Digital carte Vitale: we try it out as a French residency card holder
Smartphone app can be set up in several ways, including by – some – residency card holders
The digital version of the cater Vitale was trialled in eight departments in 2023, before wider rollouts in 2024 and 2025
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France’s push for digitisation across public services has continued into 2025 with several major sectors impacted.
The health sector in particular has been at the forefront, through a digitised version of the carte Vitale available through a smartphone application.
A digital version of the green health card was first trialled in eight departments in 2023, before wider rollouts in 2024 and 2025.
During his brief tenure as prime minister in autumn 2024, Michel Barnier stated a digital carte Vitale was a main aim of his government’s digital drive.
In March 2025, the app was connected to France Identité, allowing French citizens with modern ID cards to set up the application through a streamlined process that takes around two minutes.
Last week, an expansion in the departments where non-citizens can set up their digital card was rolled out.
It means those without a modern French ID card – including French residency card holders – in around half of France’s departments can access the digital version of the card.
You can see the departments where the app can be used by non-ID card holders in our article here.
There are plans for the app to be available for non-French citizens in all departments by the end of 2025 states Assurance Maladie.
The app is not intended to - and does not - replace the physical carte Vitales, which can still be used. It is rather meant to complement it, providing an additional way to use the card in the case you forget your physical version.
In light of the rollout, a member of The Connexion team who has a French residency card – but not French citizenship – downloaded the application to see how easy it was to use.
Note the staff member was able to do this being based in the Alpes-Maritimes department, one of the 46 where the application is currently available without France Identité.
One application, two ways to authorise
There remains some confusion around the digital card, as the related smartphone application that hosts it can be set up in multiple ways.
The application itself – simply called ‘carte vitale’ is downloadable for free from the Apple App or Google Play stores.
It is available provided that your phone is compatible and its operating system is up to date.
Once downloaded you need to input your social security number (found on your card and / or certain Ameli or Assurance Maladie documents).
You can then ‘set up’ the application using either France Identité or another method.
In the case of the former, the only people who can currently download and set up the France Identité application are French citizens who have a modern (post-2021) credit-card style national ID card.
There are plans to widen the eligibility of France Identité to all citizens and French residency card holders but this has yet to take place.
The application recommends setting up your account this way if you can but offers alternative options.
Non-citizens with a valid form of ID – Belgian, Spanish, or Portuguese EU residency cards or a valid French carte de séjour – must therefore set up the application the other way by selecting which card they have.
Note that French citizens with an older ID card or a French passport can set up the application using these pieces of ID, but have to go through the same steps detailed below.
All plastic-style physical residency cards can be used, provided the holder already has a carte Vitale (short-stay visa holders cannot use the application, as they cannot obtain a carte Vitale). In our case, we used a five-year ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ (Brexit) card.
A six-digit code will be sent to the email associated with your Ameli account (your online space with state insurer Assurance Maladie). Note this may appear in your spam folder, as it did for us.
Once you have entered the code from this email into the application, then you must take a video of your residency card or identification document.
In the case of an ID card, this requires a recto-verso scan of the card. Instructions are given on your phone (in French) on what to do.
You then take a photo or short video of your face using your phone’s front camera (you will be given instructions on how to do this).
You must then set up a personal password to enter the app (a new six-digit code), and await a verification email.
The app says this can take up to 48 hours, however for us it took around 10 minutes to be verified.
You then re-open the application, enter your password, and the account is set up.
All in all, for us the process took around 20 minutes from start to finish so was quick and easy even with the required scanning of the residency card.
What can the digital carte Vitale be used for?
The main function of the app is to have a digital, scannable version of your carte Vitale for medical appointments.
This requires your phone’s NFC (technology which allows data transfer) connection to be on, but works by opening the app then clicking on the scan card option. It can be read on card readers installed at GP and other medical offices.
The application also allows you to access recent history of the card, including payments made in the previous seven days. This will allow you to see any fraudulent use of your carte Vitale.
