Apply for the free (or nearly free) bus card in Nantes

This morning I went to the hall of city of Nantes to apply for my bus card, which made me feel a little confused, part from my poor French, part from the procedure. After my application, I decided to write it down and hoped it can help more anglophone people living in Nantes.


Who can apply? 

Those who is older than 26 years old, and who must have an attestation with your family members and family quotient on it.

For those people whose age is between 25 and 26, if you are independent from your family, I mean only your name is on the CAF attestation, you can apply for the card. But according to my friends, only the mairie de nantes I went will accept your application. I suggest you give a call or pay a visit there by yourself.

More details here.

Those who is under 25, you need to apply with your tax notice, and I don't have more information about it. Check here.

What documents you should take with? 

• Passport:   You don't need to copy the passport, the staff only need to ensure your name and your nationality. 
• A photo of you:  It should be clear and the size doesn't matter(1 inch or 2 inches). Because the staff will scan and resize it. 
• CAF attestation:  With your family quotient and family members. Must be printed. If your family quotient is higher than 600 euros, you don't need to apply, because this policy is only for the families who has lower incomes. And the discount varies with the quotient：
• 0-350 euros:  free
• 350-500 euros: -90%,  for me it's 61.5 euros per year
• 500-600 euros: -70% to -50%
• Notice the policy may change when you apply.
• IBAN: The staff needs you bank account to pay for the card. You don't need to print the IBAN, you can just show the pdf file on your phone. 
• A certification of your address.  For me it's a copy of my contract to rent my room. And make sure the address on the contract should be same with the CAF attestation. This file should be print out, and will be scanned by the staff. 
• A phone number and an email address.  I wrote it on my phone. Whenever some officials or want to know it, I just show them this. 

Where should I go? 

The address of the city hall is 

Mairie Centrale de Nantes
29 Rue de Strasbourg, 44000 Nantes

opens on

Monday 8AM–7PM
Tuesday to Friday  9AM–5:30PM
Saturday 9AM–12PM (yes they open on Saturday morning, so you don't need to ask for absence from your boss) 

BUT, the front door of this address was closed now. When I went there, I was told to enter the mairie via a side entrance, showed below. 

At this gate there are two or three guards, and they will ask you what is your purpose then tell you the route, of course in French. If you are not very good at French, you can just say " Carte de bus", and enter. 

Then enter the gate,  and go ahead to a very small door. 

Or look at this: 

Enter this building, at the zeroth floor (or first floor in other countries), turn left, you will find a door after which a staff will ask your purpose, and give you a number like in the bank or hospital. When your number is called, you can enter and find the counter for you. 

How can I do my application then? 

You just give your documentations I wrote to the staff, and answer some questions if you can.  Most of the staffs can speak English, not very good, but enough. Trust me, they are very friendly. So, be patient and nice. The application may take you up to 20 minutes if you enjoy chatting with a friendly French official. 

Something to know about the card.

• You should sign a document that says you agree to allow the TAN to deduct the expense of your card. The city hall staffs will send it to TAN.  And the first time Tan do the deduction is on 5th Feb, so keep you bank card available. 
• The card will send to your mailbox via a letter, in 8-10 days. So remember to check your mailbox. 
• If you lost you card, you need to pay 10 euros to TAN to replace your card. I don't know how, because I haven't met it. You can find more information here.
• After one year and each year, you need to renew you card at the city hall. The purpose is to renew your family quotient in order to update your income situation. So remember to download a new attestation from CAF. 
• The valid date of the card is ten years, after ten years you need to apply for it again. 

This article is written on 14 Dec, 2019, the real situation may be different if you read it several years later. And according to my friend, there are several places to apply for the card, every place is available. 

Updated: 17 dec 2019, I got my card via mail in only 3 days, with a sunday inside, a really quick action in France. But according to a document attached with the card, the card is not valid until 1st jan 2020. It's really strange when I remember the staff told me I can use it once I got it, and more strange when I read that the expire date of the card is 16 dec 2020.