TCF & TEF Canada in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka

You can take the TEF Canada or TCF Canada in all four countries, at Alliance Française centres. Pakistan has the most choice: Karachi runs both tests (PKR 75,000 each), Lahore offers the TCF Canada and has TEF Canada sessions listed for November and December 2026, and Islamabad runs the e-TEF on a date you pick. Bangladesh has both tests in Dhaka at BDT 26,000, a few sessions a year. Nepal has both in Kathmandu at EUR 175, though registration was paused on 22 October 2026. Sri Lanka has the TEF Canada in Colombo, at LKR 52,500.

IRCC treats the two tests the same: your NCLC level decides your points, not the test's name. So in South Asia the real question is which centre has a date that fits your timeline. This guide lists every centre we track in the four countries, with fees as the centres publish them and the date we checked, how each one books, and what to do when your country's only session is months away. India has its own guide.

Every centre at a glance

Fees and dates as published on each centre's site on 22 October 2026, except Lahore's TEF Canada dates (Le français des affaires' centre finder, same day).

Live dates for every centre we monitor are on the TCF Canada exam dates and TEF Canada exam dates calendars, and TCF Canada fees and TEF Canada fees compare prices worldwide.

Pakistan

Karachi: the most flexible centre in the region

Alliance Française de Karachi's 2026 fee list shows PKR 75,000 for the full e-TEF Canada (four tests) and PKR 75,000 for the TCF Canada. A single e-TEF test costs PKR 25,000, useful only if you're retaking one part for a purpose that accepts it; for Express Entry you need all four tests on the same day.

• e-TEF Canada: choose a date from the CCI Paris calendar linked on the centre's page, or ask for a custom date at least one week ahead.
• TCF Canada: email the front desk ([email protected]) at least five days before the date you want. The centre sends a registration form and payment details.

Karachi gives you more control over your date than almost anywhere in our directory. If you're on a tight deadline, it's the centre to call first.

Lahore: TCF Canada, and TEF Canada sessions on the finder

Alliance Française de Lahore's TCF page lists TCF Tout Public and TCF Canada. Its TEF page says dates and fees are session-specific and doesn't mention the Canada version, but Le français des affaires' official centre finder lists Lahore TEF Canada sessions on 26 and 27 November and 3 and 4 December 2026, with registration through the finder's online form. Fees aren't published: contact the exam team by WhatsApp or phone on +92 301 8237201 on a weekday.

Islamabad: e-TEF on your date

Alliance Française d'Islamabad runs the computer-based e-TEF on a date you choose. Register by email ([email protected]) at least two weeks before, and ask for the fee, which isn't online. Its page names the TEF Canada among the TEF versions, but Islamabad didn't appear in Le français des affaires' TEF Canada search for Pakistan on 22 October 2026, so ask the centre to confirm in writing that your session is the TEF Canada before you pay.

Bangladesh: Dhaka

Alliance Française de Dhaka runs both tests at BDT 26,000 each, a few times a year, and each session has its own registration window.

From Alliance Française de Dhaka's TEF and TCF pages, 22 October 2026.

To register, email the centre for the registration form and payment instructions as soon as the window opens (our directory lists [email protected]). Three rules to know:

• The fee is non-refundable and can't be moved to a later session, unless the centre cancels the session.
• Registration closes early once the quota is full, even before the deadline. The July 2026 TCF session filled early.
• Dates can move by up to two weeks either way for unforeseen reasons.

If the 10 November TCF session suits you, you have until 27 October. Otherwise, watch for the 2027 calendar.

Nepal: Kathmandu

Alliance Française de Katmandou, in Pulchowk, Lalitpur, offers both the TCF Canada and the TEF Canada at EUR 175 for external candidates and EUR 149 for its own students. Fees are paid in Nepalese rupees at the European Commission's monthly exchange rate, so the rupee price changes each month.

On 22 October 2026 the centre's page said it was setting up a new registration system and that registration requests were temporarily unavailable for the next few weeks. Email [email protected] to be told when it reopens, and plan your timeline with that gap in mind.

Sri Lanka: Colombo

Alliance Française de Colombo runs the e-TEF Canada on computer at Barnes Place. It holds six scheduled sittings in 2026; the next is 11 December 2026, with registration opening about a month before. A scheduled session costs LKR 52,500. On-demand sessions (LKR 63,000) aren't available in 2026 except in exceptional circumstances.

