Presentation of the State Medical Assistance (“Aide Médicale d’Etat” or “AME”)

Your rights

The AME program will cover up to 100% of your health care expenses up to the maximum rates set by the French Social Security system.

For example, if you are charged 23 € for an appointment with your general practitioner, AME will cover both the obligatory and the supplementary portions.

You also will not have to pay the 1 € out-of-pocket charge.

Health care coverage

AME will cover any expenses for medical or dental care provided at the practitioner’s office or in a hospital. Moreover, you will be exempted from paying any charges up front: when you show your AME card, you have nothing to pay.

Click here for a complete list of medical services covered

Eligibility requirements

You must meet 3 criteria in order to be eligible for AME:

1 - Be an undocumented immigrant residing in France

This means you do not have a residency permit (“titre de séjour”), an official receipt (“récépissé”) of an application for residency, or any other document showing that you are in the process of applying for legal residency.

2 - Reside in France on an ongoing basis

You must have been living in metropolitan France or in an overseas department for at least 3 months without interruption.

3 - Your financial resources must be below a set threshold

The resource threshold depends on the makeup of the applicant’s household. It is also not the same in metropolitan France and in the overseas departements.

Your eligibilty can be verified with the aid of a simulator on www.complementaire-sante-solidaire.gouv.fr

Click here for more information on the financial resources taken into consideration

AME coverage is granted for one year and must be renewed each year. Click here for more information on the renewal process

To receive AME coverage, submit an application to your local Health Insurance Fund (CPAM or “Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie”). You must fill out the application forms and provide the following documentary evidence:

- Proof of identity for the applicant and his/her dependents

- Proof of the applicant’s uninterrupted residence in France for the past three months

- Proof of the applicant’s financial resources

- A recent 3.5 X 4.5 cm identity photo of the applicant and for each of his/her dependents to be covered by AME

Click here for a guide to the AME application process