Public guides · France
The French administrative terms you will actually meet — titre de séjour, justificatif de domicile, Carte Vitale, VLS-TS, RIB, droit au compte and more — explained plainly, with links to official sources.
Last verified · 2026-07-07
French relocation gets easier when you understand the terms that appear across housing, banking, healthcare, visas, and everyday administration. This glossary gives plain-English orientation so you can recognize the terms, then verify the exact requirement with the office or provider asking for it.
Source-verification caveat. Definitions can help you understand the language, but they do not prove what your specific office, bank, insurer, landlord, school, or public authority will accept. Before submitting documents or making regulated decisions, verify the current requirement with the relevant official or provider source.
A dossier is a file or application package. In relocation, it usually means the set of documents you submit for housing, banking, insurance, school, healthcare, or administrative steps.
Practical example: a rental dossier may include identity proof, income proof, address information, and guarantor documents. The exact list depends on the landlord, agency, or platform.
A justificatif de domicile is proof of address. It is one of the most important dependency documents in France because many other steps may ask for it. The accepted documents differ by process — see, for example, the official list used for ID and passport applications on service-public.gouv.fr.
Practical example: a utility bill, housing certificate, or rental document may be accepted in one context and refused in another. Always check the accepted proof list for the specific step.
A titre de séjour is a residence permit. The process and required documents vary by category and personal situation.
Practical example: employee, student, family, retiree, and other routes can involve different proof requirements.
A carte de séjour is a residence permit card for a foreign national living in France. It is one of the document types under the broader titre de séjour category, and it comes in different forms depending on your situation and route. See the official overview of residence permits at service-public.gouv.fr.
A récépissé is an official receipt issued when you file certain applications (for example, a residence-permit request). It acknowledges that your application is being processed and can, in some cases, temporarily attest to your situation while you wait for the decision. What it covers depends on your process and category.
A RIB is a bank identity document showing bank account details. It is commonly requested for payments, reimbursements, salary, subscriptions, insurance, and administrative flows.
Practical example: an insurer or employer may ask for a RIB to pay money into your account.
A visa de long séjour is a long-stay visa. Requirements and follow-up steps depend on the visa category and current official rules.
Practical example: do not assume that advice for one long-stay visa type applies to another — categories follow different rules.
VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour) is a long-stay visa that also serves as your residence permit for its period of validity, so you do not need a separate first titre de séjour. A key feature: it must be validated online after you arrive in France — a step tied to a deadline set by the current rules. Confirm the exact procedure and timing for your category on the official portal, administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr.
A préfecture is a local state authority. It often matters for residence-status and administrative processes.
Practical example: appointment availability, local instructions, and document handling can vary, so check the relevant local page where applicable.
OFII is the French office linked to immigration and integration procedures for some foreign nationals. Whether it applies depends on status and current rules.
Practical example: not every newcomer has the same OFII step — it follows from your visa or residence category.
A bail is a lease. It is a key housing document and may become part of your address-proof trail.
An état des lieux is an inventory or condition report for a rental property. It records the state of the property at move-in and move-out.
A quittance de loyer is a rent receipt. It may help document rental payments or housing history, depending on the context.
An attestation d'hébergement is a host accommodation certificate. It may be used when someone hosts you, but acceptance depends on the requesting authority or provider.
A garant is a guarantor. In housing, this is a person or structure that may guarantee rent obligations. Requirements vary by landlord, agency, and platform.
assurance habitation is home / renter's insurance. For most rentals it is required, and proof of it is commonly requested at or before move-in. The exact obligations and accepted proof depend on your lease and insurer.
sécurité sociale is the French social-security system, which includes public health insurance. Being affiliated is what gives you a social-security number and access to healthcare reimbursement; the health-insurance side is administered through your local CPAM and the ameli.fr service.
CPAM is the local health insurance office structure tied to the French public healthcare system.
Ameli is the public health insurance online service and information source. For healthcare pathway questions, use the official current page.
The Carte Vitale is the French health-insurance card. It records your entitlement so that healthcare costs can be reimbursed by the system. Obtaining one depends on being affiliated to sécurité sociale; see ameli.fr.
droit au compte is the legally guaranteed right to a basic bank account. If a bank refuses to open an account for you, you can ask the Banque de France, which then designates a bank that must open a basic account for you, with basic banking services provided free. See the official explanation at service-public.gouv.fr.
A traduction assermentée is a sworn translation. Some official processes may require one for foreign documents.
An apostille is a form of international certification for certain documents. Whether it is required depends on the document, country, and process.
An avis d'imposition is your official tax assessment notice. It is frequently requested as proof of income or of tax situation across housing, banking, and administrative steps.
Example 1: A bank asks for a justificatif de domicile. Do not send the first address-related file you have. Check exactly which address proofs the bank accepts.
Example 2: A housing platform asks for a dossier. Treat that as a package, not a single document. Build a folder that matches the requested list.
Example 3: A healthcare step mentions Ameli or CPAM. Use the official healthcare source for eligibility and process, not a generic relocation article.
From vocabulary to sequence
The hard part is the order they arrive in — which term becomes a document, which document unlocks the next step, and where a missing one quietly blocks three others. The Relocation Manual — France Edition is built around that dependency map, so the vocabulary here turns into a sequence you can actually move through.
Common questions