France Student Visa from the UAE: Campus France, VFS Abu Dhabi and Costs in AED (2027)

Who applies for a French student visa from the UAE?

Campus France UAE answers this in its FAQ: Emirati and international students resident in the UAE who apply to a bachelor’s or master’s programme go through the Études en France platform. Your residence, not your nationality, decides where you file.

Is the UAE on the Études en France list?

Yes. Campus France lists 75 countries covered by the Études en France (EeF) procedure, and the United Arab Emirates is one of them, alongside its Gulf neighbours Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Campus France UAE adds that every student going to France for more than 3 months at bachelor’s, master’s or PhD level must go through Campus France and the EeF platform to apply for a student visa.

EeF runs two procedures. The admission procedure is for programmes listed in the EeF catalogue: you apply to them through the platform. The pre-consular procedure is for students who already hold an admission letter obtained directly from the institution. An AI2 offer is a direct admission, so with AI2 you follow the pre-consular route, the “I am accepted” path in the Campus France process sheet.

Step by step: from admission letter to VFS Global Abu Dhabi

The sequence Campus France UAE publishes, identical in every emirate.

1. 1
   Get your admission letter

   Campus France UAE lets you start the pre-consular procedure as soon as you receive your acceptance. At AI2, the letter follows an online application and an interview with the academic team.
2. 2
   Open your EeF file

   Register on Études en France and upload your passport and Emirates ID, CV, last completed degree with transcripts, any experience or internship letters, the admission letter and a language test if required. Each upload must stay under 500 KB, and documents must be in French or English.
3. 3
   Validation, then payment

   The Campus France UAE team reviews the file and emails you if anything is missing. Once validated, you receive the payment instructions by email. Payment is by bank transfer only: no cash, no card, and never before that email.
4. 4
   In-person meeting

   After the finance team validates your payment, a Campus France representative contacts you to schedule an in-person meeting. Prepare it like an interview: our Campus France interview questions guide lists what is usually asked.
5. 5
   France-Visas form

   After the meeting, register on France-Visas, which the French Embassy in the UAE names as the official visa website, and complete the long-stay form. Choose the long-stay form, not the short-stay one.
6. 6
   Lodge at VFS Global Abu Dhabi

   Take your passport and the checklist documents, each in two copies, to the VFS Global Abu Dhabi branch. Campus France UAE states that long-stay student applicants may walk in without an appointment. You pay the visa fee and the VFS service charge there.

Living in Dubai? The Consulate General of France there describes its role as services for French nationals; student visa files go to VFS Global Abu Dhabi. The Campus France UAE office is in Dubai, at the Alliance Française Oud Metha branch, and prefers contact by email or WhatsApp.

Which documents does the UAE checklist ask for?

Campus France UAE publishes a “Checklist for long-stay visa: Studies” (PDF, uploaded in July 2026). These are its points that most often catch UAE applicants out.

Applicants under 18 need extra documents listed on the checklist. On equivalence, Campus France UAE notes that France has no predetermined table of equivalences with foreign degrees: each institution sets its own admission criteria, which is why AI2’s academic team reviews every transcript individually.

Proof of funds: €877.50 a month in dirhams

Service-Public, the French administration’s official site, sets the resources for a student visa at €877.50 a month at least (page checked on 1 August 2026). The European Central Bank does not publish a dirham rate, so the amounts below use its euro reference rate of USD 1.1133 on 28 October 2026 and the dirham’s fixed peg of AED 3.6725 per US dollar stated on the UAE Government portal: about AED 4.089 per euro.

The UAE checklist goes further than the general rule: it asks that your account, or your sponsor’s, hold the total needed for at least the first year after arrival: the monthly amount for living costs and accommodation plus tuition fees. The PDF still prints 877 € a month; the legal figure is now €877.50. If you have already paid a deposit, include its receipt, as the checklist asks, and confirm with Campus France UAE how the balance is counted. Sponsor letters and bank statements are covered in our guide to proof of funds for a France student visa.

What fees will you pay in the UAE?

Campus France UAE lists three fees for the student visa procedure. One of them is quoted differently across its own pages, so read the payment email carefully.

Holders of a recent French baccalauréat, French Government scholarships or EU scholarships such as Erasmus+ are exempt from the Campus France fee. Tuition, deposits and the visa budget are set out programme by programme on AI2 tuition fees 2027.

How long does it take, and when should you start for 2027?

Campus France UAE gives two official delays. The pre-consular file takes 4 to 6 working days in low season and 5 to 7 in high season, never 48 hours or less, and it cannot be accelerated. The visa section then processes student applications within 3 to 4 weeks from the day you lodge them at VFS Global Abu Dhabi. Campus France UAE recommends starting as soon as you receive your offer and at least 2 months before departure. The French Embassy in the UAE adds that a visa application can be lodged up to six months before departure.

These are the latest workable dates, not targets. AI2’s own visa guidance recommends starting 6 to 8 months before your intake. Once in France, you validate your VLS-TS online within 3 months of arrival; the visa itself is issued for 4 months to one year.

HND, A-levels or a UAE degree: what goes in your admission letter

The programme on your admission letter must make sense for your past studies. At AI2, a secondary leaving certificate with mathematics points to Year 1 of the Bachelor in Applied AI (€9,000 a year, AI2 scholarships possible). A Pearson BTEC HND, a BTEC Level 5 or two completed years of university point to the one-year BSc final year (€9,900, AI2 scholarships possible): see our page on the top-up degree after an HND in France. A related bachelor’s leads to MSc Year 1 (€12,500, from €10,500 after scholarship) or, with enough related study, to the 18-month direct entry (€13,000, from €11,300).

Every AI2 programme is taught 100% in English (B2 required, no French needed). Each final year awards the AI2 diploma and prepares a professional certification recognised by the French State and registered in the RNCP: level 6 for the BSc, level 7 (master’s level, EQF 7) for the MSc. Anyone, including the visa section, can check that registration on France Compétences.

Why do student visas from the UAE get refused?

One cause is written in black and white by Campus France UAE: a visa file lodged without the pre-consular procedure leads to an automatic refusal. The others are file gaps that the UAE checklist makes easy to spot.

Weak study plans, gaps and inconsistent documents are covered, with what to do after a refusal, in France student visa rejection: 12 common reasons.

📘 Related guide: Masters in France for UAE residents: Emiratis and expats, visa and AED budget.

📘 Related guide: Top-up degree in France from Dubai: HND and BTEC Level 5 holders, budget in AED.

📘 Related guides: Cost of studying in France from the UAE (AED budget) · Bachelor in France for UAE students.

📘 Related guide: Study in France in English from the UAE.

Frequently asked questions

Every step in the UAE begins with it. Apply online: AI2’s academic team reviews your transcripts, holds an online interview and confirms your programme, intake, tuition and any scholarship in writing, ready for Campus France UAE.

Apply nowStudy AI in France from the UAE