An estimated 1.8 million home addresses across France are set to change due to a new law that is coming into force.
The changes are a result of the 3Ds law – Différenciation, Décentralisation, Déconcentration – which was adopted in 2022, and requires small communes to allocate formal addresses to houses on the estimated 200,000 or so streets with no name by June 1st.
Until this law, smaller communes had not been obliged to name individual roads, or number individual houses, giving rise to some interesting addresses – that are more like descriptions – in some hamlets.
While these changes will eventually make life easier for people living in such areas - better access to high-speed fibre internet, easier delivery of parcels, and more efficient communication with emergency respondents - inhabitants will have to update their addresses with several administrative bodies.
Who do I need to tell about my new address?
In good news, if your home is covered by this you should get (or have already had) a letter from the mairie detailing your new address.
The French press has reported that inhabitants of currently nameless roads will need to inform their bank and insurance provider, employer, phone company, and internet operator.
READ MORE: 7 handy shortcuts for French bureaucracy
Luckily, there is now an online one-stop-shop - JeChangeDeCoordonnees - where you can register the change of address with around a dozen public or private organisations at the same time.
If you're already registered in French databases such as the Ameli health portal or the impots.gouv tax website, you can use the online system to change your address, or to change a phone number or email address.
The change will be registered by; energy providers Edf, Engie or ENERCOOP, the tax office, the vehicle registration office if you own a car (French driving licences don't have addresses on, so there is no need to change) and social security organisations such as CPAM (health), CAF (family benefits) and the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office).
If you have a vehicle in France, be sure to double check that the carte grise is updated when using JeChangeDeCoordonees. This step should be included, but people with older vehicles should pay special attention.
If your number plates are from pre-2009 (in the '1234 AB 12' format), then you may need to request new registration plates that are in accordance with your updated address.
As for your residency card, Brits with the WARP card do not need to worry about updating it. The UK government's Living in France page specifies that "If your commune has been renamed or restructured you do not need to report this change or request a new WARP."
As for other titres de séjour, it appears unlikely that you would need to request an address update, as the French government specifies this is only necessary after moving house. Additionally, if you are close to the expiration of your current card, you would not need to update your address (as long is it is within three months of expiry).
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