Practical information to live in France

1- Prepare your departure for France

Passports and Visas :
Foreigners who are not members of the European Union must present a passport to French customs. Any foreigner wishing to come to France must submit to the supervisory authorities proof of their arrival in France.
A visa is often necessary :
must be requested before your departure at the French consulate of your country. If you need to stay more than 3 months, you will need a “long stay visa”.

For more information on the conditions of entry in France, you can visit: the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As for minors, if they travel alone, they must be in possession of an authorization to leave the country, signed by their parents.

Embassies and Consulates

To find the nearest location to the French embassy or consulate, you can visit : expatries.org

Remember to call your airline 72 hours prior to departure to confirm your flight number and departure and arrival times. For international flights, you should arrive at the airport three hours before your departure.

Currency

The single European currency is the Euro (€). The Euro is the official currency of the Member States of the European Union of which France is a member. You can usually exchange your currency in :

French banks

Foreign exchange offices

Airports

To get an idea of the conversion rate between the euro and your currency, you can take a look at this currency converter.
We recommend that you do not have too much cash on hand when traveling and prefer to pay in credit card. Be aware however that small shops usually take the bank card above 10 or 15 euros purchases.

Medical Information

Vaccines recommended:

Hepatitis A or Immunoglobulins (IG)

Hepatitis B

You must make an appointment with your doctor between 4 and 6 weeks before your departure so that the vaccines have time to take effect.

Treatment in France:
You can find general practitioners (or specialists) in hospitals or medical offices.

Night services :
You can contact a doctor by calling the EMS: Call the emergency number 15 (toll-free). There is also a large network of on-call pharmacies in the city, you can find an updated list here.
In case of emergency, you can refer to the section below: Useful numbers.

Medical insurance

For citizens of the Schengen area : ask for your E111 health insurance form. In some countries, this form is replaced by a European health insurance card.
For other countries : you must contact an insurance company in your country to cover any illness or accident that may occur during your stay in France.

Check before you leave that you are well insured.

2 - Important phone numbers

Emergency numbers (no call charges)

Emergencies always come in the most unexpected moments, so we advise you to keep these numbers stored in your phone.

Firefighters (fire, accident and medical emergencies) : 18

Samu (medical emergencies in cities) : 15

S.O.S. doctors : 0820 33 24 24

Police : 17

Anti-poison center : 01 40 05 48 48

Loss and theft of credit cards : 0 892 705 705

Loss and theft of valuables : 0 821 00 25 25

Useful numbers

Tourist Office : 0 892 68 30 00

Information : 118 218

Taxi: 01 45 30 30 30

American Express: 01 47 77 70 00 or 01 47 77 72 00, Americanexpress.com

Eurocard / Mastercard: 01 45 67 84 84

Visa: 01 42 77 11 90 or 01 42 77 45 45 or 08 36 69 08 80, Visa.fr

How to call a French number ?

To call France from abroad, dial 00 33 (or +33) and then the number without the initial 0. Example : the French number is 01 45 63 24 00, you must dial 0033 1 45 63 24 00.
To call a French number in France, dial the 10-digit number directly.
Example : 01 45 63 24 00.
To call a foreign number from France :
You must dial 00 followed by the country code you want to call.

Hosting Services

In host family :
Feel free to take a look at our page dedicated to accommodation in Paris that informs you about our network of residences, hotels, host families, and furnished apartments with negotiated rates.
Visit our partner’s website and offers : www.francestudenthomestays.com

In furnished apartment :
As explained in our page dedicated to accommodation in Paris, ILF students can benefit from a discount (-5% to -15%) on the agency fees of LODGIS : a website offering a wide choice of 4500 furnished apartments, from studios to 5 bedrooms, located in Paris and its suburbs and who can help you in 10 languages.