Living in France: housing, bank account & admin

Monthly housing benefit (APL / ALS / ALF) is paid by the CAF. The amount depends on rent, location and income - there is no fixed figure, so use the CAF simulator. To receive it you must rent eligible accommodation, declare it, meet income conditions, and (as a foreign student) hold a valid titre de séjour or proof of regular stay (a récépissé of a permit application can be accepted while you wait).

From 1 July 2026, the rules change for non-Europeans:

• EU / EEA / Swiss students: eligible under the same conditions as French students - no change.
• Scholarship holders of any nationality (bourse sur critères sociaux): remain fully eligible.
• Non-EU/EEA/Swiss students who are NOT scholarship holders: APL/ALS/ALF is removed. This is a legislative change (Article 67 of the 2026 Finance Law) affecting roughly 3% of students.

If you are concerned, build your budget without housing aid and lean on cheaper CROUS housing and the free Visale guarantor instead.

How to claim (if eligible): use the CAF simulator first, then apply on caf.fr or the Caf – Mon Compte app after moving in, providing your titre de séjour, RIB, lease and landlord details. The right opens from your entry date into the dwelling.

CROUS residences are the public, cheapest option - typically around €200–€400/month depending on city and room type (a rough range, not a fixed tariff). Both French and international students enrolled in French higher education are eligible, subject to availability; you do not need to be a scholarship holder, though boursiers are served first.

• French/EU students & DSE-eligible: create your Dossier Social Étudiant (DSE) on messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr and tick "demande de logement" - one form for both scholarship and CROUS housing (historic deadline 31 May for the next year; confirm the current date).
• Students arriving from abroad often use a dedicated track on trouverunlogement.lescrous.fr (applications open on a separate date, in past years early-to-mid July). Pay via the CROUS Izly account, also used for the resto'U canteens.

Visale - the FREE State guarantor. Run by Action Logement, Visale acts as your garant: if you can't pay, it pays the landlord and you reimburse later - solving the "no French guarantor" problem. Tenants aged 18–30 (under 31 at signature) qualify whatever their status and with no minimum income for this bracket. It is completely free (€0). Create an account on visale.fr, get your visa Visale certificate before signing, and give it to the landlord. (Reported cover: up to 36 months of unpaid rent + charges and rental damage up to 2 months' rent, with eligible-rent ceilings around €1,500/month in the provinces and €2,400/month in Île-de-France - confirm the current ceilings on visale.fr.)

Private options (we endorse none): private student residences, colocation (flat-sharing), and neutral listing boards such as Lokaviz (CROUS-affiliated), Studapart, LeBonCoin, SeLoger, PAP and La Carte des Colocs, plus host families and foyers.

What to budget. The dépôt de garantie is legally capped at 1 month's rent (excluding charges) for an unfurnished rental and up to 2 months' for a furnished one - confirm for your case on service-public.gouv.fr. Expect to pay the first month up front too, plus any capped agency fees.

🚨 Scam warnings. Never pay a deposit or rent before signing a lease and seeing the place. The "landlord abroad who'll mail the keys" story is a classic fraud; a price far below market is bait. Never send money by Western Union, gift cards or crypto, and never share full ID scans before a verified, signed lease. A real contrat de bail and a proper état des lieux are mandatory - no paperwork, walk away.

A French account and its RIB (Relevé d'Identité Bancaire - your IBAN/BIC on a slip) are needed to pay rent, receive CAF/APL, be reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie, get paid, and for many préfecture steps. To open one, banks generally ask for:

• A valid passport / national ID;
• A visa long séjour (VLS-TS) or titre de séjour (non-EU students);
• A justificatif de domicile (proof of address - utility bill, rent receipt, or an attestation d'hébergement + host's ID);
• Often a certificat de scolarité (proof of enrolment).

Options (neutral): traditional banks give branch service but identity checks can take ~2–4 weeks; online banks / neobanks can open in 24–72h with app-based uploads (some tobacconist-counter accounts need only an ID + phone number and give an instant French RIB).

