0 of 6 done
- Week 1 ·
Validate your VLS-TS visa
If you arrived with a long-stay visa that acts as a residence permit (VLS-TS), validate it online within 3 months of arriving in France and pay the fee that is added to the visa fee: you are then legally resident and can cross the Schengen border again. If your visa says “carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois suivant l'arrivée”, the procedure is done at the prefecture, not online.
Validate the VLS-TS (service-public R52684) · Long-stay visa (service-public F16162)
- Weeks 1–2 ·
Social security number and carte Vitale
Start by applying to Assurance Maladie to open your health-insurance rights: you first get an interim number (NIA), usable for 9 months, which does not yet give you a carte Vitale or an ameli account. The definitive number comes after you send a photocopy of a valid, legible civil-status document (processing time: 9 months). The carte Vitale itself is free: order it from your ameli account (digitised photo and ID) and it arrives within 2 weeks. If anyone asks you for money to get one, it is a scam.
ameli.fr, social security number (born abroad) · ameli.fr, carte Vitale
- Week 2 ·
A TCL card to get around
The carte TCL is the personal, named card of the TCL network (metro, funiculars, trams, trambus, buses, shuttles): €5 when created or replaced after loss or theft, valid for 5 years, and it must be validated at every boarding, including connections. You load subscriptions and 10-trip books onto it. The network has 5 fare zones + 1 outer zone, and your ticket must cover every zone of the trip.
tcl.fr, the carte TCL · tcl.fr, fares and zones · tcl.fr, all tickets and subscriptions
- Weeks 2–3 ·
Your Lyon municipal library card
Entry to the 16 libraries is free for everyone: reading on site, events and WiFi need no subscription. The subscription, at the same prices whether or not you live in Lyon, is for borrowing, computers and online services. The Connexion subscription is free for all; from age 26 the Culture card costs €38 a year (€10 at 18–25) and also gives free entry to the 6 City of Lyon museums. If you are not an EU national, bring your passport, residence permit or permit-application receipt.
bm-lyon.fr, registration and prices · bm-lyon.fr, accepted ID documents
- Week 3 ·
French conversation cafés
Several times a month, conversation cafés run in six district libraries: free, open to everyone from age 16, 1.5 hours led by librarians. No grammar lesson and no level groups, just practice in a friendly setting. Pick a date in the agenda and sign up: it is the easiest place to come alone and talk.
- Weeks 3–4 ·
Your first Lyon plan
The AVF Lyon Rhône association welcomes newcomers to help them discover the city and make friends quickly, with an international team for people arriving from abroad. Drop-in sessions at 5, place de la Baleine (Lyon 5e), including an international welcome on Thursdays, 10:30 am–12 pm. Then pick an idea from the City's “Sortir et découvrir” portal or from the events below.
City of Lyon, AVF Lyon Rhône · City of Lyon, Sortir et découvrir
Rules change: always confirm on the official page before you go.
This week in Lyon
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