French and booklet
TCF IRN: the French test behind residence and citizenship files
Pick your application: the tool tells you which level your TCF IRN result must show and whether the civic exam comes on top.
Independent site, not linked to the French Interior Ministry, the préfectures or the exam centres.
Civic exam
Naturalisation level
French level
B2
Required for a first application since 1 January 2026.
Rules from the service-public.gouv.fr pages read on 25 October 2026; the préfecture alone decides on your file.
The TCF IRN is the version of the Test de connaissance du français (TCF) that France Éducation international offers for integration, residence and nationality (intégration, résidence, nationalité). Préfectures use it to check the French level an application requires: A2 for a first multi-year residence permit, B1 for a first resident card or an EU long-term resident card, and B2 for naturalisation and for nationality through marriage. The result must be less than 2 years old on the day you file. It is not the only way to prove your French: a French diploma such as the brevet, or a qualification at level 3 or above, makes it unnecessary, and the TEF from the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce is accepted too. The test papers, their length and their price are set by the organiser and its centres, and this site does not reproduce them. The tool above shows the level your result must reach for your application and whether the civic exam is required as well.
Which French level for my permit?
Level required
B2
| Civic exam | naturalisation level |
| Exam pass mark | 32 / 40 |
Answers, dates and costs by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
What the TCF IRN proves
The three letters stand for the three kinds of application that need proof of French: integration, residence and nationality. The test does not hand you a pass or a fail. It places you on the scale of levels, and the préfecture compares that level with the one your application needs. One result can therefore back a resident card now and, if it is high enough and still recent, a citizenship file later.
Which level to aim for
| Application | Level to reach | Civic exam too |
|---|---|---|
| First multi-year residence permit | A2 | yes |
| First resident card | B1 | yes |
| EU long-term resident card | B1 | yes |
| Naturalisation | B2 | yes |
| Nationality through marriage | B2 | no |
If citizenship is where you are heading, go straight for B2. That one result also covers a resident card on the way, whereas a B1 would send you back to the test centre. Our page on the French level for each permit sets the rule out in full.
The 2-year rule
What counts is the date you file, not the date someone reads your file. This is the most common reason a result is turned down: people sit the test early "to get it out of the way" and it has expired by the time they are eligible. Start from your earliest filing date, which the naturalisation date tool works out, and count back a few months so there is room for a retake.
Other accepted proof
- A French diploma: the brevet, a qualification at level 3 or above, or another diploma on the official list. It never expires.
- The TEF from the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce, under the same age rule.
- An exemption: certified medical grounds, or, for naturalisation, a refugee or stateless person over 70 who has lived in France for 15 years.
What we deliberately leave out
You will not find the TCF IRN papers, timings or fees here. They belong to France Éducation international and its approved centres, and we could not check them at the source when writing. Rather than repeat second-hand figures, we point you to the France Éducation international website, which also maps its civic exam centres. Be wary of any page quoting a format or price without naming the organiser.
A checklist before you book
- Check whether a French diploma you already hold makes the test unnecessary.
- Note the level your application needs, and aim for the next step up if you plan to take it.
- Work out your filing date and book the test in the months just before it, never more than 2 years ahead.
- Keep the original result safe: it goes into your file next to the civic exam certificate.
For many expats the hard part is not the test itself but the timing. A resident card and a citizenship file can be a few years apart, and a single well-timed result at the higher level can serve both if the dates line up.
Language test and civic exam are two different things
France Éducation international writes the TCF and is also one of the two bodies authorised to run the civic exam, alongside the Paris Chamber of Commerce. The two remain separate, each with its own booking and certificate. For the civic exam, practise on our mock test, built on the official 40-question grid and the pass mark of 32.