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First 30 days in France – the moving checklist, step by step and in the right order

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Your first 30 days in France set the pace for everything that follows. Here is the order that works – visa validation, proof of address, bank account, health cover and OFII – with the fees and rules that changed in 2026.

Woman in a red dress pulling a suitcase along a quiet stone-paved street
Photo: Song_about_summer/Adobe Stock

Your first 30 days in France follow a logic: some steps unlock others, and one has a legal deadline. Two rules changed in 2026. Since 1 January 2026, most non-EU newcomers need French at A2 and a new civic exam for a first multi-year residence card. Since 1 May 2026, validating a long-stay visa costs €300 (was €200) and a first residence card €350 (was €225).

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, skip the visa steps: you can live and work in France without a titre de séjour (residence permit), though you may ask for a free card. Everyone else starts with the visa.

Before you travel: which visa do you need to move to France?

Unless you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, or from Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or the Vatican, you need a long-stay visa (type D) from a French consulate to stay more than three months, even if you can visit France visa-free. Apply where you live, no more than 3 months before you leave.

Your passport must be valid at least 3 months beyond the visa's end, have 2 blank pages and be under 10 years old. Part 2 explains which visa fits you.

Your first 30 days in France: the checklist in order

Each step feeds the next: a bank wants proof of address, and a carte Vitale (health card) needs a definitive social security number.

StepWhatWhere
1Validate your VLS-TS (the long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit) and pay the taxANEF, the Interior Ministry's online portal
2Get proof of address and, if you rent, home insuranceYour landlord, host or hotel; an insurer
3Open a bank accountAny bank; the Banque de France if you are refused
4Register for health cover and a social security numberYour employer and the CPAM (local health insurance office) where you live
5Sign a phone and internet contractAn operator of your choice
6Enrol children aged 3 to 16 at schoolThe mairie (town hall), then the school
7Attend OFII appointments if you are calledOFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration)
8Order your carte Vitale and declare a médecin traitant (regular GP)Your ameli account and your GP

Source: Service-Public, France-Visas and the Assurance Maladie, read 23 September 2026.

Week one: how does VLS-TS validation work?

The VLS-TS works as your residence permit for 4 to 12 months, but only once you validate it online and pay a tax, within 3 months of arriving. Do it in your first week.

You need your visa details, entry date, French address and a way to pay. Since 1 May 2026 the tax is €300, or €100 at the reduced rate (for example students, seasonal workers and family reunification). Buy tax stamps online by bank card or at an equipped tobacconist.

Validation makes your stay legal and lets you cross the Schengen external border again; miss the 3-month limit and you lose legal residence status. Portal problems: the Interior Ministry's contact centre, 0806 001 620, is a free call.

Your visa or statusWhat you doDeadlineCost
VLS-TS (for example employees, students, spouses)Validate it online on ANEF3 months after arrival€300; €100 at the reduced rate
Visa marked "carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois" (for example self-employed people, retirees)Apply for a card at the préfecture (prefecture)2 months after arrival€350 for a first card
Talent visa for a stay of 1 year or moreApply online for the talent card2 months after entry€350
EU, EEA or Swiss citizenNothing required; an optional card exists–Free

Source: Service-Public and France-Visas, read 23 September 2026.

Weeks two and three: bank, health cover and a social security number

Foreign nationals living legally in France can open a bank account with a passport or residence permit and proof of address – a rent receipt, an electricity or water bill, or an attestation d'hébergement (a signed letter from your host). No answer within 15 days counts as a refusal, and the Banque de France can then designate a bank to open a basic account (part 4).

If you work, the universal health protection, PUMa, covers you from your first hour of work. Your employer files the hiring declaration, but you must contact the CPAM where you live to complete your registration. If you do not work, your rights open only after 3 months in France.

Born abroad? You first get a provisional number, valid for 9 months, which pays for care but gives no ameli account and no carte Vitale; the Assurance Maladie gives a processing time of 9 months for the definitive one. One local rule: holders of a talent passport – salarié visa, au pairs and language assistants deal directly with the CPAM in Paris. See part 3.

Declare a médecin traitant early; the doctor must agree to take you on. On a standard €30 GP visit you get €19 back with one and only €8.40 without. Private-sector employers must also offer a company mutuelle (top-up health insurance) and pay at least half of it.

Week four: OFII, the integration contract and the civic exam

If you come from outside the EU to settle for the first time, OFII may call you in for a medical examination or to sign the contrat d'intégration républicaine, or CIR (republican integration contract): a one-year agreement with the State that starts with a French test.

Its civic training is compulsory: 4 sessions, 24 hours in total. Score below A2 and you are offered 600 hours of French. Since 1 January 2026 the training comes before your multi-year card, not after, and ends with the civic exam: 40 multiple-choice questions, 32 correct to pass, 45 minutes at most. Part 11 explains how to prepare.

An employee VLS-TS requires the CIR; talent, student, visitor and temporary-worker cards do not. Almost every non-EU applicant must also sign a contract to respect the principles of the Republic, or the prefecture will not examine the file. In Paris, OFII's regional office is at 83 rue de Patay, 75013 Paris, open weekdays 8:30–12:00 and 13:30–16:30.

Five mistakes that cost newcomers time or money

MistakeWhat happensHow to avoid it
Missing the 3-month VLS-TS validationYou lose legal residence status and cannot re-enter the Schengen areaValidate in your first week
Treating the ANEF filing receipt (attestation de dépôt) as a permitIt does not prove that your stay is legalWait for the attestation de prolongation d'instruction
Applying late for your next cardAn extra regularisation fee on top of the cardFile online between 4 and 2 months before expiry
Seeing a GP with no declared médecin traitant€8.40 back on a €30 visit instead of €19Declare one in your first weeks
Driving on a non-EU licence for too longIt is valid for only 1 year after you settleRequest the exchange online within 1 year of validating your visa (€40 tax stamp)

Source: Service-Public and the Assurance Maladie, read 23 September 2026.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Work out your visa or right of residence (part 2)Before you book the move
2Apply for the long-stay visa at the French consulate where you liveNo more than 3 months before departure
3Validate your VLS-TS on ANEF and pay the taxFirst week; the legal limit is 3 months
4Arrange proof of address and home insuranceBefore you move in
5Open a bank accountAs soon as you have proof of address
6Contact the CPAM with your civil-status documentsWhen you start work, or after 3 months if you do not work
7Order the carte Vitale and declare a médecin traitantWhen your definitive number arrives
8General questions: Allô Service Public, 3939 (it cannot see your file)Weekdays; hours vary

Source: Service-Public, France-Visas and the Assurance Maladie, read 23 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.