Get your carte Vitale

You cannot request a carte Vitale until you already have a numéro de sécurité sociale — the card comes second, not first. Once you have that number, the channel you use to order the card changes how long you wait: about two weeks through your compte ameli account, about three weeks by post.

What the card actually does

Your health professional (doctor, dentist, and so on) uses the carte Vitale to create an electronic feuille de soins — the digital version of the paper reimbursement form — so you’re reimbursed within a week with no further step. The card also gives you access to Assurance maladie’s online services, and lets you consult, add to, or close your dossier pharmaceutique (pharmacy record).

Requesting your first card

Getting a carte Vitale requires having a numéro de sécurité sociale first. From age 16, your caisse primaire d’Assurance maladie contacts you directly and sends you the “Ma nouvelle carte Vitale” form. A child’s card can be ordered earlier — from age 12 — but only through a compte ameli.

The carte Vitale itself is delivered free of charge. You can order it online through your compte ameli account or the Compte ameli app, or by post. If you order it through your compte ameli, you don’t need to return the paper “Ma nouvelle carte Vitale” form that Assurance maladie sends when you turn 16.

When the card is sent to you, you receive a paper copy of the information it holds at the same time. That paper copy is not an attestation de droits (proof-of-rights certificate) — it doesn’t have that legal value, even though it arrives alongside your card. If you can download an attestation de droits, it’s from your compte ameli. If there’s an error or inaccuracy on the paper copy, report it to your Assurance maladie organisme.

What’s on the card

The “with your agreement” condition applies to the mutuelle entry only — not to the treating doctor or workplace-accident information next to it.

If you spot an error in your identity details on the card — surname, first names, sex, date or place of birth — you correct it through the dedicated online service for identity errors.

Keeping the card valid

The carte Vitale is issued with no expiry date, but it still needs updating at least once a year (pick the same time of year so you don’t forget), and every time your personal or professional situation changes — moving house, a new email address, a birth, a long-term condition (ALD), a new treating doctor, or a change of organisme. Update terminals are available at Assurance maladie offices, most pharmacies, and certain health establishments.

If your rights to Assurance maladie benefits end, the card stops working, and you’re required to return it to the organisme that issued it.

If your card is lost, stolen, or stops working

Declaring this online: log into your compte ameli, on the website or the app, go to “mes démarches”, and use the “déclarez la perte ou le vol de carte Vitale” service. While you wait for the replacement, you can get an attestation de droits.

You can also hand in the declaration in person at your CPAM.

Replacing a lost, stolen, or malfunctioning card is free. If anyone asks you for money to do it, it’s a scam.

Reaching Assurance maladie safely

3646 is the only number for reaching your caisse primaire d’assurance maladie, open Monday to Friday. Hours vary by département, but are generally at least 8:30am to 5:30pm, and it’s a free service plus the cost of the call, from a landline or mobile. Calling from abroad, use +33 1 84 90 36 46, on the same free-service-plus-call-cost basis.

Whoever you speak with on a call about your carte Vitale will never ask you for banking details — account number, RIB, or card number. Genuine emails Assurance maladie sends about a request you’ve made always ask you to log into your compte ameli, rather than asking you to act any other way.

The carte Vitale app

Since 18 November 2025, anyone insured can activate a digital carte Vitale on their smartphone, whatever their scheme, through a generalised video-verification process. CNIe holders have also been able to activate it through the France Identité app since 18 March 2025. It’s a free download on Android (Google Play) and iOS (App Store), and covers the régime général, the MSA agricultural scheme, MGEN, and other special schemes.

It does the same job as the physical card — identification and reimbursement by télétransmission — in the same situations: with health professionals and at health establishments. From 2026 it will also carry your complementary insurer’s ID, for billing the mutuelle’s share.

For the France Identité pathway, access is then secured with two-factor authentication — a password plus your phone’s own lock code — under GDPR. If you’re not using France Identité, day-to-day use also requires an open compte ameli, being over 16, and being attached to a fund in a département where the app is activated.

Because rollout to health professionals is still progressive, keep your physical card with you too. Unlock the app with your password or your phone’s biometrics, then show it to the professional, who needs a QR or NFC reader — if you’re not sure they have one, bring the physical card.

Before you request your card

• Get your numéro de sécurité sociale sorted first — you can’t order a carte Vitale without it.
• Order online through your compte ameli or the app if you want the two-week delay rather than the roughly three-week delay by post.
• Don’t treat the paper copy that arrives with your card as an attestation de droits — download that separately from your compte ameli.
• If your card is ever lost, stolen, or stops working, replacing it is free — treat any request for payment as a scam.