You are planning to come to France to seek employment? Your circumstances will be determined by which State you are from and by whether or not you are drawing benefits from that State.
Applicable regulatory provisions:
Your entitlements may be transferable to France for a period of 3 months. However, this 3-month period can be extended up to a maximum of 6 months assuming your entitlements do not end earlier. Each State can choose whether or not to extend this 3-month period; the extension is not compulsory. You will need to ask the institution that is paying your employment benefits how long your entitlements can be exported.
To be able to export your benefits, you will need to remain available to the employment office of the State you are leaving for at least 4 weeks (the employment office can agree to reduce this period). You will then need to register as a jobseeker with the French employment office France Travail (previously Pôle Emploi) within a 7-day deadline following the date on which your registration with the employment office of your former State ended.
Your former State's employment office will issue you a U2 portable document entitled “Retention of unemployment benefit entitlement”, which you will need to submit to your local France Travail office where you live in France to set up payment of your benefits. To register for health care coverage in France, you will need to submit a European Health insurance Card or its Provisional Replacement Certificate to the local health insurance fund (CPAM, MSA, etc.) where you are staying/residing.
With this card, you will be guaranteed direct access to health care providers in France, with no need to complete prior paperwork with the locally competent fund. Benefits will be paid under the same rules as for members of the local scheme, in accordance with French rates.
Applicable regulatory provisions:
Before you leave, you will need to apply to your local health insurance fund for a certificate transferring your entitlement to health insurance benefits, if you are entitled to retention of coverage under your home country's scheme (European Health Insurance Card or Provisional Replacement Certificate or the S1 portable document entitled “Registering for health care cover”).
If the previous scheme of membership does not allow for retention of entitlement, you will need to contact the local health insurance fund where you reside in France so that it can determine the requirements that you need to meet in order to be eligible for coverage in France.
There is no international agreement with a provision that would allow you to draw benefits from your last State of employment while in France.
Contact the French employment office France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) to determine whether you may be eligible for French benefits.