Since 1998, the French law provides for a renewable one-year residence permit for foreigners residing de facto in France whose medical condition requires treatment or care the lack of which can have exceptionally serious consequences, provided that they cannot benefit from an appropriate treatment in their country of origin.

The Council of State, the highest administrative court in France, recently stated that effective access to health care is not only about the simple existence of appropriate medical care in the country of origin but also depends on the current and future availability of the care or treatment needed, the financial and geographical accessibility, discriminations when accessing the care or treatment needed and, more generally, all exceptional circumstances specific to the individual case.