Health insurance for a French national living abroad

Verified 11 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Your situation

  • You're an expatriate
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In an EEA country or Switzerland

Employed or self-employed expatriate

If you settle yourself in a European Economic Area (EEA) countries or in Switzerland to work there, you are no longer insured under the French scheme. You are covered by the social security of your country of establishment, to which you have to contribute. You receive the health insurance benefits provided by this country.

Before you leave France, you must inquire whether a minimum period of insurance, activity or residence is required in your country of establishment for the opening of your rights. If this is the case, you must ask your French sickness insurance fund for Form E104 (certificate concerning the aggregation of periods of insurance, employment or residence). It will have to be handed over to your health insurance institution in your country of establishment.

This form summarizes your insurance periods completed in France. These periods are taken into account in your country of establishment for the purpose of obtaining your entitlement to sickness insurance benefits.

Your family members are also covered by social security in your host country, whether they live there or not. If they continue to reside in France, you must apply for the document S1 (attestation for the registration of the members of the family of the employed or self-employed person) from your foreign institution of affiliation. Your family must then hand over this document to their health insurance fund in France, in order to be registered.

You can, however, choose to continue to benefit from the French scheme by joining the Caisse des Français de l'foreigner (CFE). This way you avoid waiting periods or the quarters lost for your retirement, when you return to France. Membership of the CFE is in addition to the contribution to the compulsory scheme of the country of expatriation.

In another country

If you are an expatriate

If you are an expatriate abroad, you stop depending on French social security. You must be covered by the social protection system of the country in which you work. Your rights depend on whether or not a bilateral social security convention between France and that country,

You must return your vital card, which can only be used if you live and are insured in France.

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Existence of a convention between France and the country

You are entitled to the provisions of this Convention and to equal treatment with the inhabitants of the country.

The competent institutions abroad will take into account your period of insurance in France when examining your possible rights to the various benefits.

As for your health insurance cover, you will have to ask your health insurance fund for the agreed form of attestation of periods before your departure.

During your period of employment abroad, you will be entitled to local health insurance benefits, if they exist, on presentation of the form attesting to your French insurance periods. This right will be open to you within a certain period (variable according to the agreements) since the end of your French insurance period.

In the absence of an agreement

Your rights will depend on the social security system of your country of expatriation. If you consider them insufficient and wish to continue to benefit from the French regime for certain risks, you can take out insurance.

You can still benefit from French social security by subscribing to voluntary insurance.

You can join the Caisse des français de l'foreigner (CFE) for sickness-maternity-invalidity, occupational accidents and diseases and old age (basic pension) insurance.

You can insure against one or more of these risks depending on your family situation and the particularities of the local social security scheme.

Under certain conditions, you can also contribute (individually or through your company):

  • for your supplementary pension with the Caisse de pension des expatriés (CRE) if you are a non-executive or with the Ircafex (executive and related retirement) if you are an executive,
  • for your unemployment insurance, with the Service expatriés de France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi).

Adherence to voluntary insurance does not prevent you from contributing to the compulsory scheme of your country of expatriation. Even if you take out voluntary insurance, you can benefit from the existing bilateral agreement between France and your country of expatriation, if it exists.

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