If you're moving to France for the first time, you must have an insurance in place on your arrival date. If you are already in France and were previously insured elsewhere, your new policy should start the day after your previous policy expires to avoid any gap in coverage. Either way, signing up is fully digital and only takes a few minutes.
When does my expat health insurance need to start?
The right start date depends on your situation:
If you're moving to France for the first time and haven't arrived yet, your insurance must start on your arrival date. To get your insurance certificate, which you'll need for your visa or residence appointment, you'll need to sign up before that appointment, or before you arrive if you enter France without a visa. The authorities don't require your coverage to begin on the day of your appointment, but they do require an insurance certificate that shows you will be covered on your arrival date. Starting your coverage on your arrival date also means you won't have a waiting period.
If you're renewing a visa or residence permit and were previously insured elsewhere, your new policy should start the day after your previous policy expires. This ensures you don't have any gap in health coverage.
Can I choose my own start date?
Yes. You can set your start date to any date in the future, the earliest being tomorrow (you cannot set a start date of today or in the past). Your insurance certificate is issued immediately after you sign up, so you schedule your policy as early as 12 months in advance if you'd like, or just a few days before your visa appointment. Although we would always recommend planning your move early.
Can I backdate my expat health insurance?
No, we cannot backdate expat health insurance. If you have already been living in France for some time without coverage, the earliest start date available to you is tomorrow. We strongly recommend choosing that date to minimize your coverage gap.
What information do my insurance certificate include?
Your insurance certificate is issued immediately after you sign up (this is the document you need to show at your visa/residence appointment).
Start date: it lists your chosen start date as a calendar date
End date: it lists "one year, renewable" as the expiration date, rather than a set calendar date, which meets the requirements of French visa authorities.
Your EU confirmation of insurance displays an expiration date set 5 years after your arrival in France, because Expat insurance can only be used for up to 5 years. This is a document formality, not a contract commitment.
Am I locked into a yearly or 5-year contract?
No. While the expiration date on your certificate says "one year, renewable" which cannot be changed, your policy renews on a monthly basis if you chose monthly payments, and on an annual basis if you chose an annual payment.
In any case, you are free to cancel at any time after the one-month minimum from within your account.
The "one year, renewable" wording and the 5-year expiration date on your certificate are required for visa compliance purposes only ; they do not bind you to any fixed contract term. If you join the Sécurité Sociale (CPAM) or leave France, you can cancel your coverage, and will stop being charged on the following month.
What should I do if my arrival date in France changes?
To update your start date before your policy starts, you'll need to sign up for a new policy with your correct arrival date first. Once that's done, go to your old policy in your Feather account and cancel it with the reason "I have another health insurance."
Since your old policy hasn't started yet, you'll automatically receive a full refund.
You can find more information about this in our dedicated FAQ.