France
How to Get a France Schengen Visa from the UK
A complete guide for non-UK nationals living in Britain: what it costs, how the application actually works, where you go, and whether France is even the right country to apply to.
Written and kept current by a UK consultancy that prepares these applications every week.
Consultancy enquiry
This is an enquiry form for our advisory service. It is not a visa application form and nothing is submitted to any consulate or visa centre.
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- Registered in England, Companies House 16891200
- ICO registered ZC149216
- Replies the same working day, Monday to Saturday
Rated4.5onfrom 27 reviews
Independent consultancy. Not affiliated with any government, embassy, consulate, or with TLScontact, who are the official provider for France in the UK. Official fees are paid directly to the relevant authority.
Who this is for
Do you need a French Schengen visa?
A French Schengen visa is a short-stay Type C visa allowing up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area, applied for through France when France is your main destination. If you are a non-UK national living in Britain and your nationality requires a visa for the Schengen area, you need one. Your UK immigration status does not exempt you.
Two things people get wrong here.
British passport holders do not need one for short tourist trips. If that is you, this page is not for you.
Indefinite leave to remain does not exempt you. Neither does a UK visa, a biometric residence permit or an eVisa. Your passport decides whether you need a Schengen visa. Your UK status decides where you apply from, and that is a different question.
The real figures
What a France Schengen visa costs from the UK
The official visa fee is EUR 90 for an adult and EUR 45 for a child aged six to eleven. Children under six are free. That fee is set by the European Union, is the same for every Schengen country, and is non-refundable whatever the decision.
This is worth stating plainly because there is a lot of wrong information about it. Figures of EUR 35 and EUR 80 are still circulating online, including in places you would expect to be reliable. EUR 80 was correct before June 2024. EUR 35 has not been the standard adult fee for many years.
There are three separate costs.
| What it is | Who you pay | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Official Schengen visa fee | The consulate, via the centre, on the day | EUR 90 adult · EUR 45 child aged six to eleven · free under six |
| TLScontact service fee | TLScontact, on the day | Set and published by TLScontact; check their current figure when you register |
| Our consultancy fee, if you use us | Flypass Holidays | From £95, confirmed in writing before any work begins |
We never collect, handle or forward official fees.
Two systems, in order
How the application actually works
There are two systems and you use both, in order. Almost every problem people have comes from not realising that.
- France-Visas. The official French government portal. You create an account, complete the visa wizard, fill in the application form, and receive an FV reference number. Nothing can happen until you have it.
- TLScontact. The official provider for France in the UK, and the only one. You register an account using the same details, enter your FV reference number, and go through their appointment process.
- You attend in person at your centre, hand over your documents, and give your fingerprints and photograph.
- The consulate decides. Not TLScontact, and not us.
Under the new process you do not browse a calendar and pick a date. You register, your details are validated, and you join a queue. An appointment is then allocated to you automatically based on availability. Once it is, you have 24 hours to pay the service fee and confirm, or it goes. Appointments are personal and non-transferable. If nothing is allocated within 60 days, your data is cleared and you register again.
- Nobody can hold a slot for you. Not us, not anyone. That is the point of the change, and TLScontact has said so publicly.
- The 24-hour window is the part that catches people. If the allocation email arrives while you are away from your phone, you lose it. Watch for it.
- Your file needs to be ready before the date lands, not after. You do not get to choose when.
The three centres
Where you will go
TLScontact operates three visa application centres for France in the UK, and France-Visas states that UK residents may choose freely between them. Most people use the nearest, but if one has availability and another does not, you are not restricted to your own region.
Manchester.
1 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3BE. Open six days a week. Submissions Monday to Friday 07:30 to 16:00, Saturday 08:30 to 15:00.
Wandsworth, London.
See TLScontact's own pages for the current address and opening hours.
Edinburgh.
Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR. Open five days a week.
One exception worth knowing. A small number of categories can apply directly to the Consulate General of France in London rather than through TLScontact, including family members of EU nationals and spouses of French citizens. If you think you might qualify, check France-Visas before you register with TLScontact, because the route is different from the start.
The main destination rule
Applying to France when your trip covers more than one country
Apply to France only if France is your main destination, meaning the country where you will spend the most nights. If you will spend more nights in Italy or Belgium, your application must go to that country's consulate instead, even if you fly into Paris first. Where nights are split equally, it goes to the country you enter first.
This catches people out constantly, because France is the obvious airport for a multi-country European trip. A week split between Paris and three other countries is not automatically a French application. Applying to the wrong consulate can have your file refused before anyone reads it properly, and that refusal stays on your record for next time.
Count your nights before you do anything else.
