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Step-by-step procedure · 6 min read

Campus France Cameroon: the procedure, step by step

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To study in France from Cameroon, you go through Campus France before the embassy: an online file on Études en France, checks, fees, an interview, answers from institutions, then a visa appointment at TLS Contact. Here is each step, from the official instructions — and the one rule anglophone students must read first.

By Talla Naoussi Arnold, translator — Master II in translation, ASTI, Buea · Updated 25 September 2026

Circular reading room of a large library

First: where English records get translated

If you sat the GCE in Bamenda or took an HND in Buea, this is the sentence that matters most, so I put it first. For your academic records, in this procedure, you do not need a private translator — me included. You need one of the two services Campus France names.

Documents already in French need nothing: the procedure runs in French. For a document that is not an academic record, read what your file asks for; our Campus France and translation page says what we can take on, and what we turn down.

The seven steps Campus France Cameroon publishes

As the official page sets them out (updated 7 October 2025). Each step opens the next.

  1. Get informed

    Free information sessions at the Institut français du Cameroun, the SAPEF fair, and the Campus France Cameroon website.

  2. Create and complete your file on Études en France

    The French foreign ministry’s online platform. Campus France offers paid personal support.

  3. A first check, then authorisation to pay

    Campus France checks the file; the authorisation to pay appears in your Études en France account. Payment is made at TLS Contact.

  4. Checking the original documents

    TLS Contact holds your originals and passes them to Campus France for checking; they are returned afterwards and you are notified.

  5. The academic interview

    Once your file is complete and submitted, a Campus France adviser interviews you.

  6. Answers from institutions, and your final choice

    The page says accepted candidates must confirm their final choice by 31 May at the latest and download the acceptance certificate, which the visa application requires.

  7. Visa appointment and filing

    The appointment is allocated by Campus France only; the file is filed at TLS Contact in Yaoundé, Garoua or Douala.

Fees: two amounts on the same website

The seven-steps page, updated on 7 October 2025, gives 85,000 FCFA in Campus France procedure fees, paid at TLS Contact, plus 16,000 FCFA in TLS fees. A frequently-asked-questions page on the same site still mentions 75,000 FCFA in non-refundable fees.

Both cannot be right at once. Check the amount in force when you pay, on the site or with Campus France — and keep the receipt: the official FAQ says it is needed for the visa application.

Academic file being assembled: transcripts, diploma and mortarboard

An Études en France file is built level by level, document by document.

The French test

Campus France Cameroon requires the TCF-DAP, without the speaking section, from GCE Advanced Level holders who want to start the first year of a university licence. It is run by the Institut français du Cameroun. The TCF is a test you sit, not a document anyone translates.

For a master’s, a school or another level, the programmes you apply to set their own language requirements: read their admission conditions in Études en France.

2026 campaign: what the embassy clarified

On 3 September 2026 the French embassy in Cameroon published a statement on the student mobility campaign. It says it does not intend to add conditions beyond the regulations in force — on full payment of tuition fees or the availability of a bank account — and that any contrary reading of its 10 July 2026 statement is null and void.

It adds that each application is examined individually, on the documents supplied, and that it is working with TLS Contact to open as many appointment slots as possible.

What I would do in your place

Nothing official here: what I see from my desk when a file goes wrong.

  • Start with the translation rule

    If your curriculum was in English, contact MINESUP or the Bonanjo language centre as soon as your list of records is known — not the week you submit.

  • Match every name to your passport

    Results slips, diplomas, birth certificate, online file: one letter out between two documents and someone will ask why.

  • Keep copies of everything you hand over

    Your originals travel from TLS Contact to Campus France and back. A clean copy of each keeps you from being left with nothing in between.

  • Reread the official site at every step

    Fees and dates change from one campaign to the next. The Campus France Cameroon steps page is the authority, not this one.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Campus France procedure compulsory from Cameroon?

For a long-stay student visa, yes. Campus France Cameroon states that its procedure is compulsory for every long-stay student visa application for France made by pupils and students residing in Cameroon who are not nationals of the European Economic Area.

Where do I get my GCE results translated for Campus France?

According to Campus France Cameroon, whatever the level applied for, students who followed an English-language curriculum must have their academic records translated at the Ministry of Higher Education in Yaoundé or at the Bonanjo language centre in Douala. Not by a private translator — us included.

Do I have to sit a French test?

Campus France Cameroon requires the TCF-DAP, without the speaking section, from GCE Advanced Level holders applying for the first year of a university licence; it is run by the Institut français du Cameroun. For other profiles, check what the programmes you chose require.

Where is the visa application filed?

At TLS Contact, in Yaoundé, Douala or Garoua, on an appointment that Campus France Cameroon allocates itself once your final choice of programme is confirmed.

Heading for a credential evaluator rather than a French university? See WES credential evaluation.

Official sources

Consulted on 11 September 2026. Official instructions change: when they differ from this page, they prevail.