Summary

Important information

Proposed by

Target audience

AudienceFrench citizens, Statutory refugees, Beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, Stateless people, Beneficiaries of temporary protection, Asylum seekers

Level of FrenchLiteracy, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2

AgeMore than 18 years

Price

Free of charge

Requirements

Have a bank account

Where is it?

All over France

Procedures

AdministratifApplying for child benefit

Applying for child benefit

Updated on il y a 2 mois

What is it?

Family allowances are financial assistance sent by the CAF (Family Allowance Fund) from the birth of a second child up to the age of 20.

Family allowances are sent each month to help pay for children's school, clothing, food and leisure activities.

The amount of this assistance varies depending on the household's resources, the number of children and their age.

You are entitled to family allowances from the month following the birth of a second child. For example, if your second child is born on January 15, the right will open on February 1.
Please note, to apply for family allowances, you must be in France (parents and children).

You have the possibility of registering with the CAF and applying for family allowances as soon as you apply for asylum, if your children are already in France. When you receive the positive response from OFPRA or CNDA on your international protection (refugee, subsidiary protection, stateless person), send the document to the CAF, which will calculate your family allowances from the moment you made your request. This is called “ retroactivity of rights ”.

How to do it?

The CAF automatically sends you family allowances as soon as it becomes aware of a second dependent child.

If you are already registered with the CAF and you already receive RSA (active solidarity income):

You must indicate in your RSA application your dependent children (your children who live with you in France).

> Read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “Ask for RSA”

If you are already registered with the CAF, but you do not receive the RSA:

Report a change in the composition of your household, online on your CAF account OR by mail by completing this form .

Don't forget to send your children's birth certificate or the pages of your family record book or the OFPRA civil status document (scan or photocopies).

> Read: the “ Register and connect to CAF ” sheet

To find the address of the CAF agency closest to you, you can enter your postal code by clicking here , then click on “Contact us”.

On the Internet

If you are not yet a “beneficiary”, you must:

first apply for a “family allowance” benefit by clicking here , then create an account on the CAF website,

You also have the option to connect with your FranceConnect account.
> Read the sheet Connect to a site with FranceConnect .

- complete the information,

- send the requested documents concerning your family and professional life and the birth certificate of your children or the pages of your family record book, or the civil status document from OFPRA.

> To read: the “ Register and connect to CAF ” and “ Scan a document ” sheets

By mail

If you are not yet a “beneficiary”, you must:

complete the information in this form (check carefully which parts concern you depending on your situation)
send the requested documents on the last page.

To find the address of the CAF agency closest to you, you can enter your postal code here , then click on “Contact us”.

Allowances are sent to your account every month. The allowances to which you are entitled for the month of February, for example, are therefore sent at the beginning of March.

The money you receive is called a “benefit” or “aid” or “allowance”. A person who receives aid from CAF is called a “beneficiary”.

The amount of benefits depends on the household's resources. For example, your 2022 resources will be taken into account to calculate your rights for the year 2024.

When your child reaches the age of 14, you will receive a monthly increase for them (i.e. the amount of your allowance will be higher). However, if you only have 2 dependent children, you will not receive an increase for the eldest.

What happens next?

If your personal situation changes (for example: a new person arrives in the household, you move, or you separate), you must inform the CAF.

If your professional situation changes (new job for you or your spouse, end of employment contract, entry into an internship, etc.), you must also report this.

Also don't forget to send your new RIB (bank identity statement) if you change bank accounts.

>> To do so, on the CAF website, in “My profile” , click on “Declare a change”.

Each change in situation leads to a new calculation of your financial aid: if your salary or your rent changes, CAF sends you more or less money.

The CAF has access to information from other administrations, taxes for example. If you declare different information or if you have made a mistake, you must also report this to the CAF. If the CAF sends you too much money for your situation (an “overpayment”), it has the option of asking you to repay. But be careful, if you do not report an error, it may be considered “fraud”. You may be sanctioned.

If you move and change department (for example, from “62 Pas-de-Calais” to “14 Calvados”), it is possible that the benefits will stop while the file is transferred to your new CAF.
You must declare a move, even if the rent has not changed or if your landlord is the same. If you had housing assistance, you must make a new application for assistance for the new housing.

After making your request for assistance, your file is “waiting for processing”. You have to wait, there is no need to send another letter or email. CAF receives a lot of requests and processing times are sometimes long.

You can follow the processing of your request online or on the Caf-Mon Compte application. Online, go to caf.fr > My Account > My procedures section.

If CAF requires additional documents (new residence permit for example), a red frame appears on the home page of your account (on the site or on the application): you receive a notification. You must send the document(s) as quickly as possible to update your file.

You can download the free CAF - My account application to monitor your file and your aid payments or even declare a change.

Depending on your family and professional situation, you have the possibility of requesting other social assistance from the CAF. Everything is explained on the CAF website.

CAF aid is only available to people present in France.

Some aid depends on your income (salary, unemployment benefits), others do not.

Some aid is sent to your bank account every month. Other aid is one-off: it is sent only once.

CAF aid can be combined (you can receive several CAF aid at the same time), but you must make several separate requests.

To find out exactly what aid you are entitled to depending on your situation, you can do a simulation on this site .

Did you find this sheet useful?

Thank the contributors who wrote and translated it for you!

Applying for child benefit

1If you are already registered with the CAF: declare your dependent children

2If you are not registered with CAF: create an account and send the documents

On the Internet

By mail

3Receiving family allowances

Inform the CAF if your situation changes

Track your request and send documents

Find out if you are entitled to other aid