Certificate of life for a French pension
French pension funds ask retirees living abroad for a certificate of life once a year, and payments can be suspended without it.
In the United States the usual ways to provide it are an app on your phone or a signature by a local authority, and the network says that consulates no longer play that role as a rule.
The app
The “Mon certificat de vie” app checks that you are alive by biometric recognition. It works if your pension fund knows your date of birth, if your phone runs iOS 14.3 or Android 9 or later, and if you hold a valid passport or an ID card issued by a European state, Algeria or Morocco.
Without the app
You download the certificate from your personal space with the Assurance retraite, have it completed by the competent local authority, then scan it and send it back within two months through the same space; without internet access, the certificate can travel by mail.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| App | “Mon certificat de vie”, with biometric recognition |
| Phone needed | iOS 14.3 or Android 9 or later |
| Without the app | Form signed by a local authority, sent within 2 months |
| In the US | A notary public |
- A compatible smartphone
- A valid passport or an ID card from a European state, Algeria or Morocco
- Your login for the Assurance retraite personal space
- Otherwise, the form signed by a notary public
In the US
The network's US section is explicit: consulates and honorary consuls in the United States no longer issue certificates of life as a rule, and pensioners go to a notary public, then send the form to the processing center or upload it.
If you have particular difficulties, the page lists one contact per consulate.
The same official page says two things. Its general part tells pensioners to have the form signed “by a competent local authority or at the consulate”; its US section says that consulates and honorary consuls “no longer issue” certificates of life as a rule, and sends you to a notary public.
In the US, plan on the notary. (source: 1)
Deadlines and contacts
Once the service is active you get an email; from then on you have two months to send the certificate back, or the pension payment is suspended. The online service is shared by the pension schemes, so one certificate covers all of them.
Without internet access, the form goes by mail to the Centre de traitement retraite à l’étranger, CS 13 999 Esvres, 37 321 Tours Cedex 9, France.
If you run into particular difficulties, the network lists one contact per consulate:
- Atlanta: info.atlanta-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- Boston: consulat.boston-cslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- Chicago: info.chicago-cslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- Houston: infos.houston-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- New Orleans: info@consulfrance-nouvelleorleans.org
- Los Angeles: social.los-angeles-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- Miami: social.miami-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- New York: social.new-york-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- San Francisco: admin-francais.san-francisco-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
- Washington: affaires-sociales.washington-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Official sources: Certificat de vie; L’Assurance retraite, justifier de son existence à l’étranger.
Details checked against the official pages on October 6, 2026.
frenchconsulates.us is a private guide. We do not represent the French State and take no part in any consular service.
The information comes from official sources that sometimes disagree with one another, and is reviewed regularly. Confirm before you travel.