u/CleanAd7938

I am losing my mind. I’m currently going through the application process to study in France, and I am absolutely incensed by the existence of the "Etudes en France" (EEF) procedure.

Why the fuck am I being charged 425 USD just to use a shitty, clunky, and opaque web portal?
Here’s the kicker: based on my nationality/passport, I wouldn't even be required to use this bureaucratic nightmare. But because the undergraduate institution I’m graduating from is technically "qualified" or "linked" to the EEF system, I’m forced to go through this administrative hell. I don't even have a choice. I have to pay this absurd, arbitrary fee just to get the "privilege" of applying to a school that should be able to process my application directly.

And that’s just for the application portal. It’s not even the visa. I still have to pay another 150 USD on top of that for the actual visa fees.
What in the absolute fuck is this system?
Is the "point" of EEF just to extract money from international students under the guise of "guidance and support"? Because the "support" I’ve gotten so far is just a list of demands and a "pay here" button. It feels less like an educational pathway and more like a toll booth on a highway I didn't even ask to drive on.

Does anyone actually know what the money is for? Is it processing? Is it because they know we have no other choice? It’s infuriating that I’m being nickel-and-dimed for every single step of this process while the system itself feels like it’s being held together by duct tape and audacity.
If anyone can explain how this is anything other than a glorified, mandatory tax on international students, please let me know, because right now it just feels like I'm being treated like a walking ATM for the French government.

TL;DR: Forced into using the Études en France portal against my will because of my university, paying a ridiculous 425 USD fee for the "process" plus 150 USD for a visa, and feeling like this system is nothing more than a predatory cash cow.

I am losing my mind. I’m currently going through the application process to study in France, and I am absolutely incensed by the existence of the "Etudes en France" (EEF) procedure.

Why the fuck am I being charged 425 USD just to use a shitty, clunky, and opaque web portal?
Here’s the kicker: based on my nationality/passport, I wouldn't even be required to use this bureaucratic nightmare. But because the undergraduate institution I’m graduating from is technically "qualified" or "linked" to the EEF system, I’m forced to go through this administrative hell. I don't even have a choice. I have to pay this absurd, arbitrary fee just to get the "privilege" of applying to a school that should be able to process my application directly.

And that’s just for the application portal. It’s not even the visa. I still have to pay another 150 USD on top of that for the actual visa fees.
What in the absolute fuck is this system?
Is the "point" of EEF just to extract money from international students under the guise of "guidance and support"? Because the "support" I’ve gotten so far is just a list of demands and a "pay here" button. It feels less like an educational pathway and more like a toll booth on a highway I didn't even ask to drive on.

Does anyone actually know what the money is for? Is it processing? Is it because they know we have no other choice? It’s infuriating that I’m being nickel-and-dimed for every single step of this process while the system itself feels like it’s being held together by duct tape and audacity.
If anyone can explain how this is anything other than a glorified, mandatory tax on international students, please let me know, because right now it just feels like I'm being treated like a walking ATM for the French government.

TL;DR: Forced into using the Études en France portal against my will because of my university, paying a ridiculous 425 USD fee for the "process" plus 150 USD for a visa, and feeling like this system is nothing more than a predatory cash cow.