France maintains a notable presence of fax usage, particularly in government administration, the legal profession, and healthcare. While the country has made significant strides in digital transformation, the transition away from fax has been uneven across regions and sectors. For many French institutions, fax remains a trusted channel for official correspondence -- valued for its delivery confirmation, legal standing, and compatibility with established administrative workflows.
Government administration is one of the most prominent areas of continued fax use in France. Préfectures, mairies (town halls), tribunaux (courts), and ministries maintain active fax lines for receiving official documents, applications, and correspondence. The French administrative tradition places strong emphasis on written, traceable communication, and fax fits naturally into this culture. Citizens and businesses dealing with French bureaucracy -- whether for permits, tax matters, or legal proceedings -- frequently encounter fax as an accepted or required submission method. While the government's programme Action Publique and broader digital initiatives are pushing more services online, many administrative offices continue to operate fax alongside digital channels, particularly in smaller municipalities and rural areas.
The legal sector reinforces fax's role in French professional life. Avocats (lawyers), notaires (notaries), huissiers de justice (bailiffs), and courts use fax for contracts, legal notices, court filings, and official correspondence. French law recognises faxed documents as valid in many legal contexts, and the accusé de réception (transmission confirmation) provides proof of delivery that carries weight in disputes over timing and receipt. For deadline-sensitive submissions -- such as mise en demeure (formal demands) or court filings -- fax offers a verifiable record that many legal professionals continue to rely on. For tips on sending legal documents by fax, see our guide on how to fax legal documents online.
Healthcare contributes to sustained fax usage as well. Hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and médecins libéraux (independent physicians) use fax to exchange patient records, test results, referrals, and prescriptions. Data protection requirements under the RGPD (France's implementation of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation) and sector-specific rules around health data drive the preference for transmission methods that offer a clear audit trail. While the Dossier Médical Partagé (shared medical record) and other digital health initiatives are modernising how health information is exchanged, fax remains part of the communication mix -- especially among smaller practices and older systems.
Financial services and insurance companies round out the picture, using fax for policy documents, claims, account correspondence, and compliance-related communications where a secure, documented delivery method is expected.
For anyone sending a fax to France, the country code is +33, and the leading zero of the area code must be dropped when dialling internationally. For example, a Paris number beginning with 01 becomes +33 1 followed by the local number. For detailed formatting instructions, see our guide on how to send an international fax online.
JustFax Online makes it simple to send a fax to France from anywhere in the world. Upload your document -- PDF, PNG, JPEG, or TIFF -- enter the French fax number with the country code +33, and send. No account, no subscription, no app required. You pay a flat rate for the first four pages, with additional pages priced separately. If delivery fails after all retry attempts, you are not charged. To get started, see our step-by-step guide to sending a fax online.