Canada

Closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Public holidays in 2024:

• Monday January 1st: New Year's Day
• Monday, February 19th: Family Day
• Friday, March 29th: Good Friday
• Monday, April 1st: Easter Monday
• Monday, May 20th: Victoria Day / National Patriot's Day
• Monday, June 24th: Quebec National Holiday (Montreal and Quebec City only)
• Monday, July 1st: Canada Day
• Monday, August 5th: Civic Holiday / New Brunswick Day / British Columbia Day (Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver only)
• Monday, September 2nd: Labour Day
• Monday, October 14th: Thanksgiving Day
• Wednesday, December 25th: Christmas Day
• Thursday, December 26th: Boxing Day

Security information

Security checks will be performed before you are admitted to the premises.

Bulky bags, electronic devices, weapons and dangerous items are prohibited.

Application processing times

Processing times - upon receipt of a complete application - are given as general guidelines and will vary according to the applicant’s nationality and the type of visa.

There is no expedite procedure for a visa, and the Visa Section cannot influence this timeline of process.

Reminder: do allow at least 15 days for visa processing but do not submit your application more than 6 months before your planned dates of travel.

Tracking your application

After your appointment and submitting your application at the Montreal VFS GLOBAL centre, you can track the progress of your application by entering your GWF number you will find on your receipt (FCML for Montreal, FCTT for Toronto, FCVR for Vancouver, FCOT for Ottawa).

As soon as your visa application has been processed by the Consulate, you will receive an SMS informing you that your passport is ready to be collected at the VFS GLOBAL center where your application has been submitted.

Collecting your passport

Only visa applicants or persons authorized by them can collect passports. Third parties are not allowed to collect them

Passports can be delivered to your home or office by courier on the payment of an additional fee at the VFS Center.

Preparing the required documents and making an appointment at the window

When you are scheduling an appointment i.e. via the call centre or on the VFS Canada website, you will be asked to immediately provide an email address where you can receive the appointment confirmation letter. You will be asked to show this letter when you visit the VFS Global Centre. You must print the letter out before visiting the Centre along with your other visa application documents.

Application in person

Visa applicants must submit their visa application in person at a VFS Centre after scheduling an appointment. Please remember to bring the following:

• Printout of the appointment conformation letter);
• The file containing all the required documents presented in the same order as on the checllist ;
• Visa processing fees.

If your visa application is incomplete (i.e. documents are missing), you may choose not to submit your application until you have all the required documents and come back to the Centre at a later date after scheduling a fresh appointment. You will not have to pay any processing fees if you decide not to submit your application at this time. However, if you do decide to submit your incomplete application, you will be asked to sign a document acknowledging that your application is incomplete and that certain documents are missing. Submitting a complete application does not guarantee that the consular authorities will issue you a visa.

Biometrics

Your photograph and fingerprints will be taken in the biometric booth. Applicants with temporary injuries on their fingers are advised to wait until their injuries have healed before scheduling an appointment. Henna on fingertips may also result in an unclear scanned image and should hence be removed or allowed to fade before the applicant's appointment date. Children under 12 years of age are not required to provide biometric data, their application must be submitted by the child’s parent/legal guardian. The ISO/IEC format photograph of the child will be scanned. After visiting the biometric booth, you may leave the Visa Application Centre.

People residing in United States of America

French Consulate in Montreal can’t issue visas for persons living in the United States of America.

Representations of other Schengen States

All countries from the Schengen zone are represented in Canada.

If you intend to visit several countries of the Schengen zone, you can submit your application at the French Consulate only if:

• France is your main destination, the country where you will spend most of your time (number of nights spent in the country);
• France is your first entry country and you will stay there the same number of days than in the other Schengen countries.

If it is not the case, please contact the right Schengen Consulate.

Official passport

The French Consulate in Montreal issue diplomatic visas. Visas issued to holders of official passports (i.e. related to their functions) are free of charge.

Procedure for young Canadians under the France-Canada Youth Mobility agreement (students, young professionals, working holiday visa)

The Franco-Canadian agreement aims to simplify and facilitate the administrative procedures applicable to young French nationals and young Canadian nationals (18-35 years old) who wish to stay in the country of which they are not nationals, in order to increase their knowledge languages, culture and society in the other country through travel, study, internship or work experience.

The agreement provides for four categories of stays:

• Young professionals,
• Interuniversity exchange,
• Practical Internship,
• Working Holiday Program.

For young Canadians, the agreement applies to the territories of the European and Overseas Departments (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Reunion, Mayotte) of the French Republic as well as the territorial collectivity of Saint- Pierre and Miquelon.

Canadian citizens wishing to benefit from the France-Canada agreement on youth mobility will have to provide the following documents with their application:

For every application

• Application form dated and signed
• ID photograph
• Travel document issued fewer than 10 years ago, which will remain valid for at least three months after the planned return date

Young professionals

• Work contract (no need to have it stamped by the direccte in France) or letter of offer under the canadian programme of remembrance in Vimy or Juno Beach
• Curriculum vitae
• Diplomas, training certificates, recognition of 12 months of professional experience during the last 3 years
• proof of sufficient financial resources for the beginning of the stay

Interuniversity exchange

• Student card with copy (recto-verso)
• Letter of acceptation from the university in Canada
• Letter of acceptation from the university in France
• Proof of sufficient financial resources for the beginning of the stay

Practical internship

• Proof of subscription to an insurance policy for all medical expenses including repatriation, for the length of the stay and for Quebec residents a letter from the RAMQ
• Proof of sufficient financial resources for the beginning of the stay

Working holiday programme

• Letter of motivation and confirmed return booking or affidavit to leave France
• Proof of private medical insurance covering all medical care, including repatriation, for the duration of the stay, or for Quebec residents, a RAMQ certificate of residence
• Proof of sufficient financial resources for the beginning of the stay

Check Frequently asked questions about France Canada youth mobility agreement.

Application for a French long-term visa to study in France

As of 1 October 2021, Canada will join the Études en France (EEF) platform. This platform is entirely dematerialised and allows for the management of all the steps involved in registering in an institution of higher education up to the visa application. It concerns all non-EU applicants residing in Canada and wishing to study in France for a period of more than 3 months for which a long stay visa is required. Registration on the platform is mandatory before applying for a visa. Once the application has been validated on Etudes en France, the applicant can start the visa application process on France-Visas.

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If you have any problems with your visa application, please contact VFS Global in Montreal for assistance.