Getting healthcare in France without health cover: PASS, AME and associations for foreigners

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

You are a foreigner in France, ill, without health cover or waiting for your rights: you can get care without paying at a PASS (healthcare access desk) in a hospital, or at a Médecins du Monde centre (CASO), with no appointment. After that, three public rights exist depending on your situation: PUMa (health insurance) if your stay is legal, the Complémentaire santé solidaire if your income is low, and AME (state medical aid) if you have been in an irregular situation for more than three months.

Life-threatening emergency: 15 (Samu) or 112. Without AME, a foreigner can be covered at the hospital for urgent care (see below).

This page covers access to healthcare for foreigners in France, with the associations that provide free care and support. It points you in the right direction; it replaces neither a doctor nor a social worker. It is part of our series on associations helping migrants in Europe and the Americas.

In short: where to get care, which rights

Getting care right away, without cover

The hospital PASS (public)

A PASS is, according to Santé.fr, « a hospital care unit open to any sick person in a precarious situation ». It has existed since 1998, in many hospitals. It combines three strands: medical, nursing and social. If needed, it can give access to the hospital's tests (laboratory, radiology), its pharmacy and its specialists, then refers you to a doctor in town.

The social side matters as much as the consultation: at the PASS, a social worker helps you open your rights. Service-public also states that a first AME application can be filed at a health facility or a PASS where you are treated, which forwards it to the CPAM.

How to find it: ask the reception of the nearest hospital for « la PASS ». At A&E, ask to be referred to it after you have been seen.

Médecins du Monde: the CASO

Médecins du Monde's reception, care and referral centres (CASO) see people in great difficulty, including those in an irregular situation, without an appointment and free of charge. They offer general medicine consultations, medicines, dental care, gynaecological and obstetric follow-up, nursing care, prevention and screening. The team also helps clarify your administrative situation and open health cover, then refers you to the PASS, the PMI (mother and child health) or the medico-psychological centre.

Médecins du Monde runs 41 programmes in France. To find the nearest one, use the map on the Nous rencontrer page. The CASO are presented on the CASO: reception, care and referral centres page.

Comede: health for exiled people

Comede works for the health of exiled people and defends their rights. It has five centres (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris, PACA, Loire and Guyane), where the welcome is unconditional. At the Bicêtre health centre you will find medical and prevention consultations, psychotherapy, social and legal support to open health cover rights, and professional interpreters when needed. The first appointment is not made by phone: you go to reception. See the page of the Bicêtre health centre.

Comede also runs two national phone lines, open to individuals, associations and professionals: social and legal (access to care, health cover, residence on medical grounds) on 01 45 21 63 12, medical and psychological on 01 45 21 38 93. Opening days are on the phone lines page.

Red Cross, Secours populaire, health centres

The French Red Cross commits to an unconditional welcome, works on access to hygiene and care for people on the street, and helps with administrative files. Actions vary between local branches: look yours up in the Red Cross directory. The Secours populaire counts prevention and access to care among its actions, in its local committees.

Health centres and health houses in your town can also see you. Service-public states that, under certain conditions, a first AME application can be filed there, or with an association.

Your public rights: PUMa, Complémentaire santé solidaire, AME

The conditions below come from service-public and ameli. Only the CPAM decides. The associations mentioned help you put the file together.

PUMa: health insurance

Universal health protection covers anyone who works or lives in France in a stable and regular way. For a non-EU national, regular residence means a residence permit or residence document. If you work, you are affiliated as soon as the application is accepted. If you do not work, you must wait 3 months after arrival before your rights open. Refugees are exempt.

Note: the 2026 Social Security Financing Act provides for a contribution from certain PUMa beneficiaries with no professional activity. Its amount awaits a decree, according to service-public.

Students register on arrival, with no waiting period: see our article on social security for international students. The cases by visa are in arriving in France: steps and deadlines for your visa.

