Housing aid (CAF / APL)
The 2026 eligibility change for non-EU students, the documents needed, and how to apply online.
After signing the lease and opening a bank account
- Temporary or permanent social security number (if issued) and ANEF ID
- Signed lease and bank RIB
- University enrolment certificate
- For non-EU students: proof of a social-criteria scholarship from CROUS or a region, if you have one
1. Check your eligibility
Match your situation (scholarship holder, employed, EU citizen, etc.) against the 2026 CAF conditions.
2. Apply online
Once you have an address and RIB, create an account on caf.fr and submit the housing-aid request with scanned documents.
3. Align the key dates
CAF generally uses the latest of three dates (start of residence, start of the lease, date of application); apply without delay.
4. Follow up and answer document requests
Check caf.fr messages and email; to send a missing document, use the official transmettreundocument.caf[department number]@info-caf.fr address.
- From 1 July 2026, non-EU students qualify for APL only if they hold a social-criteria scholarship (CROUS or certain regional scholarships); those without one who currently receive APL lose it from that date.
- EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, working students, those on a professional-training contract, and refugees are not affected by this change.