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Settling in

Dealing with administrative procedures

The Long Stay Visa

The student LS visa allows you to study in France for a period of 4 months to 1 year. It must be validated within 3 months upon your arrival. If you choose to continue your studies after it expires, you may apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) at the prefecture of your place of residence.

How to complete your administrative procedure?

The Cité Universitaire de Paris offers a welcome service for foreign students. This is a place where international students can undergo all the paperwork required on arrival.

Renewal of residence permit (for 2nd year)

This procedure is for those wishing to stay at least another year in France, to fulfill the conditions required by the Prefecture of the place of residence.

Note: You cannot start your renewal process (renouvellement du titre de séjour) earlier than 3 months before your visa expiration date. This process can take up to 6 weeks.

If you do an internship abroad or go home for the summer holidays, be aware that you will have to be in France for your appointment in July or August.

  • For those of you who live in Paris, you must book an online appointment on Préfecture de police website
  • For those who live in the suburbs, it is different for each area so please contact our Student life officer in Paris, who will be able to give you more details concerning your Prefecture.

You will find additional information on the Préfecture de police website and the list of documents that you will need to present.

Finding somewhere to live

A few things to know before renting an apartment in Greater Paris

arrondissements ParisThe arrondissements (or quarters) of Paris start in the middle of the town and spiral around like the shell of a snail. The Seine River divides Paris into 2 parts—rive gauche located on the southern side of the Seine and rive droite located to the north.

Distances in Paris

To give you an idea about transport times in Paris, you should allow about 45 minutes to go from the north (arrondissements 18 and 19) to the south (arrondissements 13, 14, 15) by metro. With a surface area of 105 km², Paris is 12 times smaller than New York. It’s easy to cross the city walking. It extends 10 kilometers from North to South and 12 kilometers from East to West.

Guarantors

In order to rent an apartment, you are usually asked to prove that you earn 3 times the monthly rent in income, or that you have someone who can act as guarantor for you. Legally, your guarantor can be anyone living anywhere, as long as they provide the necessary documents (salary statements, proof of address, identity card, etc.). Agencies are more likely to accept international guarantors.

An alternative way to having a rental guarantor is to apply online for free to the state rental garantor Visale. It is a public rental deposit dedicated to students under 30-year-old.

See the application procedure on Campus France website

To guide you through this process, a Campus France video tutorial is available here.

Another alternative garantor is GarantMe. It is a private rental deposit dedicated to students from 18 and over 30-year-old. See application on line on https://garantme.fr/en

Another option is to set up a frozen bank account as security. Typically the account would have to contain between 6 months to 1 year’s rent and remain frozen for the duration of the rental contract. Once again, approving this type of security, and even the amount of money required, is up to the landlord and this is relatively difficult to do if you need to secure an apartment while still abroad.

A few key words when it comes to rental

  • Louer: to rent
  • Chambre: a room
  • Prix: price
  • Studio/bedsit: Accommodation consisting of one room, a bathroom and WC
  • F1/1-room flat: Accommodation consisting of one main room plus a separate kitchen, bathroom and WC
  • F2/2-room flat: Accommodation consisting of two main rooms plus a separate kitchen, a bathroom and WC
  • Duplex: Apartment on two floors
  • CC (charges comprises): All charges payable by the tenant are included in the rent (water and servicing of common areas. Electricity and gas are optional)
  • Equipé/Equipped: Accommodation with an equipped kitchen (fridge, cooking hobs, sink)
  • Meublé/furnished: Accommodation including basic furniture such as a bed, table, chair, etc.

Living in Paris

Before coming to Paris, you can book a room in Cité Universitaire de Paris. The sooner the better!
There are many houses for different nationalities. An application has to be submitted to have access to one of proposed rooms.

If you are with low or non- income or/and belong to a low income family, the EHESP has at its disposal some rooms (chambres) in University residences, called CROUS. However, the number of those rooms being very limited, you should specify this during your registration with the EHESP and not directly with the CROUS. The CROUS residences are reserved in priority for scholarship students on social criteria. For more information, please refer to EHESP.

Studapart : Our partner for accommodation gives access to the students who registered with EHESP. Contact our Student life officer in Paris to get an access code.

The housing platform Studapart will allow you to :

•Find a rental close to the campus
•Find your international or French roommate(s) and form shared rentals
•Find a room in a French family (ideal for the experience).
Thousands of accommodations from private owners, halls of residence, real estate agencies, or rooms in private homes, are available close to the school: http://ehesp.studapart.com/en

If you are due to arrive to Paris very soon, and you still have no place to live, instead of booking a hotel or youth hostel, you can try to book a room though the website AIRBNB for a temporary accommodation.

You could also go to the to American church, 65 Quai d’Orsay, 75007 Paris (transport: RER C Pont d’Alma) where you can find advertisements, mostly in English. It is open from Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 10 pm and on Sundays from 1 pm to 6 pm.

Useful links

In English: ads.fusac.fr (housing offers)

In French:

On-line flat sharing offers:

Please note that you can find swindles on any website. If you rent an apartment before your arrival, never send money to the owner without an official contract and every detail written about the accommodation.

Do not hesitate to contact our Student life officer in Paris if you need help or if you have any doubt.

Managing your money

To open a bank account in France, you will need the following documents

  • ID card/passport
  • Proof of residence: utility bill or rent receipt or contract.

