Visas
If you don’t know what kind of visa you need to live in France, here is some good news for you: thanks to this website offered by the French government, the ‘visa wizard’, you only need to provide the details of your stay (your age, nationality, duration of your stay and a form of ID) to know exactly what document you need to live in France or any of the French territories abroad. Here is the link: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/ai-je-besoin-d-un-visa
Obviously, because France belongs in the European Union, citizens that come from EU countries will not require any visa to study and work within the French borders.
Healthcare system
The French healthcare system is universally renowned as one of the best in the world: it works generally well, it is easy to afford (with a great quality of care/cost of treatment ratio!) and it aims to be universally inclusive, providing healthcare for every resident regardless of their status, nationality, and income.
If you work in France or you are enrolled at a French university, you automatically count as covered by the national healthcare system and as such you have a right to a Carte Vitale (a card with your personal and medical details as well as your securité sociale number) and you can subscribe to health insurance.
If you come originally from a EU state and you wish to stay in France for a long period, it is possible (and encouraged!) for you to get a Carte Vitale, but it is not mandatory: because France is in the EU, through your EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) you already have access to the same level of treatment and care as would be a French citizen.
Moreover, since 2018, healthcare for students is completely free of charge (or rather, as we said a few paragraphs above, it is included in the CVEC payment): to register for free healthcare, visit the website https://etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr/#/.
The healthcare system is made up of a network of public and private hospitals, doctors clinics and other institutions of health assistance. The cost for providing healthcare is shared between the central government, the taxes paid for by employers and employees, and finally the individual users that will be asked to pay small amounts (in most cases, less than 50€) to access health services.
How do I access health services?
If you need to see a doctor, you can go to any of the 23’000 general practitioners that are present on French territory (médecins généralistes, 1 every 2600 inhabitants). Everyone can decide which GP clinic they would like to register with. Your GP is the doctor you should refer to for prescriptions, referrals for specialist visits and any other health service or treatment you might need. Registration with a GP is not required if you are planning a short stay.
A visit with your GP, regardless of duration, has a fixed forfeit cost of 25€. Visits outside of office hours and domiciliary care have a higher cost. While the cost is paid for by the user initially, most of it can be reimbursed by presenting the Carte Vitale and a receipt of the visit to insurance companies.
The receipt, called feuille de soins, is compiled by your GP. The reimbursement can vary according to what insurance you subscribe to, but it usually stands around 70%, meaning that the average cost of a GP visit is set between 0 and 6€.
In any case, before receiving treatment or consultations it is necessary to make sure that the medic or healthcare professional that you are visiting is recognized by or affiliated with the insurance companies. To check out the list of affiliated doctors in your city or region, you can visit this website: http://annuairesante.ameli.fr/.
In case of a hospital stay, you will not need to pay upfront for the cost of healthcare if you present your Carte Vitale or EHIC. You can pay for the fees after presenting your bill to the insurance companies, which will reimburse 80-100% of the total cost of your hospital stay.
For more info, you can visit https://www.cleiss.fr/.
Living costs
Living costs in France are generally higher than in the average European country. The average living costs are driven high by the major French cities, Paris in particular. By comparison, living in Paris is more expensive than living in Madrid (+37%), Brussels (+20%) or Amsterdam (+7%). It is, however, less expensive than living in New York (-22%), Los Angeles (-10%) or London (-17%).
The southern regions of France and the countryside areas are obviously much more affordable. To give you an idea, eating out (not in a fancy restaurant) costs around 12€, a coffee 2,50€, a beer is 5€, movie tickets are 10€… It is not exactly a cheap place to live, but bear in mind that students and people under 25 years of age can enjoy the many discounts that are on offer.
The average cost of renting a room or small flat is between 480 and 675€, varying a lot depending on the quality of accommodation and the area where the house is located. On top of this there will be utilities (40-50€ per month), bills for your phone and for WiFi (15-25€) and lastly you might want to consider the price of public transport (50-60€ per month if you use the student rates).
Approximately, for students the monthly costs of living in one of France’s main cities go as follows, including rent:
- Paris: 1200-1800€
- Nice: 900-1400€
- Lyon: 850-1300€
- Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse: 750-1000€
- Other parts of France, particularly rural areas: around 700€