I am currently in a state of shock, RSI actually just phoned me concerning our lack of Carte Vitales. We’ve been waiting over 18m which we understand is pas normale. The lady was very nice & explained she could not understand why it has taken so long as they appear to have everything they need to process them.
She said she would relance the applications with urgence!
I’m optimistic…with my fingers and toes crossed I dread to think how many hours I’ve spent on the phone over the past 18m chasing those little bits of green plastic. We will wait & see what happens next, perhaps one day this year we might actually get our hands on those little green cards…
Hi Susanne,
good luck, its not easy I should agree.
We used to get ours in France too but they changed the system for English on the E121 (now the S1) in that we have to renew them from England. I thought as Mick wasn’t retired he should still et his in France but as he is a dependant on my E121 we’ve just found out the his also needs to be renewed in the UK
Hi June - yes its the EHIC card in England, we have the french versions and just renewed them. The English versions seem to last 3 years whereas as Anne-Marie says the French ones are each year, I’ve just got our new french ones.
@ Doha & Anne-Marie - we’re on the french system, we’ve had our paper attestations for more than 18m but its the little cards that we’re waiting for. We’re already getting our money refunded automatically & don’t pay in the pharmacy or laboratory as they use or paper attestations but for our medecin traitant & a couple of other auxiliare services we pay & then reclaim which is a bit of a hassle when you have 2 kids & another on the way as you’re often at the Dr’s! I just wish they would hurry up so I don’t have to photocopy in triplicate, 1 for me, 1 for RSI & 1 for AXA our top up insurance. So much paperwork!
Hi Susanne,
Carte Vitale is the card stating that you are well registered and insusred by the french health system. It can be a pain because there are not real creteria for having it. If you are working here they will need your last 3 paysleep and after that you have to wait a minimum of 4 month. If you are not working( and here where the problems start) it may take longer than 5 months or it may take just 1-2 months. Its really wiered but its like that. My husband is british and we moved recently to France and we had to wait for a good 6 months to get our card. The good news is that " restroactive" which means you will get refunded the money you have paied for doctor or for drugs once your card vital is issued. We had a few visit to the doctors before to have carte vital and once the securite sociale sent us our cartes we just sent them the form and we got the refund. While visiting the doctor you should make sure that he gives you " feuille de soin" and the same from Pharmacy. Also securite sociale require that you have a “Docteur traitant” , means your doctor should declare in a special form that he is you doctor. This form should be sent to security sociale as soon as possible.
Good luck
Hello June, I dont know 
, this is a card that you can get from the social security here in France, if you are covered by the french social security, I think that if your health insurance is covered from England then you seem to have the correct documents to be treated here in France, although I am not sure 
Hello Anne Marie
Is this the same as the EHIC we get from England? (I’m retired and on a pension so we have to get our cards from there)
By the way I dont know if anyone knows this, but I will say it anyway Suzanne when you get the card vitale, there is another card avaiable which compliments the carte vitale, its called the CARTE EUROPEENNE D’ASSURANCE MALADIE This card covers you if you go to England or any other euopeean country, and it also includes Iceland, Norway and Sweden, this will mean that you dont pay in another country for medical bills, the card lasts only one year and you have to renew it, its not automatically renewed, anyway this may help others and yourself if you did not know about this card Best Anne Marie
I am lucky being married to a frenchman But for the first 9 years my security social number was his lol, just until I began to work full time Now I am a big girl and have a card of my own
Ours only took 2 months so I guess we have been lucky considering I recently had a stay in hospital
We got ours in five months but it did take calls from us, our doctor and the pharmacy before they arrived.
Hope your arrive very soon.