you need a type C visa (unless you hold a biometric Ukrainian, Georgian or Moldovan passport): €90 for adults, €45 for children aged 6-11, a decision within 15 calendar days, up to 45 if the file gets an in-depth check. To move for more than 3 months you need a type D visa: €99, or €50 for students with a Campus France file. If the consulate stays silent on it for 2 months, that is a refusal. Once you are in France, validating a VLS-TS carries a €300 tax (€100 at the reduced rate), and that is not the price of the visa. Not sure which visa fits your passport and purpose? Write in the “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram and we will work it out together.

If you apply through a visa centre, it charges its own fee on top of the visa fee: in Russia VFS Global takes €36 per file. All amounts are as of October 2026, and the sections below give each source’s date next to it.

Short-stay Schengen visa (type C)

It lets you stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, on one or several entries. It suits tourism, a business trip, visiting relatives or a short internship. You cannot settle in France on it. Paid work is possible only with a work authorisation (autorisation de travail), apart from a few cases such as conferences and sporting or cultural events.

• Fee: €90 for adults, less for children under 12 and for citizens of some countries with visa-facilitation agreements; a visa centre that takes documents on the consulate’s behalf may charge its own fee on top (service-public, F16146, 13 August 2026). Every amount is in the section “What a visa costs in 2026”.
• How you apply and how long it takes: the online form on France-Visas, then a visa centre or consulate, biometrics and a decision in 15 days; the application window and the steps are in the section “How to apply: France-Visas form, visa centre, biometrics” below.

Long-stay visa (type D) and VLS-TS

This is the visa for moving: entry and life in France for more than 3 months and up to 1 year (a VLS-TS runs 4 to 12 months), with travel in Schengen without another visa limited to 90 days during its validity.

A VLS-TS (visa valant titre de séjour) itself serves as a residence permit: on arrival you do not have to ask for a card at the prefecture. To stay after the visa ends, you ask for a card. If the visa carries the note “carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois”, it does not work as a permit and you ask for the card at the prefecture within 2 months.

Mandatory: a long-stay VLS-TS must be validated online on the ANEF portal within 3 months of arrival. The validation tax from 1 May 2026 is €300 (it was €200), and the reduced rate is €100 (it was €50): students, seasonal workers, people arriving through family reunification and several other categories pay it (service-public, A18881, 12 May 2026). You pay the tax in France, not at the consulate, and it is not a visa fee. In the first 3 months you can leave France even without validating. If you do not validate, your stay stops being lawful, and to come back after leaving you will need a new visa. More in the guide VLS-TS validation: online on ANEF.

How to apply. You apply at a French consulate in your country of residence, no earlier than 3 months before you leave. The passport rules are in the section “Documents for a French visa”.

What the visa itself costs. According to the France-Visas table (archived copy of 17 September 2026), €99. Service-public gives no figure: the amount varies, and france-visas.gouv.fr shows the final one for your country. Reductions and every fee are in the section “What a visa costs in 2026”.

Who needs a visa

To live in France for more than 3 months, an adult from any country in the table needs a type D visa, including those who travel visa-free on short trips (service-public, F16162, 9 October 2026). Where to hand in documents in your country, who decides and what the visa centre charges are in the section “Where to apply” below; the prices are in “What a visa costs in 2026”.

Long-stay visa categories

• Étudiant - for studies; usually a VLS-TS, and the validation tax for a student is €100. Citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia apply through “Études en France”, everyone else through France-Visas. More in the guide Studying in France.
• Salarié - an employee on an open-ended contract (CDI) gets a VLS-TS.
• Passeport talent - “salarié qualifié”: a contract of over 3 months with a salary from €39,582 gross a year and a master’s degree or higher earned in France; the same salary threshold applies to employees of innovative companies and intra-group postings. The EU Blue Card starts at €59,373 gross a year with a contract of at least 6 months (arrêté of 21 August 2025; service-public, F16922, 1 June 2026).
• Visiteur - residence without the right to work; you need sufficient resources and health insurance.
• Spouse of a French citizen - a VLS-TS is issued without conditions; it can be refused for a sham or annulled marriage or a threat to public order.