If you are hosted by someone, you will need: a declaration signed by your host saying that you are hosted, your host’s ID and a utility bill (less than 3 months)

  • Student card or proof of enrolment
  • Birth certificate translated into French (only if place of birth does not appear on your passport)

Note: If students are coming from the US they will need to bring a tax statement document with them to the bank.

Once you have opened an account, you will receive a RIB (Relevé d’Identité Bancaire) which shows your account details. You can ask for a cheque book (un chéquier), as this means of payment is very common in France.

To guide you through this process, a Campus France video tutorial is available here

IMPORTANT: Having a French bank account is required for obtaining a mobile phone contract and paying bills such as rent and electricity. You will also need to provide your RIB when applying for APL (Personalized accommodation aid from la CAF).

For more information (such as list of direct contacts) Please contact our Student life officer in Paris

Living expenses (your monthly budget)

As living in Paris can be quite expensive, estimating your budget is essential.

Here are the main items of expenditure to be expected. This information is provided for guidance purposes only.

  • Housing: 500 to 900€
  • Food: 80 to 250 €
  • Utilities (water, heat, accommodation insurance): 50 to 100€
  • Transportation : single metro ticket =1,90 euros; Navigo card = 350€/year (-26 years old on September 1st) / 75,20€/month (+26 years old)
  • Internet: 20 to 30€
  • Phone: 2 to 30€

For more information, Campus France designs a document to help you estimating your budget.

Note that to reduce some housing charges:

  • Housing allowance – so called CAF – is also available
  • Sharing a flat could reduce housing costs

Health insurance (“sécurité sociale”)

Registration to social security is free and mandatory for all students in France, whether French or international.  Here’s everything you need to know to go through the process.

The health insurance system is officially the responsibility of the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM).

Why ?

For a partial reimbursement of your healthcare expenses (for a full coverage, please see the section “Voluntary complementary health insurance” below)

How ?

Before coming to France for your studies, you need to apply for membership in the French social security citizen by signing up via the dedicated website etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr.

Need help to sign up ?

To guide you through this process, a Campus France video tutorial is available here.

You will also need to do so if you are a French citizen living in New Caledonia or Wallis and Futuna, or if you were born abroad.

You DO NOT need to register on this website if:

  • You are a family member of an international civil servant and covered a such by his health insurance
  • You are a citizen of the EU/EEA or switzerland. You can ask for a European health insurance card, before you come to France

All you need to know about your social security coverage here.

Who ?

French Students EU students Non EU students
Since the 1st of September 2019 at least, you will be affiliated to the CPAM from your place of residence. ·      With EHIC Card valid until the end of the academic year: You do not need to register online on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr: when you arrive in France, you will submit this card to the health professionnals and healthcare facilities you will go to.

·      Without an EHIC card: See the process for non EU students

 Will have to register to the CPAM through the specific online platform: etranger.ameli.fr

Mandatory registration: otherwise, you will not be covered for your healthcare expenses.

EU students

You can benefit from the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) – Carte européenne d’assurance maladie (CEAM). Ask your health insurance in your country and you will obtain it directly. It is issued free of charge and you will be covered in European Economic Areas and Switzerland.

Once in France, you will have to register to the CPAM (Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie) from your place of residence in order to be reimbursed of your healthcare expenses. However, you will have to pay each time you will visit a doctor, buy medicine at the pharmacy, go to hospital for examinations…The reimbursement will be made by the CPAM: it could take a couple of months depending on where is located your CPAM.

Documents requested to register to the Social Security Insurance:

  • Identity document (national ID card, passport, etc.),
  • Evidence of your enrollment in an institute of higher education for the appropriate academic year, to certify your student status,
  • RIB (French bank account details), which will be used to transfer your reimbursements to your account,
  • One of the following civil status documents, in order to generate your social security number (“numéro de sécurité sociale”): a complete copy of your birth certificate (translated into French by a sworn translator registered with the Court of Appeal. You can find the list here), a birth certificate showing your parents’ information (or any document issued by a consulate), a family record book (“livret de famille”) or a marriage certificate.
  • A valid residence permit (“titre de séjour”)
  • Additional documents as determined by your country of origin

Voluntary complementary health insurance for a full coverage of health expenses (“Mutuelle”)

Typically, the French health insurance system reimburses on average 70% of the standard charges (e.g. physicians’ visits) but may also reimburse less for certain drugs for instance. The choice to subscribe to a complementary health insurance to top up the reimbursements of your medical expense is entirely up to you. It is not mandatory, but we do recommend it strongly.

It’s up to you to complete the subscription process. Start by asking for a quote, and compare the offers. You can do so with:

  • Traditional student healthcare mutuals Heyme
  • Insurance companies
  • Banks

Nearly 100% of the charges are reimbursed to patients afterwards.

A patient usually pays for the General Practitioner (GP) fee (about 25€) and is then reimbursed by his or her insurance funds. Charges are usually reimbursed within 15 days. Some doctors may charge more than the standard fees. These excess charges are not reimbursed by the health insurance funds.

Students health insurance funds provide students with “all inclusive package”: i.e. a package that may also include liability insurance (assurance responsabilité civile) on top of complementary health insurance. The liability insurance is compulsory for any student doing an internship, during the Master program.

Useful links

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17 October 2022