Struggle for life: how to get a social security number in France

To all my foreigner buddies that have just landed in France, here is a long story short that I hope will help you navigate the jungle of French administration.

✈️From Cleveland to Paris

I arrived at Alan 6 months ago straight from Barcelona where I used to work for Typeform. My move was motivated by the dynamism in the Paris tech scene and all the more by Alan’s ambitious mission: disrupting an old-fashioned industry.

Joining this brilliant team (👋 hiiiiii) meant having the chance to discover the city of lights and French bureaucracy. Be brave and forget the attitude you will encounter along the way, « c’est comme ça » 🤷

💪 Ready for the challenge

One of my issues after opening a bank account and renting a flat — was to get a Social Security number. “Sécurité Sociale” is the name of the French health administration. Your Sécurité Sociale number is your ID. It is used by the administration and the whole health system mostly to:

• Get your “Carte Vitale” aka your health ID card

• Be reimbursed for your health expenses

In a nutshell, to be covered by the French healthcare system. And by the way, insured by Alan :). No chance to see a doctor, go to the dentist or even buy glasses without it.

🗝️ How to get that precious number?

I didn’t have a single a clue how to deal with that. I didn’t find that much help on Google. Without Paul’s hand, here at Alan, I wouldn’t have made it. Thank you again Paul!

Here are the steps to follow:

Download and fill out this document here. In part A, after CAF, fill in the name of the department you live in (basically the “departement” is your administrative district, you can find your it with Google easily). In part B, in front of “activité professionnelle”, fill in your type of contract. Probably “contrat à durée indéterminée” or “contrat à durée déterminée”.

Print the document and sign it

Last step, send it to Assurance Maladie by mail (📮not email ;) with a copy of:

• your passport

• your visa

• your last payslip

• your authenticated birth certificate. The tricky part here is that the Sécurité Sociale might ask you a certified translation later on

• Whatever justifies that you will be living in France for more than 3 months. That can be your lease agreement for example.

Here is the address for Paris: Assurance Maladie 75948 PARIS CEDEX 19.

And you are done!

A small note to that, you can be waiting for your Sécurité Sociale number for a while. Another teammate at Alan, has been waiting for two months.

I hope that this quick note will help you to get your own Sécurité Sociale number! At Alan, we treat you like royalty :)

We also have prepared a small guide on France health care system to help you navigate the jungle of the French Administration.

And don't worry our care team can respond in english, come discover the best french health insurance.