More on categories and the dossier is in the guide Titre de séjour: residence permit step by step.

Visa by invitation (attestation d’accueil)

For a private visit by relatives or friends lasting under 3 months, the host arranges an attestation d’accueil at the town hall where the guest will stay. The tax stamp is €30, and the guest must hold health insurance of at least €30,000. As a route to living in France this invitation does not work: it is for a visit only.

Documents for a French visa

For a short-stay visa C you need an application form, a passport, a photo, documents on the purpose of the trip, accommodation and money, evidence that you will go back, and medical insurance of at least €30,000. For a long-stay D visa the set depends on why you are moving, and France-Visas shows the exact list. There is no single list for every case: as the French embassy in Russia puts it, the France-Visas visa assistant “will also tell you which supporting documents to attach to your application, and the fee that applies” (“Il vous indiquera aussi quels justificatifs il faudra joindre à votre demande et le tarif appliqué”, page updated 6 March 2026). So what follows is the common base of the EU Visa Code and service-public, not a list for your particular case.

In short, how the set for C differs from the set for D:

Type C: short-stay visa. The France visa requirements below are the same across the Schengen area (Regulation 810/2009):

• Application form. You must submit it when you apply (Art. 10(3)(a)); for France it is filled in online on France-Visas.
• Passport. It must be valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure, have at least two blank pages, and have been issued within the previous 10 years (Art. 12: “its validity shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure”, “at least two blank pages”, “issued within the previous 10 years”).
• Photo. To the Visa Code standards (Art. 10(3)(c) and 13); for the photo requirements service-public refers to the document “Normes des photos pour une demande de visa” (F16146, 13 August 2026).
• Purpose of the trip. Documents that support it (Art. 14(1)(a)).
• Accommodation. Documents on where you will stay, or proof that you have enough money to pay for it (Art. 14(1)(b)). If you are visiting relatives, their attestation d’accueil is described above.
• Money. Documents showing sufficient means for the trip and for the return to your country of residence (or for transit to a third country where you are certain to be admitted), or that you can lawfully obtain such means (Art. 14(1)(c)). The article gives no amount.
• Intention to return. Information from which the consulate can judge that you will leave the Schengen states before the visa expires (Art. 14(1)(d)).
• Insurance. Valid travel medical insurance covering repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care or hospital treatment, and death (Art. 15(1)). It must be valid throughout the territory of the member states for the whole stay, and the minimum cover is €30,000 (Art. 15(3): “The minimum coverage shall be EUR 30 000”).

Service-public lists the same groups in one line: “justificatifs d’hébergement, de ressources, assurance médicale, etc.” (F16146, 13 August 2026).

Type D: what changes. The Visa Code does not cover long-stay visas, and there is no general list: “Les documents à présenter varient suivant le motif de votre séjour” (“the documents to submit vary with the reason for your stay”), and the list for your situation has to be looked up on France-Visas (service-public, F16162, 9 October 2026). The differences are these:

• Passport: the validity is counted differently. From the date the visa ends, not from departure (see the table above).
• A set for your purpose. A student, an employee, the spouse of a French citizen and a visitor without the right to work each need a different file: see the section “Long-stay visa categories” above and the guide for each route.
• Insurance and means. The Visa Code sets the €30,000 figure for the short-stay visa. In the sources this section relies on, there is no single sum or list of proof for D: France-Visas shows the conditions for your purpose.

This is a common base, not a full list for your case: before you book, check the list on your own page at france-visas.gouv.fr.

How to apply: France-Visas form, visa centre, biometrics

The order is the same everywhere; only the place where you hand in documents differs. First you fill in the form on the France-Visas portal and pick the country where you apply; the portal itself shows where to go. Then you book a slot at a visa centre or consulate, turn up on the day with your documents, give a photo and fingerprints, and wait for the decision. For both C and D visas the biometrics go into the Visabio file; children under 12 do not give fingerprints (service-public, F16146 and F16162). The pages of French embassies in our countries all point to the same France-Visas section, “Where to apply” (checked 19 October 2026). Whether an appointment is mandatory and how to get one: look up your country in the section “Where to apply”.

