International student APL: what changes in 2026 and the alternatives

What is APL and how does it work for an international student?

The personalised housing benefit (APL) is a monthly allowance paid by the CAF to reduce the cost of rent. It is calculated based on three factors: the rent amount, income for the reference year, and the housing area/zone. It only applies to conventionné housing, meaning the landlord has signed an agreement with the State. This includes most CROUS residences, part of the social housing stock, and some private-sector properties.

Historically, this system was open to anyone legally residing in France, regardless of nationality, as long as they had a valid residence permit and met the income thresholds. This is precisely what the 2026 reform restricts for part of the non-French public. The next section explains the change.

APL removed for some international students from 1 July 2026

A decree published in the Official Journal on 28 June 2026 changed the eligibility conditions for this benefit for some young people moving to France. This reform, included in the 2026 budget, is presented as a way to control social spending and overall public expenditure. In practice, it introduces a new condition linked to receiving a grant or having a job for non-EU students.

Who is affected by the removal of APL?

What changes for non-grant holders from outside the EU/EEA. If you are a national of a country outside the European Union, outside the European Economic Area, and outside Switzerland, and you do not receive a means-tested higher-education grant, you have no longer been eligible since 1 July 2026, except for the exceptions described below. This measure could affect several hundred thousand people enrolled in courses in France.

What does not change for EU/EEA nationals or grant holders. If you are a national of an European country, the EEA or Switzerland, nothing changes: you can keep applying under the same conditions as a French student. The same applies if you already receive a means-tested grant, regardless of nationality.

Good to know: refugees, stateless people, and spouses of non-EU students remain eligible, regardless of nationality. This change only applies to non-EU students who are not grant holders.

In which cases can an international student still receive APL?

To check whether you can still benefit from this support, here are the four situations that allow you to keep your entitlements:

• You come from an EU country, the EEA or Switzerland: no additional condition applies.
• You come from outside these three areas but receive a means-tested higher-education grant.
• You come from outside these three areas and you are in training under an apprenticeship contract or a professionalisation contract (work-study).
• You come from outside these three areas and you work alongside your studies.

In the last three cases, your status is treated similarly to a grant holder by the authority, which allows you to keep the benefit.

A debate involving student organisations and members of Parliament

This reform is not universally accepted. In the National Assembly, several MPs questioned the government about what they see as an exclusion from the right to housing based on nationality during the debates on the 2026 budget.

On the student-organisation side, mobilisation increased as the new academic year approached. UNEF voiced strong concerns for the start of term, fearing that some young people would no longer be able to finance their housing. FAGE also warned about the risk of interrupted study paths due to lack of resources. These two unions, along with Union étudiante, jointly denounced a measure they consider abrupt for already vulnerable groups.

Good to know: associations also stress that the ways to keep eligibility, such as obtaining a grant or taking a paid job, remain difficult to access for most profiles affected.

What alternatives or additional support are available for international students?

If you are no longer eligible for APL, all is not lost when it comes to balancing your budget. Several additional social support schemes exist and are worth knowing about, especially if you are new to the French system. None excludes you solely on the basis of nationality, but some require a specific status (grant holder, work-study student, employee). Here are the options that are actually accessible depending on your situation.

Visale guarantee

Offered free of charge by Action Logement, Visale does not replace a monthly cash benefit, but it makes it much easier to secure housing because it acts as a rent guarantee for the landlord for up to 36 months. It is available to international students with a valid residence permit, including those who can no longer rely on traditional benefits.

Loca-Pass advance and Mobili-Jeune allowance

Also through Action Logement, the Loca-Pass advance helps finance the security deposit as a zero-interest loan, with no nationality condition. However, for students, it is limited to grant holders, work-study students, or people on fixed-term contracts or internships of at least three months. The Mobili-Jeune allowance is only for students on apprenticeship contracts who have two homes linked to their training. These schemes therefore mainly benefit people who generally already keep APL eligibility, rather than non-grant holders without a job.

CROUS residences and emergency support

CROUS residences remain a useful option to lower rent, with prices often below the private market. In cases of serious financial difficulty during the year, CROUS may also provide one-off emergency assistance (ASPE), available on application to international students, even when they are not means-tested grant holders.

Housing Solidarity Fund (FSL)

Managed by your local department, the FSL can cover part of the security deposit, the first rent payment, or unpaid bills in case of hardship. Applications are made through the departmental council or a social worker, and it remains open to international students who are legally resident, regardless of nationality.

