Maghreb: Campus France Procedural Roadmap

The Études en France portal (operated by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs) is the mandatory single-window for students from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia applying to French higher education. It bundles the academic dossier, pedagogical interview, university responses, acceptance confirmation and visa pre-validation into one chain.

Country-specific procedure fees (2026 campaign):

• Morocco: €245 — non-refundable, even on visa refusal.
• Algeria: €220 — non-refundable.
• Tunisia: €195 — non-refundable.

Two parallel tracks:

• DAP (Demande d'Admission Préalable): required for first-year Licence (L1) at public universities. Hard deadline 15 December of the preceding year.
• Hors-DAP: all other applications (L2+, Master, Grande École). University responses by 30 April; candidate confirmation by 31 May (silence = refusal).

Critical gates:

• Pedagogical interview must be booked within 15 days of the summons — missing this is fatal to the dossier.
• Proof of €615/month (€7,380/year) financial resources is the statutory floor for the long-stay student visa (VLS-TS).
• French language certification (TCF, DELF B2 or DALF) is mandatory unless the programme is taught in English or the candidate is exempt.
• Maximum 7 wishes per candidate on the portal.
• Visa processing at the French consulate takes 2 to 6 weeks after admission confirmation.

Official references:

• Études en France official portal — diplomatie.gouv.fr
• Campus France — Studying in France procedure