Registering for healthcare with French authorities

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 18:23

Recently became resident in France & have been sent form S1 to registerwith the French authorities. We are instructed to take these to our local sickness office. Can someone please advise where our local "sickness office" is to take these forms? We live in St Genis.

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 18:41

http://lannuaire.service-public.fr/serv ... 36-01.html

You will also have to take with you Passports, EDF bill or the like, birth certificates, possibly marriage certificate in fact everything you have!!

tia · Post by **tia** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 19:43

should take every bit of paperwork you have proving who you are, where you live, etc. probably a long wait and then get told to come back because you have not got a bit of paper they need . Then again you might be really lucky and get a person who is having a good day and wants to be helpful . For people who have cushy jobs they are a miserable lot in the whole!! lol

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 20:01

They lost all the paperwork we gave them the first time so had to go back again. Then they had forgotten something so had to go again. I think we made around 4 trips in all although our experience was reasonably straight forward compared to some people. We had one girl who we saw 2 or 3 times and who was lovely and very helpful the bloke couldnt have cared less. Its rather like going to the deli counter at the supermarket you have to take a ticket before going to the reception then they give you another number for your place in the queue. The parking in the immediate vicinity is non existent. We always parked in the Arrago car park then walked up to the offices.

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 20:20

Sue wrote:http://lannuaire.service-public.fr/serv ... 36-01.html

You will also have to take with you Passports, EDF bill or the like, birth certificates, possibly marriage certificate in fact everything you have!!

Thank you Dylan,
From your link I see we must go to 2 Les Ramparts, Perpignan. Following your "French experience" I will make sure I take originals and copies of everything, including my swimming certificate for swimming 25yards. In case that is too small a distance I will take my mile certificate as well (with a conversion to kilometres).

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 20:22

You've got it Oxymoron. Its paper, paper and more paper!

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 20:25

Sue wrote:http://lannuaire.service-public.fr/serv ... 36-01.html

You will also have to take with you Passports, EDF bill or the like, birth certificates, possibly marriage certificate in fact everything you have!!

Apologies, I see my thanks should be to Sue & Tia. First question on the website & need to learn format.

tia · Post by **tia** » Tue 29 Jan 2013 23:07

Sue , are you not allowed to go to the one in moulin avent? That's where I go but I don't know if they deal with the international side. From what I understood you drop the paperwork off there and then they send it to remparts anyway, a lot easier than going to the other one. Same people just easier to park and maybe a bit less waiting time.

HH · Post by HH » Wed 30 Jan 2013 00:12

Try Opposite CAF, its nearer for you!

Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie de Perpignan - Mas Vermeil
Agence CPAM / 66000 Perpignan

Adresse : 36 rue Hector Guimard 66000 Perpignan. Horaires : lundi : 08h30 à 16h30, mercredi : 08h30 à 16h30, jeudi : 08h30 à 16h30,.... Fax : 0468359696.

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 08:21

We were advised to go to the one at the Remparts so that is what we did. Never like dropping paper off at one place to be forwarded to another but then thats just me!!

tia · Post by **tia** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 08:39

opposite caf has been closed down many years, around 2005 I think ( I'm pretty sure it didn't reopen although I may be wrong) .

HH · Post by HH » Wed 30 Jan 2013 10:19

tia wrote:opposite caf has been closed down many years, around 2005 I think ( I'm pretty sure it didn't reopen although I may be wrong) .

You are wrong, it was open this morning

tia · Post by **tia** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 11:00

good to know, as I thought it hadn't reopened. might give it a go there instead of the other one.

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 18:37

So, we can try the place in Rue Hector Gruimard too, opposite CAF and find out what CAF is. No doubt not the Confederation of African Football.
Thank you one and all.

