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- Week 1 ·
Validate your VLS-TS visa
If you have a long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit (VLS-TS), validate it online within 3 months of arriving in France and pay the tax that comes on top of the visa fee. If your visa says “carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois suivant l'arrivée”, you have to apply for your residence permit at the préfecture within those 2 months: in Toulouse that is the Préfecture de la Haute-Garonne, 1 place Saint-Étienne.
Validate the VLS-TS (service-public R52684) · Long-stay visa (service-public F16162) · Préfecture de la Haute-Garonne (service-public directory)
- Week 1 ·
Social security number and carte Vitale
To get a carte Vitale you need a social security number. The Assurance Maladie issues the card for free: order it from your ameli account and it arrives in about 2 weeks. If anyone asks you for money for it, it is a scam.
- Week 2 ·
Tisséo Pastel card
The Pastel card is the personal, named transport card of the Tisséo network: you load your passes and tickets onto it, and you need it for any reduced fare. Order it on the e-shop together with your ticket, or get it at a Tisséo agency. If you work, your employer covers 50 to 100% of your pass (prime transport), so ask about it.
- Week 2 ·
Toulouse library card
Entry to Toulouse's libraries is free and open to everyone; a yearly membership lets you borrow. Bring an ID document. For adults it costs €17 (€8 if you are 18 to 27), but it is free in several cases, for example over 65, if you do not pay income tax, or if you have applied for asylum: the full list is on the page.
- Week 3 ·
Bavardages conversation workshops
Toulouse's libraries run Bavardages: free French conversation workshops led by librarians, in a friendly, no-judgement setting, whatever your level. This season it is the first Friday of the month, 10:00 to 12:00, at the Médiathèque des Pradettes; dates are on the page.
- Weeks 3–4 ·
Your first plan
Volunteering is a free, unpaid commitment: an hour, a weekend or a longer mission, you choose. On JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr, the public volunteering platform, enter your postcode and when you are free to find a mission near you and meet people.
Rules change: always confirm on the official page before you go.
This week in Toulouse
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