Family health coverage

Once you are registered with the French social security office, you can extend your coverage to any child under 18 years of age residing with you in France. They will be added as a beneficiary and linked to your carte vitale.

To do this, you must send a request to your CPAM. Your application needs to include the following:

• Application form (in French)
• Two supporting documents:
  • An official document certifying your child’s civil status (a full copy of their birth certificate or any equivalent document issued by a consulate and bearing an official seal)
  • The child’s proof of identity (ID card or passport) or a medical certificate issued by the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) as part of the family reunification process

Your child will no longer be covered through your insurance once one of the following occurs:

• They turn 18; they will automatically be registered in their own name with the social security office on September 1 of that year
• They begin a job (including as an intern)
• They turn 16 and begin post-secondary studies, at which point they will be affiliated with the social security regime for students

When your child turns 16, they can choose to register for public health insurance in their own name. In that case, your child will cease to be covered through your insurance and will have coverage in their own right.