Carte Vitale is now available digitally across France - is it available to foreign residents?

Access to a digital version of the French carte Vitale health card has been expanded, however limitations remain – notably for non-citizens. 

Fulfilling – partially – plans set out by ex-prime minister Michel Barnier, the government announced yesterday (March 11) that a digital version of the card is now available in all departments. 

It can be downloaded using the ‘carte Vitalle’ application on a smartphone and is compatible with both Android and Apple devices.

Prior to the announcement, the application was only available to people in certain departments where it was being trialled.. 

Read more: Digital carte Vitale trial in France: where and how will it work?

Note this digital version does not replace the ability to use the physical format.

Additional application required to digitise health card 

Initial plans by Mr Barnier would have seen the end of the ‘carte Vitale’ app, with the health card instead hosted on the France Identité application. 

The France Identité app is used to host official documentation such as national identity cards and driving licences in a digital format.

Read more: Explained: what is the official France Identité app?

It has also recently been expanded to be used on certain trains to provide proof of purchase of a ticket. 

Read more: New quicker way to prove identity and ticket for more train travel in France

However, a full transition to this app is yet to take place for digital carte Vitale, with the former app still being used – but requiring France Identité to also be installed on the device.

Under the current format, France Identité serves as a ‘gateway’ for the carte Vitale application. 

Upon opening the ‘carte Vitale’ application, users will have to connect it to the France Identité application already on their smartphone, either by scanning information from their physical card or using the ‘NFC’ wireless connectivity function (most modern smartphones have this, and it can be turned on or off in your phone’s settings). 

When setting up the digital health card for the first time, a user will also need to put in their social security number. 

Once successfully set-up, the carte Vitale app can be used to provide a digital version of the card for healthcare professionals and at pharmacies.

Subsequent uses of the app will require a passcode to be entered to gain access – this means if your smartphone is lost or stolen someone else will not be able to use your carte Vitale (although you should report it missing/stolen immediately). 

Use of France Identité limits rollout 

Those who do not have the France Identité application are for the time being unable to use the carte Vitale application, unless they are from one of the departments where the trial is taking place. 

Those in the 23 departments already running the trial of the carte Vitale application will still be able to digitise their card without connecting it to their France Identité account, although they are the only ones currently able to do so.

The France Identité application itself is only open to French citizens who have a modern post-2021 plastic credit-card style national ID card (Carte nationale d'identité). 

Citizens with an older version of this card as well as all non-citizens cannot use the app. 

There are eventual plans to widen the use of France Identité to everyone, including non-citizens – potentially even hosting digital versions of residency permits on the application – although nothing concrete has yet been announced.