Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Préfecture (the State's local office): residence of foreign nationals. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are not obliged to have a residence permit (see FR-SEJOUR-TOUS-001); card applications are made online on the ANEF website (digital administration for foreign nationals in France).
• Mairie (town hall): civil status (marriage, birth), enrolment in nursery and primary school (see FR-ECOLE-TOUS-001), electoral rolls (municipal and European elections for EU citizens), identity card for French nationals.
• Assurance Maladie (CPAM; CGSS in the overseas territories, CSS in Mayotte): social security number, carte Vitale (the health insurance card), reimbursements (see FR-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Finances publiques (DGFiP): your Service des impôts des particuliers (SIP, the local tax office for individuals) for income tax and local taxes (see FR-IMPOTS-TOUS-001 and FR-NIF-TOUS-001).
• Urssaf: contributions of self-employed people and employers (see FR-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
• CAF: family benefits, housing aid (APL), activity bonus (prime d'activité). To be confirmed according to your situation: residence and stay conditions apply.
• France Travail: registration as a jobseeker, unemployment benefits.
• ANTS / France Titres: driving licence and vehicle registration certificate (carte grise), online (no longer a counter at the préfecture); for the carte grise, an approved motor trade professional can also do the procedure.
• France services: local counters where an agent helps you do your procedures online.

Online services

• FranceConnect: a login button common to more than 1,500 public services. You log in with an existing account: impots.gouv.fr, ameli.fr, L'Identité Numérique La Poste, MSA, France Identité or TrustMe.
• FranceConnect+: reinforced version for sensitive procedures (money, medical file). You need a digital identity, issued by La Poste or the France Identité app.
• France Identité: app that puts your identity card on your phone. It requires the new French identity card (bank card format) and being 18: without this card, you cannot use it.
• What a European can do online: ameli account as soon as you have your social security number; impots.gouv.fr personal space once your tax number has been assigned (the first return is often done on paper: see FR-NIF-TOUS-001); then FranceConnect with one of these two accounts. At the very start, without either of these numbers, you will do some procedures on paper or at the counter.

Steps

1. On arrival: open a bank account (the RIB, the bank account details slip, is asked for everywhere), keep proof of address and your civil status certificates (with translation if needed).
2. Health: if you are an employee, give your employer your social security number or, failing that, your numéro d'identification d'attente (provisional identification number). If you were born abroad, give your CPAM your identity or residence document and your birth certificate (translated into French, unless it comes from the EEA or Switzerland): it first gives you a provisional identification number, then the Assurance retraite (Cnav, the national pension insurance fund) assigns the definitive number. Without an activity, apply for your affiliation after more than 3 months of stable residence (FR-SANTE-TOUS-001). Then create your ameli account.
3. Family: enrol your children at school (mairie) and open your CAF file if you can claim aid.
4. Job: register with France Travail if you are looking for work.
5. Car: your European licence remains valid in France without exchange as long as it is valid and you do not commit an offence leading to a loss of points, a restriction, a suspension or a cancellation. For a vehicle that came from abroad, apply for a French carte grise within the month following your settling in, online (ANTS) or through an approved motor trade professional (service-public F10519).
6. Taxes: the following spring, first income tax return (FR-IMPOTS-TOUS-001). You then receive your tax number and can create your online space.

Common pitfalls

• Waiting for a summons. Nobody contacts you spontaneously: it is up to you to start each procedure.
• Using a paid website that imitates an official site. Official procedures are done on sites in .gouv.fr, ameli.fr, urssaf.fr or caf.fr, and are generally free.
• Believing that you have to exchange your European licence. It is compulsory only if it is about to expire, if you apply for a new category, after an offence in France with loss of points, restriction, suspension or cancellation, or if it is lost, stolen or damaged. The exchange costs a €40 tax stamp since 12 May 2026 (€20 in French Guiana).
• Overseas territories: the funds have other names (CGSS, CSS in Mayotte) and some rules differ: check locally.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: no compulsory residence permit; same procedures for the rest.
• British nationals (Scots included): third-country nationals since Brexit, so a residence permit or visa is compulsory (see FR-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). A British licence issued before 2021 remains recognised as long as it is valid (exchange compulsory only if it is no longer valid, for a new category, after an offence in France with loss of points, restriction, suspension or cancellation, or if it is lost, stolen or damaged); a licence issued from 2021 must be exchanged (service-public F1460). For a foreign national who arrived lawfully for the first time, the page gives one year from acquiring normal residence in France or from the issue of the first residence permit (deadlines detailed in FR-PERMIS-TOUS-001).