Register at the front desk, or online: download and sign the PDF form, pay by cash, card or bank transfer, then submit everything through the centre's Google Form. Emailed registrations aren't accepted. Sessions can close as soon as they're full.

Le français des affaires' finder also lists Alliance Française de Kandy and Alliance Française de Matara (with a Galle branch) for the TEF Canada, with dates on request. We haven't verified their sessions, so contact them directly.

No date that works? Look across the border

When your country's next session is months away, or you need the test you can't get locally (the TCF Canada in Sri Lanka, for example), a centre in a neighbouring country may be faster. Our directory shows:

• India: 11 centres, with the TCF Canada in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, and the TEF Canada in nine cities including Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. At our 27 September 2026 check, Alliance Française de Delhi charged INR 26,000 for the TCF Canada, and Alliance Française Kolkata INR 26,000 for either test. See the India centres page and our India guide.
• UAE: Alliance Française Dubai and Abu Dhabi run both tests, at AED 1,800 for the four tests at our 27 September check.

Before you book abroad, check the entry rules for your passport, and budget for travel and a night's stay. Indian centres often sell out within hours, so a foreign seat is never guaranteed.

Results, retakes and validity

For Express Entry, results must be less than two years old both when you create your profile and when you submit your permanent residence application. TEF Canada candidates enter the "Équivalence ancien score", not the score out of 699.

Why French is worth it from South Asia

• Express Entry bonus: NCLC 7 or higher in all four French skills earns 25 additional points, or 50 with CLB 5 or higher in all four English skills, plus up to 24 second-language points.
• French-category draws: IRCC's French-language proficiency category requires NCLC 7 in all four abilities. In 2026, up to round #450 on 16 October, its 11 rounds cut off between 382 and 435, against 507 to 523 for Canadian Experience Class rounds (IRCC round data).
• Lower bars elsewhere: the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot asks for NCLC 5 in all four skills plus a job offer from a designated employer, and the Mobilité francophone work permit asks for NCLC 5 in speaking and listening.

Run your whole profile through the CRS calculator, and read our French CRS points guide for how each factor works.

Learning French locally

Wherever you study, start with a baseline: the free French level test, then a full TCF Canada practice test or TEF Canada practice test. Free mock exams such as TCF Canada mock test 1 and TEF Canada mock test 1 show your weakest skill.

Tips for Urdu, Bengali, Nepali, Sinhala and Tamil speakers

• You already juggle languages. Most candidates in the region study in English and speak one or two other languages. That habit of switching helps more than you think.
• Sounds to drill: the French u (tu) and ou (tout), the nasal vowels (vin, vent, vont), and pairs that many South Asian languages don't separate, such as v and w (vous / oui) or s and z (poisson / poison). Our French pronunciation guide for TCF and TEF has minimal-pair drills.
• Gender and agreement are new if your first language doesn't mark them the French way. Learn every noun with un or une.
• Listening is often the hardest skill. Each recording plays once in both tests. Daily podcasts help: see French podcasts for TCF and TEF listening.

This planner estimates the course hours from your level to your target, using Alliance Française de Lyon's figures per CEFR level (one school's estimate, not an official rule):

TCF or TEF in South Asia?

Where you can choose (Karachi, Lahore, Dhaka, Kathmandu), compare the formats:

• TCF Canada: shorter writing tasks with strict word limits; three speaking tasks in 12 minutes, including a 4½-minute opinion.
• TEF Canada: reading, listening and writing on computer; two role-play speaking sections in 15 minutes; writing minimums only.

Our TCF vs TEF: which is easier? compares every section, and TCF Canada vs TEF Canada lays out the formats side by side. Or let this quiz suggest one:

Other country guides

Same guide, other regions: India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, francophone Africa and Latin America. Every centre we track is on the test centre finder.

Our take

South Asia has fewer seats than India but often less competition for them. Karachi's flexible dates and Dhaka's fixed windows reward people who plan: decide your target month, work back to your registration deadline, and keep a cross-border option in reserve. Then put your effort into the level, because NCLC 7 in all four skills changes an Express Entry profile more than almost anything else you can do in a year.