Nigel · Post by **Nigel** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 19:57

Just a tip...take all the paperwork you can think of and copies also...give them the copies and then get them to sign a schedule confirming receipt of the docs..and that they have all the docs` they need..you will receive a letter saying you have not let them have the docs they need....when you receive the letter go for the second time taking along the docs again and the signed schedule asking for explanation from the manager....explain that if you need to call again for missing or lost docs you will need to reimbursed for time and petrol.....you should receive your carte vitale quite quickly after this second visit.....this is the method that worked for me

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 20:14

This is a question not advice but would it be worth taking 2 passport photos each too as it is now a photo card or is it best to wait till asked for from where ever?

tia · Post by **tia** » Wed 30 Jan 2013 20:48

I have had a new carte vitale done recently, started procedure in october recieved it christmas eve, you have to wait for them to send you a form , which you fill in and stick a photo on. send everything off and then be very patient. I went in to ask where mine was as on the internet it said it had been processed beginning of december, was told by a member of staff that when it says that on the internet it means that it is ready to go into an envelope, that someone has to do this and then it has to go through to have a stamp on, from then it goes off to the post office through the slowest possible way then will get to me. These were his actual words and it made me laugh the way he said it at the time because I thought he was joking, by the look on his face it was became obvious he was very serious.

russell · Post by **russell** » Thu 31 Jan 2013 12:31

Oxymoron wrote:So, we can try the place in Rue Hector Gruimard too, opposite CAF and find out what CAF is. No doubt not the Confederation of African Football.
Thank you one and all.

I always use that office. I find them helpful. There is plenty of free parking, small office, and rarely any queues.

I've no idea whet CAF is either. There is nothing except parking opposite the office!

Russell.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Thu 31 Jan 2013 13:10

Caisse d'Allocations Familiales ? Child benefits office

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Sat 02 Feb 2013 22:09

Well, once again, thank you everbody. I now know: where to take our forms & everything else that we need to have (in duplicate); have them sign for everything I have supplied; the better alternative office for parking and what CAF stands for. From your experiences I see that, as ever, with French government officers "customer service" is an oxymoron.

Oxymoron.

Nigel Bright · Post by **Nigel Bright** » Wed 20 Mar 2013 16:37

Maybe it is too late now, but make sure you keep a copy of your S1 as the local tax office will want to see it as proof of you registering to be a resident in France. My French accountant says they must have a copy of the S1 and do not accept the fact that you have a Carte Vitale and therefore must have had a S1 in the first place.
CPAM took both of my S1 forms provided by the UK International Pension Centre, sent one back to the UK to let them know I had now registered in France and used the other to start my paperwork for my Carte Vitale.
I thought they would only need one and the other would be my copy, but now I have to go back to CPAM to try and get a copy. Doh!!!

russell · Post by **russell** » Wed 20 Mar 2013 17:20

Nigel Bright wrote:Maybe it is too late now, but make sure you keep a copy of your S1 as the local tax office will want to see it as proof of you registering to be a resident in France. My French accountant says they must have a copy of the S1

I think he is mistaken. The form S1 is to show that you are entitled to health benefits as a retiree. When I registered at the tax office they didn't ask for one (or rather the E121 as it then was). It is not proof of residence. Usually a utility bill is required for that.

Russell.

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Wed 20 Mar 2013 21:29

Thank you Nigel & Russell,
The S1 I, believe, is proof the UK are paying for health cover in France. We have kept copies fortunately, as I do know this year the FTA want a copy of the S1 with your tax return if you are new (as we are) to being registered with the French health system. If the S1 copy cannot be supplied a social charge of 7.5% of pension income is being imposed by the FTA. Aren't the French wonderful?

Oxymoron · Post by **Oxymoron** » Sun 24 Mar 2013 12:16

Nigel wrote:Just a tip...take all the paperwork you can think of and copies also...give them the copies and then get them to sign a schedule confirming receipt of the docs..and that they have all the docs` they need..you will receive a letter saying you have not let them have the docs they need....when you receive the letter go for the second time taking along the docs again and the signed schedule asking for explanation from the manager....explain that if you need to call again for missing or lost docs you will need to reimbursed for time and petrol.....you should receive your carte vitale quite quickly after this second visit.....this is the method that worked for me

You were spot on. Six working days after we submitted our forms they were all posted back to us with a letter as you described. We were advised that we had not supplied copies of our birth certificates, but there they were amongst everything we had handed to them, all unceremoniously stapled together with six staples, mine with my wife's papers and hers with mine.
The irony here was, that when we handed in our paperwork, the pompous official checking our forms made great play of removing the single staples neatly applied to the top left hand corner to each set (I have no time for people who staple papers so that you cannot read all details on each document), glaring at me with utter contempt. Reluctantly she confirmed everything was in order.
Not the case however. We have to return our paperwork with a R.I.B. besides the "missing" birth certificates. I will have them re-sign our inventories with an added clause that if they say again any documentation is missing, then (as you advised) we shall require compensation for time and fuel costs.

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