Campus France Mali 2027: calendar, fees, interview and a visa requested by email

Information checked on 6 October 2026.

Campus France Mali is operating (Campus France is the French public agency for international students): the Bamako office opened the campaign for the 2027 intake on 1 October 2026 and published its calendar. Licence 1 (first-year bachelor's) closes by 30 November 2026, two weeks before the national date, and master's by 31 January 2027. What changes everything is the next step: the visa service of the French consulate general in Bamako has been suspended since August 2023. Admitted students follow a special procedure: an appointment request by email, then filing at Capago. This guide covers both halves of the journey, with what the official sources say as of 6 October 2026.

Campus France Mali in 2026: what works, what remains suspended

That last row does not concern your file as such, but it is a reminder that the situation can change quickly. Re-read the official pages before each step.

Who must go through Campus France Mali?

The « Études en France » procedure applies to every non-European student seeking a long-stay study visa. Campus France Mali distinguishes four cases:

How to choose between these routes is explained in DAP, non-DAP or Parcoursup: which procedure.

The Campus France office in Mali

The office is inside the Institut français du Mali, boulevard de l'Indépendance, Bamako Coura. Phone: +223 90 30 02 61; email: infos.campusfrance@institutfrancaismali.org; a contact form asks for your file number (ML…).

Opening hours differ between documents: the contact page, updated in June 2026, announces walk-in reception on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm, while the 2027 campaign brochure says « Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12.30 pm ». Call before you go. The office offers walk-in reception, guidance interviews and free workshops.

Since 30 September 2026, the Études en France platform has a new address, etudesenfrance.diplomatie.gouv.fr; the old one redirects automatically. Campus France Mali has published two guides on creating an account.

Campus France Mali 2027 calendar

Here is the calendar from the official 2026-2027 campaign brochure, for a September 2027 start:

PASS and L.AS are the entry routes into medicine, and the BUT is a technology bachelor's. 30 November falls two weeks before the national DAP date (demande d'admission préalable, the prior admission request) of 15 December: in Mali, the local date is the one that counts. For a delayed intake (December 2026 to March 2027), processing began on 1 October 2026 and every file must be submitted no later than 45 days before the start date. The national month-by-month framework is in our Campus France 2027 calendar.

The procedure step by step

Campus France Mali points out in its brochure that completing the procedure guarantees neither acceptance nor a visa. Our complete guide to the Campus France procedure goes through every screen.

Campus France fees in Mali

The application fee is 70,000 FCFA, for both « Je suis candidat » and « Je suis accepté ». Payment follows a strict rule:

Do not go to the bank before you have the account number. No refund is possible: make sure you want to see it through before paying. The full budget, tuition included, is in our article on Campus France fees.

The French test

Campus France Mali regards level B2 as the minimum to succeed in France, and C1 or C2 as recommended for law, social sciences and humanities; more and more universities require the DELF B2. The language centre of the Institut français du Mali (71 70 77 77) runs a placement test in under an hour and offers courses. For a licence 1, the national 2026-2027 DAP notice exempts nationals of countries where French is the sole official language from the TCF (the French language test), and lists Mali. Our comparison of the Campus France French test covers each case.

The academic interview

Once your file is validated, you receive a summons. Come with your ID, the summons, the original documents and a clear study project: you will explain your choices and your motivation. The brochure stresses that the interview weighs heavily in the file: prepare it carefully, for example with the Campus France interview questions. Interviews end by 15 March 2027.

Answers and refusal

Institutions answer on the platform, and the « Je suis accepté » step closes by 30 April 2027. No admission? Direct application, another country, another try: the options are in Campus France refusal: what to do.

The student visa from Mali: the email procedure

The visa service of the French consulate general in Bamako has been suspended since August 2023, pending its full reopening. For studies, Campus France Mali describes the procedure that applies:

Capago is only a private provider that receives files: the consulate general alone decides. You apply no earlier than three months and no later than one month before departure. The visa issued is a VLS-TS « étudiant » (long-stay visa serving as a residence permit), valid from four months to a year, to be validated online after arrival.

The figures show that visas are still being issued: Campus France's mobility sheet counts 783 student visas in 2024, against 490 in 2023. On resources, plan for at least 877.50 euros per month for an application filed since 1 August 2026; our guide to proving your resources lists the accepted proofs, and our guide to the student visa application every document.

Housing and arrival

For housing, aim first for Crous residences (France's public student services), the cheapest, using our guide to Crous housing for international students; to cost daily life, see student budget in Paris, Lyon and Lille. You will not be alone: France had 2,851 Malian students in 2024-2025, 69% of them at university, according to Campus France's mobility sheet published in February 2026.

Finding the Malian diaspora before you leave

Even before universities answer, you can join the Malian community of your future city on Compatri, from the Malian diaspora page. The group « Étudiants africains » (African students) links, from city to city, those who share housing tips, grants and mutual help, and our selection of African student associations in France adds to those contacts. Every 22 September, Mali's Independence Day brings the diaspora together.

Compatri is not a service of Campus France or of the French State, and does not replace the official source: only the information from Campus France Mali, the consulate and France-Visas binds you.

Official sources

• Campus France Mali: opening of the 2026-2027 campaign
• Campus France Mali: 2027 campaign brochure and calendar
• Campus France Mali: application fees
• Campus France Mali: the visa application
• Diplomatie.gouv.fr: Mali, latest news and alerts
• Campus France: Mali mobility sheet