Health card · Now
Your health card now lives on your phone — usable at the pharmacy and the doctor's. Genuinely handy, with one catch worth knowing before you try to set it up.
A digital carte Vitale is rolling out through the official app: the same card, on your phone, scannable at the pharmacy and the surgery. One less bit of plastic to leave at home on the day you actually need it.
Setting it up requires identity verification, and right now that step accepts a French, German, Belgian, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese national ID. A titre de séjour is not yet accepted for activation — so many British residents can't switch it on just yet, even with a perfectly valid carte Vitale in the usual plastic form.
If you hold one of the accepted IDs, install the official app and activate away. If you're on a titre de séjour, there's nothing to fix — your physical card works exactly as before, and app eligibility is expected to widen over time. Worth a re-check later in the year.
Our take
Small thing, genuinely useful. But note: you'll need a French, German, Belgian, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese ID — a titre de séjour isn't accepted for activation yet. If that's you, sit tight; your plastic card is unaffected.
Sources & where to check
service-public.fr — the carte Vitale appPimpernel explains what changes mean in practice. It isn't legal, tax or immigration advice — for your own situation, check the official source above or speak to a qualified professional.