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THE TEMPORARY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (NNP) HAS BEEN REPLACED BY THE TEMPORARY IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (NIA)​​​​​

Obligation to register with the french social security

It is mandatory for employees to be registered with the French social security.
Any person working for an employer incorporated in France must register with the French social security system.

Employers must:
• Make a preliminary declaration of recruitment (DPAE) for employees with the URSSAF office
• Pay social security contributions
• Inform employees of the registration formalities which they must undertake with the Primary Health Insurance Office (CPAM) so as to be issued with a social security number.

If these rules are not respected, employers may face criminal and civil penalties.

Employees must undertake all registration formalities with the French social security system.

Significant changes in the issue of a french social security number

When making an initial registration for a French social security number, the CPAM issued a temporary social security number, also referred to as the NNP number.

For men, this number begins with a 7 and for women an 8, and thanks to this number employees could be reimbursed for any healthcare costs backdated to the date on which they took up their employment post in France whilst awaiting issue of a permanent social security number (NIR).

Since late 2021, the CPAM no longer issues a temporary NNP number but a temporary identification number referred to as “NIA”.

This NIA number justifies entitlement to cover by the French social security for an employee and is similar to the permanent social security number (NIR): for men it begins with a 1, and for women a 2.

The NIA number must be certified by the SANDIA (National Administrative Health Insurance Identification Office – by delegation of the INSEE) and once certified, a temporary NIA number then becomes a permanent NIR number!

This means that a permanent social security number (NIR) will be identical to the temporary identification number (NIA) provided that the person who created the record for entitlement to health insurance did not make a mistake when creating the number.

The temporary NIA certification allows:
• Employees: to request reimbursement of healthcare fees using this number and backdated to the date on which they took up employment in France
• Employers: to complete the employee payroll form (DSN)

Once an NIA is certified, employees can:
• Apply to receive a French health insurance card (Carte Vitale)
• Open an AMELI account
>  Certification of an NIA to become a permanent NIR can take several weeks.

The permanent social security number (NIR) is a unique identification number which will follow the person throughout their lifetime.

It includes the following details:
• Gender (1 figure – beginning with 1 for men and 2 for women)
• Year of birth (2 figures)
• Month of birth (2 figures)
• Region of birth (2 figures – 99 for people born abroad)
• INSEE code of the region of birth (3 figures)
• A chronological number for people born at the same time in the same place (3 figures)
• Control key (2 figures)

FURTHER DETAILS:

If an employee who is registered with the French social security should leave France and pay contributions to the social security body of another country, they must notify their departure from France to their CPAM office and return their French health insurance card (Carte Vitale). Upon returning to France, if they once more resume contributions to the French social security office, an application to reactivate entitlement indicating the NIR number is necessary.

This new procedure for issuing French social security numbers is also applicable to family members of any person wishing to claim from the French social security.

Steps to follow for registration of an employee with the french social security system for the first time

The procedure can be broken down as follows:

1. Composition and submission of the application file with the competent CPAM office
2. Issue of the temporary identification number (NIA)
3. Certification of the NIA number and issue of a permanent social security number (NIR)
4. Receipt of an application form for the French health insurance card (Carte Vitale)
5. Issue of the French health insurance card (Carte Vitale) and opening the AMELI account
> The duration of this procedure varies depending on the CPAM office and can take up to several months.
 
We are able to assist your employees and their family members when making an application for registration with the French social security system for the first time, either when departing for France or reactivating entitlement to health cover upon return. For further details, please contact our experts.

ISSUE OF SECONDMENT CERTIFICATES IN FRANCE: NEW PROCEDURE AND NEW COMPETENCES

Do you have employees who will be required to undertake a temporary assignment abroad or who alternate their employment between different countries? As you are no doubt aware, in order to be entitled to work abroad, whilst remaining registered with the French social security system, you need a mobile document (A1 certificate or secondment certificate).
 
From January 2022, the URSSAF Office deals with secondment and remote employment applications abroad for companies, instead of the CPAM office. More precisely, the URSSAF is now competent for considering applications and issuing the following certificates:
• A1 certificate for countries in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK
• Bilateral certificates for the 41 countries or overseas dependencies having signed a social protection agreement with France
• Certificate of continued entitlement to the French social security for other countries

These formalities are managed by the National Administration office (CNG) for international mobility under the aegis of the URSSAF office.
 Applications can now be undertaken via a new online platform (ILASS – Investigative Office for Social Security Legislation) and are completely electronic. In some instances, certificates are issued immediately. Since the start of this year, the URSSAF has already processed more than 7,000 company applications. The days of sending applications by post and waiting to receive certificates are now over!
 
France Protection Sociale has open access to the new electronic platform with the URSSAF office. We remain at your disposal for secondment certificates. 

Our experts are available to help, so don’t hesitate to get in contact with them!