When to apply for a Schengen visa (C): no earlier than 6 months and, as a rule, no later than 15 days before the trip (EU Regulation 2019/1155, Art. 9 of the Visa Code). For a long-stay visa (D), service-public gives a window of 3 months before departure (F16162, 9 October 2026).

When the decision comes: for a Schengen visa the consulate must decide within 15 calendar days of receiving a complete file, and in some cases within up to 45 days (Visa Code, Art. 23). If the consulate gives no answer to a long-stay application within 2 months, that counts as a refusal (F16162).

What a visa costs in 2026

For citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan there is no reduced rate: a Schengen visa costs €90 plus the centre’s service fee (in Russia €36). We have not checked the service fees of other countries: France-Visas shows them. The consular fee is not refunded after a refusal (service-public, F16146).

Who pays nothing. A French Schengen visa is free for children under 6, spouses of French citizens and family members of citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland (France-Visas table). The Visa Code (Art. 16) adds school pupils, students and postgraduates travelling with accompanying teachers on a study trip, and researchers going for scientific work or a conference; for humanitarian reasons the fee can be reduced or waived. Spouses of French citizens do not pay for a long-stay visa either.

The tax after arrival is not a visa fee. Validating a VLS-TS costs €300 (€100 at the reduced rate), paid in France; who qualifies for the reduced rate and what it cost before 1 May 2026 is in the section on the D visa above. Step by step in the guide VLS-TS validation: online on ANEF.

Where to apply: visa centre by country

The place that takes documents, the body that decides and the centre’s service fee differ from country to country. What follows comes from official pages and their archived copies, with the date given for each country. Before you book, open your own page on france-visas.gouv.fr: the amount and the place of submission may have changed.

• Russia. Documents are taken by 18 VFS Global visa centres, by appointment only; an appointment is required for every application. The Consulate General of France in Moscow decides. The VFS service fee is €36 per file, paid in roubles and not refunded (France-Visas, archived copy of 27 July 2026). Since 14 April 2025 France has not recognised non-biometric Russian international passports, except for children’s passports up to age 15. On the suspension of the visa-facilitation agreement with Russia, see the “Visas” section of the guide EU sanctions for Russian and Belarusian citizens.
• Belarus. Since 2 February 2026 TLScontact handles appointments: on its site you create an account and fill in a short form, and a date is given as slots allow. You still hand in documents and receive the decision at the French embassy in Minsk, and only the embassy decides (embassy, news item of 3 February 2026). The consular fee for citizens of Belarus is €35 (France-Visas table, archived copy of 17 September 2026).
• Kazakhstan. VFS Global takes the documents in Almaty and Astana (service fee of about €32, paid in tenge), and visas are issued by the consular section of the French embassy in Astana (page of the Consulate General in Almaty, 26 October 2026). For a Schengen visa you apply at least 15 days before the trip, for a D 2-3 months ahead, but no earlier than 6 months (France-Visas, archived copy of 24 August 2026).
• Uzbekistan. Since March 2026 documents are taken by the TLScontact visa centre in Tashkent (TLScontact announcement of 12 March 2026). The decision stays with the French embassy.
• Armenia. TLScontact in Yerevan takes the documents and the visa service of the French embassy decides; spouses of French citizens apply directly at the embassy (France-Visas, archived copy of 5 August 2025 - compare it with the live page before you book).
• Azerbaijan. Capago handles appointments and takes documents, the French embassy in Baku decides; fees are paid only in local currency (France-Visas, archived copy of 18 October 2025 - compare it with the live page before you book).
• Georgia. Applications are examined by the visa service of the French embassy in Tbilisi, which alone is entitled to decide. For a long-stay visa allow about three months (France-Visas, archived copy of 13 July 2025 - compare it with the live page before you book). France-Visas will show where to apply.
• Moldova. In Moldova a short-stay visa for France is issued by the Hungarian embassy in Chisinau, which represents France (page of the Hungarian embassy, 19 October 2026). France-Visas will show where to apply for a long-stay visa.
• Ukraine. Visas are issued by the visa service of the French embassy in Kyiv, by appointment; the fee is paid in cash in hryvnias. If you are late for your slot, the application is not accepted and you have to book again (France-Visas, archived copy of 7 April 2026).

