Can EU citizens get French identity cards?

Reader Question: I am an EU citizen and a French tax resident. Could I apply for a French ID card?

No, you cannot apply for a French ID card – carte nationale d’identité (CNI) – if you are not a French citizen.

People who become French – or any other French person who does not have one – can apply for a first CNI.

Note that in France, having a CNI is not obligatory, though it can be useful as proof of identity (and French nationality) for various administrative tasks, and it can also be used for travel within the EU. 

French people of any age can apply for one of these.

As an EU citizen (such as Irish, Italian etc) you are not entitled to one of these cards. You are also unlikely to have a French residency card (unlike non-EU immigrants), which can in some cases be a drawback as you do not have a French-issued identity document.

For most daily tasks your passport should be fine for identity purposes. However, for example, La Poste’s Identité Numérique requires a French passport, ID card or French residency card issued for at least five years. 

If the broader France Identité digital ID app is in due course opened up beyond French people (to whom it is limited at present) that may also require a French-issued residency card.

Procedures asking for connection via FranceConnect+ (a form of secure online self-identification) also require sign-in via one or the other of these.

If you do want French-issued ID, you could apply for an EU citizen’s residency card (click Je demande un premier titre de séjour.

There are two kinds: an ordinary EU citizen’s residency card, and one that says on it carte de séjour Citoyen UE/EEE/Suisse - Séjour permanent - Toutes activités professionnelles.

The first one has limited benefits, other than those mentioned above, but can be a useful way of proving you live in France for administrative procedures.

The other attests to you having gained ‘permanent residency’ rights under EU rules, which is to say an unconditional right to live in France. 

Someone with this status is no longer expected under EU law to be supporting themselves financially and not be a ‘burden’ on the host state’s social security. Officials should never again ask about matters such as whether you have 'sufficient resources' or are registered in the health system.

In most cases this benefit is largely theoretical, as France tends to have a hands-off approach towards EU-citizen immigrants. However, it could be used, for example, to prove entitlement to RSA benefits if you are an early-retiree.

An EU citizen is entitled to apply for the séjour permanent card after living in France for five years on a settled basis, with a steady income and registration in the health system.

This has to be proved with a dossier of supporting documents.