Insurance Is a Condition of Entry and of Half the Permits; What You Get Once You Are In Is in Another Code
The CESEDA treats health cover as something you arrive with. Article L. 311-1 lists among the documents required to enter France proof that an approved insurer will meet the medical and hospital expenses, social assistance included, of care you might need. Article L. 426-20 makes sickness insurance a condition of the visiteur card, article L. 422-10 of the graduate job-search card, articles L. 426-11 and L. 426-17 of the long-term residence cards, and article L. 233-1 makes it a condition of a Union citizen's right to stay beyond three months on means or on study. The code then does one thing in the other direction, and it is the most-litigated provision in French immigration law: article L. 425-9 gives a one-year "vie privée et familiale" card to a foreigner habitually resident in France whose state of health requires medical care whose absence could have consequences of exceptional gravity for them, and who could not effectively receive appropriate treatment in their country of origin given its supply of care and the characteristics of its health system. The decision is taken after the opinion of a panel of doctors of the Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration, and where the panel finds the conditions met, a refusal has to be specially reasoned. What the CESEDA does not contain is the entitlement itself: who is covered by French health insurance, from when, and on what contributions is in the code de la sécurité sociale, which Legifrance would not serve.
At a glance
- Health cover at the border
- Required among the entry documents, with an approved insurer, covering medical and hospital expenses including social assistance
CESEDA article L. 311-1 2°, which asks for guarantees of repatriation in the same breath.
- On the visiteur card
- Sickness insurance covering the length of the stay, as a condition of issue
CESEDA article L. 426-20.
- On the graduate job-search card
- Sickness insurance, stated as the first words of the article
CESEDA article L. 422-10.
- On the ten-year long-term residence card
- Sickness insurance, alongside stable and sufficient resources
CESEDA article L. 426-17.
- For a Union citizen beyond three months
- Required on the means route and on the study route, not on the work route
CESEDA article L. 233-1, 2° and 3°.
- A permit because of illness
- A one-year "vie privée et familiale" card where the absence of care could have consequences of exceptional gravity and appropriate treatment is not effectively available in the country of origin
CESEDA article L. 425-9, which disapplies the long-stay visa requirement.
- Who decides it
- The administration, after the opinion of a panel of doctors of the Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration
CESEDA article L. 425-9. Where the panel finds the conditions met, a refusal must be specially reasoned.
- Parents of a sick child
- A provisional residence authorisation of up to six months, renewed for as long as the child's care lasts, and it permits work
CESEDA article L. 425-10.
- Entitlement to the French health system
- Not in the CESEDA - the code de la sécurité sociale decides it and was not read
The CESEDA names that code repeatedly, always for an allowance or a benefit excluded from a resources count, never for the entitlement itself.
Requirements
- At the border: cover with an approved insurer for medical and hospital expenses, social assistance included, and guarantees of repatriation
- On a visiteur, graduate job-search or long-term residence card: sickness insurance as a condition of issue
- For a Union citizen staying beyond three months on means or on study: sickness insurance
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«2° Sous réserve des conventions internationales, et de l'article 6, paragraphe 1, point c, du code frontières Schengen, du justificatif d'hébergement prévu à l'article L. 313-1, s'il est requis, et des autres documents prévus par décret en Conseil d'Etat relatifs à l'objet et aux conditions de son séjour et à ses moyens d'existence, à la prise en charge par un opérateur d'assurance agréé des dépenses médicales et hospitalières, y compris d'aide sociale, résultant de soins qu'il pourrait engager en France, ainsi qu'aux garanties de son rapatriement ;»Health cover as an entry document rather than as a right. It names an approved insurer, and it includes social assistance in what must be covered.
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The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
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«L'étranger, résidant habituellement en France, dont l'état de santé nécessite une prise en charge médicale dont le défaut pourrait avoir pour lui des conséquences d'une exceptionnelle gravité et qui, eu égard à l'offre de soins et aux caractéristiques du système de santé dans le pays dont il est originaire, ne pourrait pas y bénéficier effectivement d'un traitement approprié, se voit délivrer une carte de séjour temporaire portant la mention " vie privée et familiale " d'une durée d'un an. La condition prévue à l'article L. 412-1 n'est pas opposable.»The test, with both halves stated: the gravity of what would happen without care, and the effective unavailability of appropriate treatment in the country of origin judged against that country's supply of care and health system.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«La décision de délivrer cette carte de séjour est prise par l'autorité administrative après avis d'un collège de médecins du service médical de l'Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration, dans des conditions définies par décret en Conseil d'Etat.»Who decides, and on whose opinion. The panel sits inside the immigration office rather than in the health administration.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Si le collège de médecins estime dans son avis que les conditions précitées sont réunies, l'autorité administrative ne peut refuser la délivrance du titre de séjour que par une décision spécialement motivée.»The weight the medical opinion carries. It does not bind, but a refusal against it has to be specially reasoned.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Les parents étrangers de l'étranger mineur qui remplit les conditions prévues à l'article L. 425-9, ou l'étranger titulaire d'un jugement lui ayant conféré l'exercice de l'autorité parentale sur ce mineur, se voient délivrer, sous réserve qu'ils justifient résider habituellement en France avec lui et subvenir à son entretien et à son éducation, une autorisation provisoire de séjour d'une durée maximale de six mois. La condition prévue à l'article L. 412-1 n'est pas opposable.»The parents of a sick child, who get a provisional authorisation rather than a card - and, unusually for a provisional authorisation, one that opens the right to work.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«2° Ils disposent pour eux et pour leurs membres de famille de ressources suffisantes afin de ne pas devenir une charge pour le système d'assistance sociale, ainsi que d'une assurance maladie ;»Sickness insurance as a condition of a Union citizen's residence beyond three months on the means route. It is not a condition of the work route in 1°.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«L'étranger qui justifie d'une résidence régulière ininterrompue d'au moins cinq ans en France au titre d'une carte de séjour temporaire ou pluriannuelle ou d'une carte de résident, de ressources stables, régulières et suffisantes pour subvenir à ses besoins et d'une assurance maladie se voit délivrer, sous réserve des exceptions prévues à l'article L. 426-18, une carte de résident portant la mention " résident de longue durée- UE " d'une durée de dix ans.»Insurance again, as one of three conditions for the ten-year long-term residence card.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Article L. 425-9 is the provision that decides whether a seriously ill person may stay, and the test it states is about the country of origin as much as about the patient: the question is whether appropriate treatment could be effectively received there, judged against that country's supply of care and the characteristics of its health system.
Every mention of the code de la sécurité sociale in the CESEDA is to exclude a named allowance from a resources count - the adult disability allowance of article L. 821-1 and the old-age supplement of article L. 815-24 recur in articles L. 426-20, L. 426-17 and L. 434-8. None of them is about entitlement to care.
- consolidatesCode de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile, consolidated text last modified 27 August 2026
Legifrance, Direction de l'information legale et administrative · consolidated to 2026-08-27
Known to be out of date. The address cited is the code's plan: it lists article numbers without their text, so a reader following it will not find the quoted words on that page and has to take the whole-code PDF offered under "Telecharger le code". Legifrance answers 403 to every request this project can make, including to that PDF, so the reading behind these quotations was downloaded by a person in a browser and cannot be refreshed by running a command. The PDF prints its own two dates on its last line - last modified and generated - and the cut-off recorded here is the first of them.
About this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source