Health insurance in France – PUMa, carte Vitale and top-up cover

Documents you need

• Passport or national ID card

  required

• Residence document (non-EU nationals)

  A validated VLS-TS, a residence card or a receipt

  optional

• Full copy of your birth certificate or an extract with parentage

  Needed to obtain a social security number if you were born abroad.

  required

• Proof of address in France

  required

• Employment contract or proof of activity

  optional

• Bank details (RIB) for reimbursements

  required

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Check when you become entitled

   Two conditions apply. Lawful residence: EU, EEA and Swiss citizens only need an ID card or passport; other nationals need a residence document. Stable residence: if you work, you can be affiliated immediately once your application is accepted. If you do not work, you usually have to live in France for three months before your rights open, and you keep them by living here at least six months a year. Some people are covered without waiting, for example family members joining someone who is insured in France.

2. 2

   Step 2: Register with the health insurance fund

   To open your rights, complete the form Demande d'ouverture des droits à l'Assurance maladie (S1106) and send it to the CPAM where you live, with the supporting documents the form lists: ID, residence document if applicable, birth certificate, proof of work or of three months' residence, and your bank details. If you work, ask your employer or the CPAM whether your file has already been started. Foreign students register online on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr. Children under 18 are attached to a parent's file with form S3705.

3. 3

   Step 3: Get your social security number

   People born abroad receive their social security number through this registration. A national service first gives you a provisional number while it certifies your identity from your birth certificate, then your definitive number. Your care can be reimbursed with the provisional number. The separate guide on the social security number explains the documents and delays in detail.

4. 4

   Step 4: Get your carte Vitale

   The carte Vitale is a free chip card that proves your entitlement. Doctors use it to send an electronic claim, so you are usually reimbursed within about a week without paperwork. Once you have your number, create your ameli account and order the card online (about two weeks) or by post (about three weeks). A free carte Vitale app is also available, activated with the France Identité digital ID or a video check. Until you have the card, download a certificate of entitlement (attestation de droits) to show your cover.

5. 5

   Step 5: Declare a regular doctor (médecin traitant)

   Choose a general practitioner as your médecin traitant and fill in the declaration with them, usually online during a consultation. Seeing this doctor first, and being referred to specialists, puts you in the coordinated care pathway (parcours de soins coordonnés), which gives you the normal reimbursement rate (generally 70 %) instead of about 30 %. Gynaecologists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists and dentists can be seen directly.

6. 6

   Step 6: Add complementary cover

   Public insurance does not cover everything. Private-sector employers must offer all employees a company complementary plan, whatever their length of service, and pay at least half of it. If you are not employed, compare policies from several insurers or mutual companies. People with low incomes may qualify for the state-funded Complémentaire santé solidaire, free or for €8 to €30 a month depending on age (2026).

What you pay for common care in 2026

If you are insured in another EU country

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the carte Vitale before seeing a doctor; you can be treated and claim reimbursement with a paper claim form.
• Not declaring a médecin traitant, which reduces your reimbursement.
• Sending a birth certificate without parentage details or an authentication stamp, which delays your definitive number.
• Forgetting to update your address and bank details in your ameli account after moving.

Tips

• Keep your ameli account up to date with your address and bank details; reimbursements are paid by transfer.
• Use the Annuaire santé on ameli.fr to check whether a doctor is sector 1 or sector 2 before booking.
• In a medical emergency call 15 (SAMU) or 112. If your doctor is unavailable and you need advice quickly, 15 also connects you to the healthcare access service (SAS).

Frequently asked questions

Editorial answers written by our team, based on the sources below.

Official links

In your plan

• Register with the health insurance fund (PUMa)Add to plan
• Make sure you are covered for healthcare from the day you arriveAdd to plan
• Get your CVEC certificate and enrol at your institutionAdd to plan
• Register as a micro-entrepreneurAdd to plan
• Check what free movement means for you in FranceAdd to plan
• Open your ameli account and order your carte VitaleAdd to plan
• Declare a regular doctor (médecin traitant)Add to plan
• Arrange complementary health cover (mutuelle)Add to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 4 Feb 2027.