Opening your CPAM file is the door to French healthcare reimbursements, a Carte Vitale, an Ameli account, and most other admin downstream. APL, mutuelle, and several préfecture procedures cross-check against your numéro de sécurité sociale, so a missing CPAM file blocks more than just the doctor's office.
The legal basis is PUMA — Protection Universelle Maladie. Anyone living regularly in France for at least three months qualifies. The route is the Cerfa S1106 (formulaire 15763*02), filed by registered post to your local CPAM with copies of your titre de séjour, birth certificate (sworn translation if not in French), bail or proof of address, and RIB.
You'll get a numéro de sécurité sociale provisoire within a few weeks, the définitif number a few months later, and the Carte Vitale by post once everything is matched. Reimbursements work from the provisoire — you don't have to wait for the card.
Photo or PDF. The sender, the deadline, and what to do, in plain English. No account needed.
Anyone living regularly in France for at least three months on a valid titre de séjour, VLS-TS validated visa, or EU passport. Tourists don't qualify. Students, salariés, freelancers, retirees, and unemployed residents all do.
Three weeks for a provisional number, two to four months for the definitive one, and another month or so for the physical card by post. Treat the whole window as three to six months. Reimbursements work as soon as the provisional number is issued.
Cerfa S1106 (signed), passport + titre de séjour (or validated visa), birth certificate with sworn translation if not in French, proof of address less than three months old, and a French RIB. Salariés add their employment contract; freelancers add their URSSAF registration; students add their enrolment certificate.
By registered post to the CPAM of your département. Find the address on ameli.fr by typing your postal code. Some CPAMs also accept the file in person — check before going. Don't email it; CPAM ignores attachments.
Yes. Once you have the provisional number, doctors fill out a feuille de soins and you mail it to CPAM. Reimbursements arrive on your RIB. The Carte Vitale just makes the process automatic — it's not a precondition for being covered.