Excellence scholarships to fund your stay

If you are not on a means-tested grant, other scholarships may exist depending on your profile. The France Excellence Eiffel scholarship, run by Campus France on behalf of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, provides a monthly allowance to top international students in Master’s or PhD programmes. It must be prepared in advance: the application is submitted before arrival in France, so it is mainly a route to plan before departure rather than a solution once you are already settled. Your country of origin or your institution may also offer embassy or excellence scholarships. If you obtain a means-tested higher-education grant during the year, you automatically regain APL eligibility.

Flat-sharing and local support

Flat-sharing helps split costs, and some regions or local authorities offer local support to help with housing, sometimes open to international students, European or not, and sometimes without a nationality condition. Check with your institution’s housing office or your local town hall to find out what schemes are available where you will live.

Tip: apply for your student social support file (DSE) as early as possible in the year, between January and May, to maximise your chances of getting a grant before the following academic year starts.

How to appeal or adapt to the removal of APL

If you think the refusal or interruption of your benefit is due to an error, you can appeal. Here is the process to contest a CAF decision:

1. Read the notification carefully: the exact reason, the date, and the appeal routes mentioned.
2. First, request a review from CAF, by letter or via your online account.
3. If you do not receive a favourable response, refer the matter to the Commission de recours amiable (CRA) within two months, by a motivated registered letter with your supporting documents.
4. If the CRA does not respond or rejects your request, you can take the case to the administrative court within a further two months.

An appeal is most likely to succeed in case of a factual error, for example if your grant status or residence permit was incorrectly assessed. If the decision is solely based on the new nationality-related condition and you do not meet any of the stated exceptions, an individual appeal is unlikely to succeed. In that case, it is better to turn quickly to the alternatives above, such as Visale or CROUS residences, to adjust your budget.

How to apply for APL as an international student

If your situation still allows you to benefit from this support, here is how to put together your application without mistakes.

Key steps to submit your application

To apply as an international student, follow these steps in order:

1. Sign your lease or obtain a hosting certificate from your landlord.
2. Create your account on the CAF website or app.
3. Fill in the online form, stating your status and residence situation.
4. Upload the supporting documents requested.
5. Track the status of your case directly from your personal account.

Essential documents to provide

To have your application processed quickly, prepare the following documents: a copy of your passport and your residence permit or visa, your enrolment certificate for the current academic year, your signed lease or hosting certificate, a bank account statement (RIB) for an account opened in France, and the amount of your income over the last twelve months.

Processing times and application tracking

Expect an average of four to eight weeks for a first application to be processed. Apply as soon as you move in, because APL is not retroactive: each month of delay is one month of benefit lost.

APL amount: how much can you receive?

The amount depends on three main factors: your income over the last twelve months, your household composition, and your housing zone. France is split into three zones, with zone 1 covering Paris and the Île-de-France, where rents are the highest.

What are the concrete impacts of these changes on international students’ housing budgets?

For a student who is no longer eligible since July 2026, the loss is most often between €150 and €250 per month, according to testimonies reported in the press. This amount can represent up to half of a monthly budget for the lowest-income profiles. In major university cities where rents are already high, this weighs heavily on disposable income.

In practice, here is what it changes when building your budget:

• Without APL, you must include your full rent in your fixed monthly expenses, with no automatic reduction.
• Application fees, the security deposit, and home insurance remain unchanged.
• Flat-sharing or a studio in a CROUS residence can often absorb a large part of the gap created by the loss of the benefit.

This is why the debate around the reform is so intense, as it is seen by some as a rollback of social policy for young people coming to study in France.

Eligibility requirements for student housing

Beyond your status, the accommodation itself must meet certain conditions to open the right to this benefit. In particular, it must be conventionné, meet decency standards, and must not belong to a close family member.

How do you know if your housing is conventionné?

Most CROUS residences and social housing are conventionné by default. For a private rental, ask your landlord to confirm before signing, or check the mention in your lease.

What if your housing is not conventionné?

If it is not, this benefit cannot be paid. You can look into ALS, another housing benefit managed by the same authority. Note, however, that since 1 July 2026, ALS follows the same restriction as APL for non-EU students who are not grant holders. It is therefore only a solution if your nationality already makes you eligible for housing support, not a way to bypass the reform.

Useful resources for getting settled

To prepare your study project with peace of mind, here are a few reliable resources: the CAF website to submit your application online, the Visale portal to obtain your free rental guarantee, and our article on student housing in Bordeaux if you are considering that city next.