Documents
What you need to show
The exact list depends on your circumstances, and TLScontact publishes the definitive checklist for your visa type. Broadly, a French short-stay application asks for:
- Your passport, issued within the last ten years and valid for at least three months beyond your return
- Proof of your legal status in the UK, which for most people now means an eVisa share code
- The completed France-Visas form and your appointment confirmation
- Proof of accommodation for the whole stay
- Return travel arrangements
- Financial evidence showing you can fund the trip
- Travel medical insurance valid across the Schengen area, with a minimum of EUR 30,000 of cover
- A cover letter explaining the trip and how the documents fit together
The list is not the hard part. Making the documents agree with each other is.
Honest service
How we can help, and what we cannot do
What we cannot do. We cannot get you an appointment, hold one, or move you up the queue. Nobody can. TLScontact allocates appointments and has said publicly that no agency is accredited to offer them. Anyone telling you otherwise is describing a system that no longer exists.
What we do. We confirm France is the correct country for your trip before you spend anything. We build your document set around your actual status in the UK. We draft your cover letter and itinerary. We read your financial evidence the way an officer will. And we make sure your file is complete and consistent before the allocation lands, so the 24-hour window is not spent scrambling. This is what we prepare.
Abdul Mateen, who founded the practice, reads the cases himself. Our fee starts from £95, confirmed in writing before any work begins, and you are always free to apply on your own without us.
What travellers say
Reviews from people who sat where you are sitting
Rated 4.5 out of 5 based on 27 reviews
- September 2026
Lalian Sen
My Schengen visa just got approved. The agent helped me throughout the process. Just respond with the info they ask and they’ll sort out everything else for you in no time!
Verified Trustpilot review - August 2026
Mahesh Patil
Excellent and prompt service! Very efficient team with quick responses, smooth booking, and all documents handled professionally. Really pleased with the overall service.
Verified Trustpilot review - July 2026
Nayya Hassan
It was my first time applying for a Schengen visa and Fly Pass Holidays made the process so easy and seamless. I got a multiple entry Italy visa for 4 months within just two weeks of application. Highly recommend their services!
Verified Trustpilot review
Straight answers
France visa questions, answered plainly
Official references: France-Visas, the official portal · EU Home Affairs, Schengen visa policy · Companies House, Flypass Holidays Limited
No. Flypass Holidays Limited is a private consultancy registered in England and Wales, company number 16891200. We are not affiliated with any government, embassy or consulate, nor with VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or Global Visa Center World. We cannot issue a visa and we cannot influence a decision.
The official visa fee is EUR 90 for an adult and EUR 45 for a child aged six to eleven, free under six. TLScontact charges its own service fee on top, payable on the day, and you should check their current published figure. If you use a consultancy, that is a third and separate cost. Ours starts from £95.
Start on the France-Visas portal, complete the form and get your FV reference number. Then register with TLScontact, the official provider for France in the UK, using the same details. You will be allocated an appointment, which you attend in person to give your fingerprints and photograph. The consulate makes the decision.
Not since 1 August 2026. TLScontact replaced slot booking with an allocation queue at its France centres. You register, join the queue, and an appointment is allocated automatically. You then have 24 hours to pay and confirm it. Appointments are personal and non-transferable, and no agency can obtain one for you.
A UK biometric residence permit is proof of your right to live in Britain. It is not a Schengen visa and it does not let you enter France. If your nationality needs a visa for the Schengen area, you need one regardless of your UK status. BRPs have also been replaced by the online eVisa, so most people now prove UK status with a share code rather than a card.
Yes, if your passport requires one. Indefinite leave to remain is UK immigration status. It does not change what the Schengen area requires of your nationality. What it does do is strengthen your application, because it is strong evidence that you will return.
Wandsworth in London, Manchester, or Edinburgh. France-Visas states that UK residents may choose freely between the three, so you are not restricted to the one nearest you.
The consulate’s decision follows the standard Schengen timeframe, and the appointment you attend beforehand is usually the longer wait. We set out the full timeline on our Schengen visa processing time page.
Yes. You must hold travel medical insurance valid across the Schengen area for the whole of your stay, with a minimum of EUR 30,000 of cover. It is checked at your appointment.
Yes. A previous refusal makes preparation more important, not less. We read the refusal notice, work out what the consulate doubted, and rebuild the application to answer it rather than resubmitting the same file.
No, and no honest agency can. Decisions are made solely by the consulate. What we control is the quality of what reaches them.
Tell us where you are going and when.
You will get a straight answer the same working day about whether France is the right country to apply to, whether your timeline works, and whether your case needs us at all.
Flypass Holidays Limited · 50 Princes Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1RJ · [email protected]