If your country is not here, the France-Visas section “Where to apply” shows the place for your passport. For visa-free countries and the right to work, see the guide Working in France by nationality.

French embassy and consulates: where to turn

The consulate decides on the visa, but documents usually go elsewhere: to a visa centre, an operator the consulate hires to accept forms and capture biometrics. The embassy sites point you to France-Visas: “once the online form is completed, all that is left is to hand the file in at the visa centre you come under” (French embassy in Russia, page updated 6 March 2026). Who takes documents where and for what fee is in the section “Where to apply”; here are the addresses and what the consular services handle (from the official pages, as of 26 October 2026).

• Russia. As of 26 October 2026: the Consulate General in Moscow is at 45 Bolshaya Yakimanka, 115127, the same address as the French embassy in Moscow. It is the Moscow Consulate General that decides on Russians’ visas. The Consulate General in Saint Petersburg is at 12 Nevsky Prospect, 191186; in Yekaterinburg at 6 Boris Yeltsin Street, 39th floor, office 194, 620014.
• Kazakhstan. The Consulate General in Almaty is at 77 Kunayev Street, “Park View”, 050000. It is open Monday to Friday, 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00. Visa applications in Almaty go through VFS Global; the consular office itself deals with French citizens: certifying signatures, lost passports, elections. The embassy is in Astana.
• Ukraine. The consular section in Kyiv is at 39 Reitarska Street, 04053. Reception is 9:00-17:00 by appointment only. The visa service is part of the embassy; no visa information is given by phone, so write to visas.kiev-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr.
• Armenia. The consular section of the embassy in Yerevan is at 8 St Grigor Lusavorich Street. Visitors are seen by appointment only; the France Consulaire phone service does not handle visa questions, so apply through France-Visas and TLScontact.
• Georgia. The consular section in Tbilisi is at 51a Krtsanisi Street, 0114. Hours: Monday to Thursday 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:30, Friday 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:00. The section’s helpline does not answer visa questions (“Ce service ne répond pas aux questions sur les visas”, French embassy in Georgia, 26 October 2026); look for the “Demander un visa pour la France” item in the site menu.

For Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Azerbaijan, see the embassy sites, which have a “Demander un visa pour la France” section: Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Azerbaijan. Find the addresses of these countries’ consular sections on the embassy sites. The phone numbers of the consular services on the pages above are meant for French citizens, so we leave them out: for a visa, go to France-Visas.

If a visa is refused

The procedure differs for short-stay and long-stay visas. Do not mix them up: the CRRV commission handles only refusals of a D visa.

Schengen (C). First a complaint by letter to the sous-directeur des visas at the French Interior Ministry (the directorate for foreigners) within 30 days of the refusal notice. If he refuses or stays silent for two months, you can bring a case before the Nantes administrative court within two months (service-public, F16146, 13 August 2026).

Long-stay (D). A refusal is appealed to the CRRV (Nantes) only by letter, in French and signed, within 30 days of the written refusal or of two months of the consulate’s silence. Without this step the court will not accept the case. If the CRRV refuses or stays silent for two months, you can bring a case before the Nantes administrative court within two months (service-public, F16162, 9 October 2026). The commission’s postal address: CRRV, BP 83609, 44036 Nantes Cedex 01 (service-public directory of public bodies, 19 October 2026).

A consulate that has not answered an application within two months has in effect refused it: the time limit for a complaint runs from that date.

You can ask about visas and moving in our community chat.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - visas, moving and life in the South

See also:

• How to move to France: every legal route
• Titre de séjour: residence permit step by step
• VLS-TS validation: online on ANEF
• Studying in France
• Moving: paperwork step by step
• EU sanctions for Russian and Belarusian citizens: deposits, cards, cars
• Family reunification in France: conditions, income, housing, procedure
• Working in France by nationality: visas, agreements, shortage occupations