France Working Holiday Visa for Canadians (2025-2026 application)

Hi Jackson! Thanks for your website, it is very helpful! From your personal experience or from what you are noticing currently, do you happen to have a delay estimation from the time the application is sent to the consulate by vfs to when vfs advises that the passeport and visa are ready for pick up? My flight is in a couple of days and I am stressing really hard because I have no clue what I will Do if I do not receive it on time (either delay or cancel my trip). I applied for à long term visa because I will be in France for 11 months. I Wonder if there is any way to aplply for the visa from Europe within the 90 day time limit. Do you happen to know ? Thank you so much. You are my last hope at obtaining some sort of useful info now..

Hello Li, you’re very welcome. I have applied for two different France visas through VFS and in both cases, my passport was mailed back to me within 7-8 days of my appointment. It’s hard to say if that is standard for most people or not. And generally it is not possible to apply for a France visa as a visitor on French soil (certainly not the first WHV). What type of visa are you applying for?

Thank you so much for your Quick response, that gives me some hope 🙂 i am applying for a long term visa (tourist). And actually I was wonderijg whether it was also possible to do it abroad (for exemple in the French Embassy in England which is outside the Schengen zone). Thank you so much Jackson 🙂

I am not sure about that, it is best to confirm with the embassy directly. My understanding is that in general, you should be at least a resident of the country in which you are submitting an application (if not your country of citizenship). Though there could be exceptions.
I’m not sure if this is applicable to you, but Canadians who have gotten a WHV to France can apply for a 12 month extension via the APS. And this can fully be done on French soil. https://pvtistes.net/en/extend-working-holiday-france/

Thanks again for all tha precious info :)!!

Hi Jackson,

I hope you’re well! I am about to finalize a renting lease agreement and the landlord is asking for “Assurance Habitation” (home insurance). This would amount to a monthly fee that I’d get from a company of my choice. However, I already have the ACS insurance purchased as part of my Working Holiday Visa application, and from what I see in the certificate, there is also a “Civil Liability” section which includes damage to property. Doesn’t this count as the Assurance Habitation?

Thank you as always for your help!

All the best,
Niloo

Congrats on finding housing! These are separate protections. I am certainly not a lawyer, but civil liability protects you from legal recourse when you cause injury or damages to another individual. Housing insurance is to protect yourself as resident and the landlord, from potential damages. For example if your apartment gets robbed and you lose valuables, that would not be a claim to bring to your medical insurer nor your landlord. Rather it would be the housing insurance. Hope that helps

Hello,

Is anyone familiar with the medical insurance (repatriation) for residents of Quebec as well as the attestation de séjour de la RAMQ? With the letter from RAMQ is it still necessary to purchase medical insurance?

On a side note, is it possible to work in Monaco on this visa?

Hi there. To respond to your questions:
1) Yes, private medical insurance is still required for the WHV application, even for residents of Quebec.
2) No. Monaco has its own WHV program, and at the moment it is only available to citizens of the UK.

This article is available in French too, in case your are francophone https://pvtistes.net/dossiers/demande-du-pvt-france-pour-canadiens/

Hi Jackson,

I’ve landed in Marseille and it’s so beautiful! However, I tried opening a simple everyday chequing account at a bank, and was told that I would not be able to do so until I have a job/salary. I have money that I need to pour into an account and I thought the WHV allowed its holders to open a bank account even without a job (I do plan on finding a job, but that’s not the point). I spoke with a few people and am getting contradictory info regarding this, some say I need to try out other banks or perhaps the person I spoke with doesn’t know what WHV is. Could you please give me some information on how to proceed?

Thank you!

Niloo

Hello Niloo. It’s true that the information you get will vary from bank to bank, branch to branch, and even employee to employee (just because the WHV is not very common). But the bottom line is that as a WHV holder, yes it is possible to open a checking account in France, even without a job. I was able to do so at Credit Agricole without problem. All I had to provide was my passport, visa, and local address. I used my Wise account to fund it with some euros (though I don’t think they required me to). If you’re having trouble, try a few different banks and eventually you will find someone that can help. And if you need a Wise account, pvtistes has a special deal https://pvtistes.net/en/bonsplans/wise-free-transfer/

A thousand thanks, Jackson! I went to LCL Banque this morning (Credit Agricole is affiliated to it), and they gave me an appointment next week to open up an account. 🙂 Thank goodness. I appreciate all of your help, as well as the promptness of your responses!

what bank stated you had to have a job before they can open an account for you ?

Hi Jackson,

I am confused as to whether Canadians need to provide a Medical Certificate of ¨good health¨. After filling out the online application on the france-visa.gouv.fr a supporting documents page shows up and states that we do… but on different blogs I have read that we don’t. Can anyone please clearify ?

Thanks !
Giselle

Hello. As stated in chapter 4, Canadians are exempt from providing a medical certificate and background check.

Hi Jackson,

Thanks for your answer, do you have any official source of information that can confirm this? What I can see stated on official document checklists is ¨Medical certificate (if bilateral agreement provides for this)¨ however I cannot find any official information regarding the specifics of the France- Canada bilateral agreement that excepts medical certificates other than word of mouth. How do I know this hasn’t changed since you applied?

Also, in case of no return ticket, must we write a ¨letter of commitment¨ that is seperate from the letter of motivation/cover letter? even if funds on bank statement meet the requirements?

Thanks for the help, it is greatly appreaciated !

1. You can contact the French embassy or consulate to ask if you’d like. We don’t have any other source to provide.
2. You don’t need a separate letter. Just make your commitment clear in your letter of motivation.

Hi again romar. To add to my first answer, at the time of writing you won’t find any official sources that explicitly tell you that a medical certificate and background check are not necessary. The reason the official checklist says “if the bilateral agreement provides for this” is because some other nationalities are required to provide these documents and it is specified in their respective bilateral agreements with France. If you look up and read in full the Franco-Canadian bilateral agreement, you won’t see any mention of a medical certificate or background check. It is by omission of these mentions that we are meant to understand they are not needed. Indeed, I and other recent applicants have never been asked to provide these. Hope that helps.