Registering for the TCF IRN, the DELF A2 or the examen civique — where, when, how much

Once you have chosen what to sit, the practical questions remain: where to register, how long to wait, and what it costs. Three exams, three different logics.

Information verified on 12 August 2026. ⚠️ There is no official national price for any of these three exams — each accredited centre sets its own. The amounts below are observed ranges, not official tariffs. Always ask your centre for its own price before committing.

Overview

	TCF IRN	DELF A2	Examen civique
Run by	France Éducation international (FEI), a public operator of the Ministère de l’Éducation nationale	FEI — a national diploma	Ministère de l’Intérieur, through 2 accredited operators: CCI Paris Île-de-France and FEI
What you get	an attestation with a level per skill	a diploma	an attestation de réussite
Validity	2 years	for life	no expiry date
Frequency	on demand, centre by centre	monthly sessions in France, except April and September	on demand, sittings 08:00–20:00
Time to result	about 15 working days after FEI receives the session material — in practice 2–3 weeks (computer-based) or 3–4 weeks (paper)	results in 6–8 weeks, the paper diploma 3–6 months later	immediate or near-immediate (digital)
Retakes	⚠️ FEI applies a waiting period between sittings; check the current rule with your centre	at the next monthly session	unlimited, no waiting period
Observed price range	≈ €135–210	≈ €115–160	≈ €65–90 per attempt

How registration actually works

There is no single national sign-up portal — you register with a centre.

1. Find a centre. The TCF centre network and the accredited DELF/DALF centres (Alliances françaises, universities, private centres) are listed by France Éducation international; the centres accredited for the examen civique are listed on formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr.
2. Check the centre actually offers the IRN version of the TCF or TEF, not only the TCF tout public. They are not the same test, and the IRN is the one built for integration, residence and nationality procedures.
3. Register early. To get a choice of slot, allow 4–8 weeks for the TCF. Centres regularly report 2–3 month waits, worst for the DELF.
4. Check what the attestation carries. For a préfecture file, it must include an identity check and a photograph.

The calendar trap

This is the mistake that costs the most, and it has nothing to do with your French.

• The DELF paper diploma can take 3 to 6 months to arrive. If your préfecture appointment is in two months, it will not be there.
• A TCF attestation is valid 2 years, and for naturalisation the certification must be less than two years old when the file is filed — not when you sat the test. With French préfecture queues, an attestation obtained too early can expire before filing.
• The examen civique never expires. It is the only one of the three you can sit far in advance with no risk.

What the fee covers, and what it does not

For the examen civique the distinction matters: preparation is free — the Ministère de l’Intérieur publishes the knowledge questions and its civic-training fiches openly, and the CIR civic training is state-funded — but sitting the exam is paid, at a price set by each accredited centre.

On the language side, training can be free if you signed the CIR: since July 2025 the OFII routes every signatory below A2 into language training. The volume is allocated in tiers — 100, 200, 400 or 600 hours — according to the level measured on arrival; these are classroom hours allocated by the OFII, not self-service access. That does not replace the proof of level — see the A2 requirement for the carte de séjour pluriannuelle.

Before you pay for a sitting

Take a full paper first, to see where you stand: our free practice sitting follows the TCF IRN format and includes a 40-question examen civique paper. Then work on the two épreuves that make up half the marks and that almost nobody covers for free: writing and speaking, with AI marking.

To choose between the two objects, see TCF IRN or DELF A2. And check first whether you are exempt — that is the cheapest registration of all.