The Complémentaire santé solidaire (formerly CMU-C)

It tops up PUMa for people on low income. For a foreigner, service-public requires a valid residence permit and more than 3 months of uninterrupted residence. For a single person in mainland France, it is free up to €10,421 of annual income, with a financial contribution up to €14,069. It lasts one year, renewable. You apply through your ameli account or with cerfa no. 12504 sent to the CPAM, which replies within two months (with no reply, the application is accepted).

AME: state medical aid

AME gives access to care without paying upfront to foreigners in an irregular situation. According to service-public, you must:

• have lived in France for more than 3 months (minors are entitled immediately);
• have had no residence permit for more than 3 months;
• have income below a ceiling: €10,421 a year for a single person in mainland France (€15,632 for two).

What it covers: 100% of medical and hospital care, within social security rates. Some non-urgent care is only covered after 9 months for a new adult beneficiary. The application (cerfa no. 17620) is filed in person at the CPAM where you live, or at a France Services centre, a hospital or a PASS; under conditions, at a health centre or an association. The CPAM replies within two months; with no reply, the application is refused. AME lasts one year. AME does not apply in Mayotte.

Without a stable home, you can take a legal address at a CCAS or an approved association: see our guide on emergency help and accommodation for foreigners in France.

Urgent care and asylum seekers

Without AME (refused, pending, or less than 3 months of residence), the hospital covers urgent care. Ameli defines it: care whose absence would endanger life, care to prevent the spread of a disease, care for pregnant women and newborns, terminations of pregnancy, care for minors.

Asylum seekers are not entitled to AME. During their first 3 months, they receive urgent care on presenting their asylum application certificate, with no prior application; after that, PUMa opens. See also our guide to associations that help you claim asylum in France.

Mental health: talking, getting treatment

Exile, the street and violence leave marks. Care exists, often with an interpreter.

• Centre Primo Levi (Paris). Since 1995, it has cared for exiled people who are victims of torture and political violence: multidisciplinary care, individual follow-up, care for minors, parenting support, with professional interpreters. Consultation requests go through the Primo Levi page.
• Comede. Psychotherapy at the Bicêtre centre, and the national medical and psychological phone line (see above).
• Médecins du Monde. The CASO are developing psychosocial support and refer to public medico-psychological centres (CMP).
• Listening lines. Croix-Rouge écoute on 0 800 858 858, free and anonymous. If you have suicidal thoughts, 3114, the national suicide prevention number, answers 24 hours a day, free of charge.

Beware of scams

• PASS, CASO and association consultations are free. An AME or Complémentaire santé solidaire application costs nothing.
• Be wary of paid intermediaries offering to « do your AME file » or promising a residence permit on health grounds.
• A lawyer is registered with a bar. Ask which one and check.
• A serious association never promises a residence permit. For residence, see our guide to associations that help you get a residence permit.
• Do not hand the original of your papers or your AME card to a stranger.

Find your compatriots

A doctor treats. A compatriot comes with you to the appointment, translates a letter from the CPAM, knows which PASS is welcoming. On Compatri, find the community from your country in your city, and diaspora pages such as Malians in France, Congolese from the DRC in France or Algerians in France. The associations directory also lists diaspora associations, and our article on mutual aid between compatriots shows how to get organised.

Compatri is not linked to any of the associations mentioned: we present them to help you find your way. Living in Belgium? See urgent healthcare without papers in Belgium.

Sources

• Santé.fr: healthcare access desks (PASS)
• Service-public: state medical aid (AME)
• Service-public: universal health protection (PUMa)
• Service-public: Complémentaire santé solidaire
• Ameli: state medical aid and urgent care
• Ameli: universal health protection
• Santé.fr: mental health listening lines
• Médecins du Monde: the CASO
• Médecins du Monde: find us
• Comede: the Bicêtre health centre
• Comede: phone lines
• Centre Primo Levi
• French Red Cross: emergency social aid
• French Red Cross: psychosocial support by phone
• Secours populaire