Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

LIVING IN FRANCE

Explained: How to register with a doctor in France

If you're here for the long term you will want to register with a doctor who can be your regular point of contact for all health-related matters - here's how the system works.

Published: 14 April 2022 11:06 CEST
Explained: How to register with a doctor in France
Photo by FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP

First things first, is registration compulsory?

If you’re applying for a carte vitale – the French state medical cover that all residents are entitled to after living here for three months – then you will need to register a medecin traitant (treating doctor) as part of the application process.

For more on how to register for a carte vitale, click HERE.

This is a fairly simple process of taking a form to any medecin généraliste (GP or family doctor) and asking them to sign it.

They are then registered as ‘your’ doctor, but unlike in the UK you’re not limited to seeing only that doctor or their colleagues.

If you want to, you can make an appointment with any medecin généraliste and it’s pretty common for French people to have a couple of ‘regular’ doctors – one near home, one near their workplace and maybe even one near their second home in the country.

If you want a doctor who speaks English, check out the medical app Doctolib – as part of its service it lists the languages spoken by each doctor. More info HERE. 

Payment

If you’re using a carte vitale, however, check the level of reimbursement as it’s usually lower with a doctor that you’re not registered with. 

In France you pay your doctor upfront at the appointment – the standard fee is €25 but some doctors can and do charge more – and the the cost is reimbursed through your carte vitale, if you have one, or through health insurance if you have it.

READ ALSO 5 things to know about visiting a doctor in France

In addition to your généraliste, if you need to see a specialist you can make an appointment with them directly, there is no need to be referred by your GP.

If you prefer not to register in the French state system, you can make an appointment with any doctor you like, and either cover the cost yourself, or pay for private health insurance.

Medical deserts

In most parts of France, finding a doctor is as simple as asking friends/family for a recommendation and then calling for an appointment, or getting online to find someone with the relevant qualifications near you.

However, if you are unfortunate enough to live in one of the country’s déserts médicaux (medical deserts), things may be more complicated.

Medical deserts are areas where there are not enough doctors to cater for the local population – most of them are in rural areas but some urban areas are affected too, especially the Seine-Saint-Denis area on the outskirts of Paris.

If you live in one of these areas there is not a simple solution – you may need to simply shop around until you find a doctor who will register you, who might be further away than you would like. If you’re in an urban area that is a medical desert, some health centres will only register you after several appointments.

You can check here to see whether your neighbourhood is a medical desert.

READ ALSO The French towns that do not have enough doctors

Children

If you have children they will be covered by your carte vitale until they turn 16 but if you register with a généraliste then you should register the children too, separately.

Généralistes will see children for appointments, but there are also pédiatres (paediatricians) who you can register with to take you through the usual illnesses and scrapes of childhood. 

You might prefer to see the same person so that you can build up a relationship, but as with other doctors you are not limited to your own pédiatre so you can make an appointment with someone else if they are busy. 

Non-residents

If you’re not a full-time resident in France you’re not entitled to be registered within the French state medical system, but you can still see a doctor if you need to.

You can make an appointment directly with a doctor’s office and you will need to pay for the appointment – €25 is the standard fee. If you have health insurance or travel insurance you may be able to claim back the cost, depending on the terms of your policy.

If you are using an EHIC (European health insurance card) or the UK version GHIC you might be able to claim back the cost depending on the reason – these cards are intended to cover emergency medical treatment and people are advised to have extra travel insurance.

Emergency

If you have a medical emergency in France you are entitled to go to hospital or call an ambulance whether you are a resident or not.

French hospitals are legally obliged to treat you if it is an emergency, but if you’re not resident in France and registered in the health system, you are likely to be presented with a bill for treatment.

If you visit a hospital Emergency department and have on-the-spot treatment but are not admitted, a flat fee of €18 applies.

READ ALSO What to do if you have a medical emergency in France

Member comments

  1. So what is the form I need to get my doctor to sign? I can never work it out (and what doi say when I ask them to sign it?!). Its been three years and so now I’m a little embarrassed to ask! 😹

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

SHOW COMMENTS