Can I apply for a France visa in Manchester if I live in Leeds, Liverpool or Newcastle?

Yes. France states there is no consular area inside the UK, so any UK resident may apply at any of TLScontact's three centres: London (Wandsworth), Manchester or Edinburgh. Choose the one you can reach on the day. Whichever you choose, the application is decided by the French consulate in London, which decided all 129,940 UK applications in 2025.

Does TLScontact Edinburgh still show a calendar for France?

No. Since 11 September 2026 Edinburgh allocates short-stay France appointments automatically, as London and Manchester have since 1 August 2026. You complete and validate the France-Visas application, register with TLScontact, and the appointment is emailed to you. There is no calendar to refresh, so slot trackers and bots have nothing to do.

What happens when TLScontact allocates my appointment?

You receive an email with the date and have 12 hours to pay for the appointment; it cannot be rescheduled. If nothing is allocated within 60 days of registering, the registration is deleted and you register again. Because the date can arrive at any time and cannot be moved, your documents need to be ready before you register, not after.

Is the fee different in Manchester or Edinburgh?

No. The €90 consulate fee (about £81) is fixed EU-wide, €45 for a child aged 6 to 11 and free under 6, and TLScontact's service fee applies at every UK centre. TLScontact does not publish its exact UK fee openly; France-Visas gives the provider fee as €40 to €55, so budget about £45. Optional extras such as courier return cost more and do not speed up the decision.

Which is quicker, Manchester or Edinburgh?

Nobody can say. Both centres allocate from TLScontact's queue, TLScontact publishes no waiting times, and we will not invent one. Our booking desk records what it sees when it registers customers; when we have a recent reading for a centre, the offer card on this page shows it, and every centre's readings are in our appointment availability index.

Can a service register me for a TLScontact appointment?

Yes, if it works in your own France-Visas and TLScontact accounts, in your own name, and you attend in person. Our done-for-you service completes the France-Visas application, builds the pack to the TLScontact checklist and registers you the day your file is complete for a £99 service fee. For France, that registration is what 'booked within 3 working days' means. We never ask for your password or one-time code, never run bots and never buy or sell an appointment.

TLScontact France Visa in Manchester and Edinburgh

TL;DR

TLScontact France visa in Manchester and Edinburgh: both centres take France applications from any UK resident, both allocate appointments automatically (Manchester since 1 August 2026, Edinburgh since 11 September 2026), and both feed the French consulate in London (129,940 UK applications in 2025, 8.5% refused). You register after validating the France-Visas form, TLScontact emails the date, you have 12 hours to pay and cannot reschedule. Fees: €90 plus about £45. We prepare the file and register you for £99.

Who may use which centre

France's official portal states there is no consular area inside the UK: a UK resident may apply at any of TLScontact's three centres, London (Wandsworth), Manchester or Edinburgh. There is no catchment to check. Choose the centre you can reach on the day of the appointment, because the date, once allocated, cannot be moved.

Whichever centre you use, the decision is made by the French consulate in London. The European Commission's 2025 statistics list one French consulate for the UK, London, with 129,940 applications, 118,552 visas issued and 10,994 refusals, an 8.5% refusal rate (6.0% in 2024). Manchester and Edinburgh are collection points for the same decision-maker, so the file standard is identical at all three.

Schengen short-stay visa key facts, 2026
Schengen short-stay visa (Type C)	2026
Visa fee (adult)	€90
Visa fee (child 6 to 11)	€45
Visa fee (child under 6)	Free
Maximum stay	90 days in any rolling 180-day period
Standard processing	15 calendar days (up to 45 in some cases)
Travel insurance, minimum cover	€30,000
Passport	Issued within 10 years; valid 3+ months beyond your trip
Member states	29 countries

The fee and these rules are set EU-wide and are identical across all 29 member states. Source: European Commission. Verified 2026-06-24.

The allocation system, in both cities

Since 1 August 2026 TLScontact's London and Manchester centres have allocated short-stay France appointments automatically; Edinburgh followed on 11 September 2026. None of the three shows a calendar for a short-stay visa any more. The order of events is:

Complete the France-Visas application at france-visas.gouv.fr. It generates the application reference TLScontact needs and your personal document checklist.
Create a TLScontact account, link the reference and choose Manchester or Edinburgh.
Register. Your validated application joins TLScontact's queue. There is nothing to refresh and no tracker or bot can move you up it.
Receive the allocation email with your appointment date. You have 12 hours to pay for the appointment, and it cannot be rescheduled.
If nothing is allocated within 60 days, the registration is deleted and you register again.

TLScontact introduced the system to "protect visa applicants from fraudulent and costly third-party agencies" (reported by The Connexion, 13 October 2026). It also changes what good preparation means: under the old calendar you could take a date three weeks out and finish the documents in between; now the date can arrive at any time and TLScontact checks your file against the France-Visas checklist at the counter. Register only when the file is complete.

Step by step at Manchester or Edinburgh

Check France is the right country to apply to: most nights in France, or first entry on an evenly split trip. See which country to apply to.
Complete and validate the France-Visas form, print and sign it.
Create the TLScontact account, link the reference, choose the centre and register for allocation.
Build the file while you wait: a passport issued within 10 years with 3 months' validity beyond your return and 2 blank pages, the signed form, 2 photos to the spec, proof of UK residence (BRP, eVisa share code or visa), accommodation for every night and return travel, bank statements (typically 3 months) with payslips, an employer or student letter, insurance with at least €30,000 of medical cover, and a short cover letter. The full list is on the France documents page.
Pay within 12 hours of the allocation email and keep the date.
Attend in person: fingerprints, photo, documents, fees. Allow around an hour. The €90 consulate fee (about £81) and TLScontact's fee of about £45 are collected by TLScontact.
Wait for the decision: normally 15 calendar days from the appointment, up to 45. The passport comes back by courier or collection. See France visa processing time.

