Getting your French social security number (numéro de sécurité sociale)

Documents you need

• Passport or national ID card (copy)

  required

• Valid residence document (non-EU/EEA nationals)

  For example a validated long-stay visa, a residence card or a receipt.

  optional

• Full copy of your birth certificate

  Must be authenticated (for example with a legible stamp); a document issued by your consulate can be accepted. Your fund tells you whether a translation is needed.

  required

• Employment contract or a pay slip

  If you work in France.

  optional

• Proof of three months' residence in France

  If you do not work: for example a lease and rent receipts, or successive utility bills.

  optional

• Bank details (RIB / IBAN) in your name

  required

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Check which route applies to you

   • Employees: you can be affiliated as soon as your file is accepted. Ask your employer or HR department whether they have already started your registration, and send the form yourself if not.
   • People who do not work (for example a spouse joining someone insured in France): you usually need to have lived in France for three months before your health cover starts, but some groups, such as family members joining an insured person, can be covered immediately.
   • Students from outside the EU: register online on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr instead of using the paper form.
   • People insured in another EU country who move their residence to France (for example posted workers or pensioners) may need an S1 form from that country instead.
2. 2

   Step 2: Complete the form S1106

   The form is called Demande d'ouverture des droits à l'assurance maladie (S1106, cerfa 15763). Download it from ameli.fr or ask for it at a CPAM office. It asks for your identity, date and place of birth, address, date of arrival in France and situation (working, studying, family member, other).

   If you have children under 18, also complete form S3705 to attach them to one or both insured parents.

3. 3

   Step 3: Prepare your supporting documents

   The form lists the documents to enclose. In practice:

   • Identity: a copy of your passport or ID card; for non-EU/EEA nationals, also your valid residence document with the passport pages showing your identity.
   • Birth certificate: a full copy (copie intégrale) or an extract with parentage (extrait avec filiation), or an equivalent document issued by your consulate. It must be authenticated, for example with a legible stamp. Your fund tells you whether it needs to be translated; if so, use the translator or authority it indicates.
   • Activity or residence: if you work, a contract or pay slip; if you do not, proof that you have lived in France for more than three months (for example a lease and successive rent receipts or utility bills, or a hosting statement from the person you live with with their receipts or bills).
   • Bank details: a RIB with your IBAN for reimbursements.
4. 4

   Step 4: Send the file to your CPAM

   Send the form and copies to the CPAM of the place where you live, by post or through a reception point listed on ameli.fr under "Adresses et contacts". Keep copies of everything and note the date you sent it. For questions, Assurance Maladie can be reached on 3646.

5. 5

   Step 5: Expect a provisional number first

   For people born abroad, identity is certified by a national service, SANDIA, run by the national pension fund (CNAV) on behalf of INSEE. While it checks your civil-status documents, you are given a provisional number (numéro identifiant d'attente, NIA). This lets the fund cover your care while certification is under way.

   When your identity is certified, you receive your definitive number. If certification cannot be completed within nine months, payments based on the provisional number must stop, so answer any request for a better birth certificate or translation without delay.

6. 6

   Step 6: Open your ameli account and order your carte Vitale

   Once you have your number, create your account on ameli.fr. From there you can download a certificate of entitlement (attestation de droits), which proves your cover until your card arrives, and follow your reimbursements.

   Order your carte Vitale online through your ameli account or app (about two weeks) or by post (about three weeks). The card is free; anyone who asks you to pay for it is a scammer. You can also activate the free carte Vitale app on your phone, using the France Identité digital ID or a video check with your ID document.

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the definitive number before seeing a doctor. You can be treated in the meantime; keep the paper claim forms (feuilles de soins) and receipts.
• Sending only a short-form birth extract without parents' names.
• Not telling the CPAM about a change of address, so that requests for documents go unanswered.
• Assuming your employer registers you automatically without checking.

Tips

• Ask for several original copies of your full birth certificate before you leave your home country; other French procedures also ask for one.
• Write your provisional number on every letter you send to the CPAM.
• Once you have your number, declare a regular doctor (médecin traitant) to get standard reimbursement rates.
• Check that the name and date of birth on your number match your passport exactly; ask the CPAM to correct errors early.

Frequently asked questions

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

Official links

In your plan

• Give your employer your bank and social security detailsAdd to plan
• Open your ameli account and order your carte VitaleAdd to plan
• Register with the health insurance fund (PUMa)Add to plan
• Order birth certificates, apostilles and sworn translationsAdd to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 5 Apr 2027.