How to register an S1 form in France (healthcare for pensioners)

What it is

An S1 form shows that another country pays for your healthcare while you live in France. Pensioners use it most: if your state pension comes from another EU country, the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, and you don't also get a French pension, that country usually covers your healthcare here. Once your S1 is registered, you're covered by the French Assurance Maladie like other residents, at the other country's expense.

The S1 comes from the country that pays your pension. In France you register it with your local health insurance office, the CPAM (caisse primaire d'assurance maladie), or the MSA if you worked in farming.

Do you need this guide?

State pension from another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the UK? Yes.
UK State Pension, moving after 2020? Yes: UK pensioners can still get an S1.
You also get a French pension, or you work in France? No: France covers you directly. See the social security guide.
Not a pensioner? Some other people get an S1 too, such as family members of a pensioner. The steps in France are the same.

Before you start

You'll need:

Your S1 form, from the country that pays your pension:
- UK: phone NHS Overseas Healthcare Services (+44 191 218 1999) and ask for an S1.
- EU, EEA or Switzerland: ask the health insurance body or the pension fund in that country.
Your passport or EU identity card.
Your birth certificate, and for family members proof of the relationship (the CPAM may ask for translations).
Proof of address in France.
Your bank details (RIB) for reimbursements.

Steps

Get your S1 from the country that pays your pension. Ask before you move if you can.
Send or take it to your CPAM (the one for your address) with your documents. Your local CPAM tells you whether to post it or come in.
Wait for your number. You get a provisional social security number, usually within one to three months, and then a certificate of your rights (attestation de droits).
Order your carte Vitale in your ameli account once you have your permanent number.
Choose a family doctor (médecin traitant) and tell the Assurance Maladie, so you're reimbursed at the full rate.

Cost

Registering the S1 is free.

Common pitfalls

Asking France for the S1. It comes from the country that pays your pension.
Thinking it covers everything. The Assurance Maladie reimburses part of most costs; many residents also take a top-up insurance (mutuelle) for the rest.
Dependants who start their own pension. If you're on someone else's S1 and then claim your own state pension, that S1 ends: get your own and register it again.
Leaving France. Tell the CPAM and the country that issued your S1 when you move away.

When to ask a helper

Ask someone who registered an S1 with your CPAM recently: they'll know how long the number took there and which documents were asked for.