What our booking desk does for France

For every customer whose file is complete, the desk registers the validated France-Visas application with TLScontact the same day, at the centre the customer chose, in the customer's own accounts. For France, that registration is what our "booked within 3 working days" promise means, and the terms say so. When the allocation email arrives, the desk sends you the date the moment it arrives, so you can pay within the 12-hour window, together with the what-to-bring list and the pack. We never run bots or scripts, never ask for your portal password or one-time code, and never buy or sell a slot.

When we have a recent reading for a centre, the offer card at the top of this page shows what the desk saw when it last registered there; readings for every UK centre are in the appointment availability index, dated and withdrawn after three weeks. We do not quote waiting times, because TLScontact publishes none. The done-for-you service is a £99 service fee, official fees paid by you, prepared within 24 hours of your complete file or the fee back.

Before your appointment

Have the allocation email and the signed France-Visas form printed or on your phone.
Check the passport tests: issued within 10 years, valid 3 months beyond your return, 2 blank pages.
Make the statements, the bookings and the itinerary agree on dates and cities, with most nights in France.
Build and size the file with the free checklist generator, the Bundler and the Compressor.

Both cities host other operators too: Schengen visa appointments in Manchester and in Edinburgh list them by country.

More France pages

Sources

Common questions

01
Can I apply for a France visa in Manchester if I live in Leeds, Liverpool or Newcastle?
Yes. France states there is no consular area inside the UK, so any UK resident may apply at any of TLScontact's three centres: London (Wandsworth), Manchester or Edinburgh. Choose the one you can reach on the day. Whichever you choose, the application is decided by the French consulate in London, which decided all 129,940 UK applications in 2025.
02
Does TLScontact Edinburgh still show a calendar for France?
No. Since 11 September 2026 Edinburgh allocates short-stay France appointments automatically, as London and Manchester have since 1 August 2026. You complete and validate the France-Visas application, register with TLScontact, and the appointment is emailed to you. There is no calendar to refresh, so slot trackers and bots have nothing to do.
03
What happens when TLScontact allocates my appointment?
You receive an email with the date and have 12 hours to pay for the appointment; it cannot be rescheduled. If nothing is allocated within 60 days of registering, the registration is deleted and you register again. Because the date can arrive at any time and cannot be moved, your documents need to be ready before you register, not after.
04
Is the fee different in Manchester or Edinburgh?
No. The €90 consulate fee (about £81) is fixed EU-wide, €45 for a child aged 6 to 11 and free under 6, and TLScontact's service fee applies at every UK centre. TLScontact does not publish its exact UK fee openly; France-Visas gives the provider fee as €40 to €55, so budget about £45. Optional extras such as courier return cost more and do not speed up the decision.
05
Which is quicker, Manchester or Edinburgh?
Nobody can say. Both centres allocate from TLScontact's queue, TLScontact publishes no waiting times, and we will not invent one. Our booking desk records what it sees when it registers customers; when we have a recent reading for a centre, the offer card on this page shows it, and every centre's readings are in our appointment availability index.
06
Can a service register me for a TLScontact appointment?
Yes, if it works in your own France-Visas and TLScontact accounts, in your own name, and you attend in person. Our done-for-you service completes the France-Visas application, builds the pack to the TLScontact checklist and registers you the day your file is complete for a £99 service fee. For France, that registration is what 'booked within 3 working days' means. We never ask for your password or one-time code, never run bots and never buy or sell an appointment.

Free tools that pair with this guide

Done-for-you Schengen service

Get your Schengen visa: we do the whole application

One £99 service fee covers our full preparation service: we complete the forms, build the document pack and book the appointment. You pay the official fees at the centre and attend biometrics; the consulate decides.

Done for you · France

£99 service fee

£99 to us now. About £126 at the centre on the day (€90 consulate fee, about £81, plus the TLScontact fee). About £225 all-in.

The official fees are the same whether you apply yourself or with us. What you hand over is the forms, the document pack and the appointment hunt.

The €90 consulate fee (≈£81) and the TLScontact fee: paid by you at the centre, and we tell you the exact amounts
Travel insurance meeting the €30,000 rule: we tell you what qualifies (about £12)
Forms completed, document pack built to the consulate's checklist
Appointment booked for you; you attend biometrics in person

Worth knowing: if an application is refused, the consulate fee and centre fee are not refunded, and non-refundable bookings can go with them. Getting it right the first time is most of what you are paying for.

Prepared and ready to lodge within 24 hours of your complete documents and details, or your service fee back. Full refund if you cancel before we start work (terms). Secure payment by Stripe; your card statement will show FINDMYVISA.

1. Pay securely
Checkout takes about a minute
2. Tell us about your trip
Upload documents on the next page; we confirm within 24 hours
3. We prepare and book
You attend biometrics; we handle everything else

Every fee on this page is checked against the official operator or consulate page, with sources linked in our cost index. Our £99 service fee sits in the lower half of the UK market we surveyed, and we never mark up official fees (see the comparison). Documents are encrypted and deleted 30 days after the decision. No guarantees of approval: the consulate alone decides. Prefer to apply yourself? The Self-Serve pack is £39, and our free guides cover everything.