All types of services, requests, and forms from the government can now be found online.
The majority of the time these are fully digital and do not require users to print out documents or physically attend an appointment.
To use these services, a person is usually required to log into an online space with an account they have created with an account name (or email address) and password.
However, you can often use a ‘FranceConnect’ account to do so.
This service permits use of over 1,400 websites including many official government sites and saves having to remember account information for all of the different services.
FranceConnect can be used to log onto sites including France Titres (formerly ANTS), MaPrimeRénov’, Caf, France Travail, the maison départementale des personnes handicapées (MDPH) and Engie among others.
To log into these via FranceConnect, you can use your account information from one of seven official ‘partner’ sites.
Users only need one account from any of these to be able to use FranceConnect.
Note, however, that only people who have worked in France and/or been registered in its health service are eligible (you should have a French social security number).
Under recent updates, two of the official ‘partner’ services, France Identité and Identité Numérique La Poste are now said to give an especially high level of securité including an ‘advanced digital signature’ and are described as FranceConnect+.
There have been reports of certain sites now requiring people to log in via one of these, specifically, which has in some cases posed problems due to their restrictions with regard to foreign users.
Read more: What is the ‘FranceConnect’ button used for on websites?
France Identité
France Identité is a free government smartphone app designed to host digital versions of official documents.
Currently, it hosts French national ID cards (Carte nationale d’identité française) delivered in the plastic credit-card style format, as well as French driving licences, also in the plastic credit-card style.
These versions are accepted by all authorities including police officers, as official ID, being the only accepted digital forms of these documents.
However, as of October 2024, an account can only be created by those with a post-2021 French ID card, meaning non-French citizens (and even some French citizens) cannot use it.
There are plans for cartes Vitale (French health cards) to be hosted on the app from 2025 onwards, though if the app remains limited to people with French ID cards, this will still exclude foreign people with cartes Vitale.
In the future, the government also says it plans for people to be able to host residency cards (cartes de séjour) on the app, opening its use to non-citizens. There is as yet no official timeframe for when this will happen.
Read more: Explained: what is the official France Identité app and can foreigners use it?
Identité Numérique La Poste
This is a digital identification that, alongside allowing access to FranceConnect, is used for many of La Poste’s services such as collecting parcels.
It is used by more than six million people in France according to La Poste.
It is set up by downloading the app on your smartphone, and then scanning your ID document to confirm your identity. It can also be set up in some physical post offices.
To use the service, you need to be over 18, and have one of the following pieces of ID:
In the case of the latter this does not have to be five years from the time of setting up the account but from the date the permit is issued.
While this is less restrictive than France Identité, only some non-French citizens can use it.
Multi-year residency permits (cartes de séjour pluriannuelles) given for between two and four years cannot be used.
In addition, the five-year Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA) is also ineligible, as it technically has a validity period of four years and 364 days. A Connexion staff member with this type of card was unable to obtain an Identité Numérique for this reason.
The 10-year version of the card, as well as 10 year cartes de résidents, however, can be used.
Read more: How to use French post office’s new online identity system
YRIS
YRIS is an identification service that allows users to create a digital identity that can then be used with a number of partner sites – such as FranceConnect.
The account is also set up via a smartphone application.
To create an account users need to scan a valid ID document and take a short video of themself to confirm identity. The app is available in English.
The official YRIS website says that it accepts “most identity cards and residence permits [titres de séjour] issued by EU member states as well as most passports as long as they are biometric.”
The FranceConnect FAQ site says the identity cards need to be five years or more in duration.
However, a Connexion staff member with a five-year Brexit WA card used YRIS to access FranceConnect.
In addition, users need to sign up with and enter the telephone number of a smartphone which may restrict those who do not have a French mobile number.
A Senator raised this point in September 2024, and is waiting for a response from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
TrustMe
TrustMe is the most recent official partner of FranceConnect, joining in 2024.
Another free smartphone application, TrustMe allows users to not only create a digital identity for FranceConnect, but also to connect to their email and bank accounts, as well as a series of other websites and password-locked apps.
To set up an account, users again need to download the application, complete the verification process, and scan their ID.
The French government says that for FranceConnect, TrustMe accepts the following ID documents:
“Passports, national identity cards and residency permits issued by a member state of the European Union, a State belonging to the European Economic Area or Switzerland, as well as passports issued by third countries exempt from the short-stay visa requirement for entry into the territory of the European Union,”
This includes UK, American, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand passports, provided they are biometric, as these passport-holders all benefit from visa-free short-stay travel to the EU.
Other FranceConnect partner sites
There are three other official partner sites that allow users to access FranceConnect.
Ameli (the online health space)
Impots.gouv.fr (the French tax site)
MSA (the pension site for agricultural workers)
If you have an account with any of the above – for Connexion readers this is most likely to be one or both of the first two – you can use it as your FranceConnect login.
An Ameli account is set up online using bank account details as the account is connected to healthcare payments and carte Vitale including the social security number.
The French tax site can be accessed by those who have a numéro fiscal. All taxpayers should have one, the number is displayed on the tax notices (avis), sent either by the post or via email.
If you do not have a numéro fiscal, read our article below about how to obtain one.
Read more: How do I get a numéro fiscal to access the French tax site?
