Which visas don't give access to CAF housing aid?

To receive CAF housing aid as a non-EU national, you must be legally resident in France with a residence permit, or with a long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit (VLS-TS) that you have validated.

These visas generally do not give access to housing aid:

Short-stay visas (type C, for stays of up to 3 months).
Temporary long-stay visas (VLS-T), marked "dispense temporaire de carte de séjour".

And even with a valid student VLS-TS or residence permit, non-EU students now need to meet one of the exceptions below:

Important: new rules since 1 July 2026. If you are a national of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, and you are in France on a visa or residence permit for studies, you can receive CAF housing aid (APL, ALS or ALF) only if at least one of these applies to you:

you receive a higher-education grant based on social criteria (bourse sur critères sociaux), for example from the CROUS;
you work, as an employee or self-employed;
you are on an apprenticeship or professional-training contract.

Refugee and stateless students, and spouses of non-EU students, also remain eligible. EU, EEA and Swiss students are not affected by this change. Read the full conditions