Droit au compte (right to an account). If every bank refuses you, the Banque de France can designate a bank that must open a basic account free of charge, with no condition of nationality or residence status. This is a legal backstop - use it if you are turned away everywhere.

Non-EU students. Most international students must affiliate to the French public health insurance (Sécurité sociale / Assurance Maladie). Affiliation is free - the old paid "student social security" is gone; you join the general system. It applies to non-EU/EEA/Swiss students enrolled for a course longer than 3 months. Register at etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr, upload your documents (passport, visa/titre de séjour, proof of enrolment, birth certificate, RIB), and you're assigned a provisional then permanent social security number.

In your ameli.fr space you get an attestation de droits (proof of cover) to use at appointments. Once your file is complete you receive the carte Vitale - the green chip card that automates reimbursements; the attestation stands in until then. Assurance Maladie help line: 36 46.

EU/EEA/Swiss students. Keep your home-country cover with the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC / CEAM). If your CEAM is valid through the end of the academic year, you do not need to register on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr - just present it to doctors and pay the ticket modérateur. Request it from your home country's social-security body ideally ≥15 days before departure; if it isn't ready, a temporary Certificat Provisoire de Remplacement (CPR), valid 3 months, can be issued.

Mutuelle (optional). The Sécurité sociale only reimburses part of medical costs; an optional mutuelle / complémentaire santé covers the rest (dental, optical, the ticket modérateur). It is not mandatory - compare student mutuelles neutrally.

The CVEC (Contribution Vie Étudiante et de Campus) is a mandatory contribution funding student-life services (health, social support, culture, sport, welcome). You must get your CVEC attestation before enrolling in your institution.

• Amount: €105 for the 2026–2027 academic year.
• Who pays: every student in formation initiale at a higher-education institution.
• Exempt (free attestation, but you must still obtain it): scholarship holders (CROUS bourse sur critères sociaux or regional health/social-training scholarships), refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, and asylum seekers with the right to remain.
• Not subject at all: some lycée-based programmes, BTS, DMA.

How: go to cvec.etudiant.gouv.fr (via your messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr account), declare your situation, then pay €105 by card or claim exemption. You get an attestation CVEC with a number to give your institution at enrolment. Cash payment is also possible via the FDJ/Nirio network (no fees).

Validate your VLS-TS within 3 months. Many students arrive on a VLS-TS (Visa Long Séjour valant Titre de Séjour) - a long-stay visa that acts as a residence permit once validated. You must validate it online within 3 months of arrival or it becomes invalid (and you can't legally re-cross the Schengen border).

1. Go to the ANEF portal: administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr → "Je valide mon VLS-TS".
2. Create an account; enter your visa number, arrival date and French address.
3. Pay the validation tax (electronic timbre fiscal) by card online, or buy the e-stamp in a bureau de tabac and enter its 16-digit number.
4. The visa is validated immediately; download your proof.

Note on the tax amount: official pages route to the France-Visas tariff for the exact figure, which changed in 2026, and third-party 2026 guides conflict (from €50 to €150). Check the live amount on france-visas.gouv.fr or the ANEF payment screen before relying on a number.

Renewal. If you stay beyond the VLS-TS, renew as a carte de séjour étudiant via the same ANEF portal, 2–4 months before expiry (start early - processing is slow). Re-submit proof of enrolment, study progress, resources and address, and pay the applicable taxes. Keep your CVEC attestation and enrolment certificate handy each year.

Working rights. A foreign student may work up to 964 hours per year - 60% of legal full-time (1,607 h × 60% = 964 h), roughly ~20 h/week on average. The reference period is 12 rolling months from the validity date of your residence permit, not the calendar year. EU/EEA/Swiss students are not subject to this cap. Exceeding 964 h risks losing your permit or a renewal refusal. A validated apprenticeship (contrat d'apprentissage) falls outside the 964-hour limit.