Carte mobilité inclusion (CMI): French disability mobility card request

CERFA 15695*01 is reserved for older adults who are applying for, or already receiving, the APA (Allocation Personnalisée d'Autonomie — the personalised autonomy allowance paid by the département on the basis of the applicant's level of dependency). Other applicants — those with a recognised disability rate or an invalidity pension — must use the MDPH single-application form CERFA 15692*01, processed by the Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH — the county disability office). Applicants classified as GIR 1 or GIR 2 under the APA assessment are entitled as of right to both the invalidity and parking endorsements, granted on a permanent basis.

The stationnement (parking) endorsement is awarded to people whose ability to walk is significantly reduced or who require accompaniment. It is granted automatically to anyone classified as GIR 1 or GIR 2 (Groupe Iso-Ressources — the dependency-level classification used to assess APA entitlement). It entitles the holder to use reserved disabled bays and to park free of charge in publicly accessible spaces, subject to local time restrictions — many municipalities cap this at 12 hours.

Under the APA route (CERFA 15695), the president of the Conseil départemental must issue a decision within two months as a general rule. Applicants in GIR 1 or GIR 2 are entitled to the card as of right, which typically speeds up the process. Once a favourable decision is notified, the Imprimerie Nationale manufactures and dispatches the card within a few additional weeks. If the authority fails to respond within the two-month period, this constitutes an implicit rejection decision.

The CMI is entirely free of charge — no application fee, renewal fee, or manufacturing charge applies, whether for a first application, a renewal, or a change-of-situation update. This covers all three endorsement types: invalidity, priority, and parking. Some départements (counties) may charge a fee for a replacement card in cases of loss or theft, but this varies by territory.

Validity is set between one and twenty years, depending on how likely the applicant's condition is to evolve. Where the disability or loss of autonomy is not expected to improve, the card is issued on a permanent basis. For applicants classified as GIR 1 or GIR 2, the invalidity and parking endorsements are granted definitively — no periodic renewal is required for those specific mentions.

For the APA route, processed by the Conseil départemental, the RAPO (recours administratif préalable obligatoire — the mandatory prior administrative appeal) set out in Article L146-9 of the Code de l'action sociale et des familles (CASF) does not apply: that mechanism is reserved for CDAPH decisions issued via the MDPH. You may lodge a recours gracieux (voluntary informal appeal) with the president of the Conseil départemental within two months of the refusal notice. If the refusal is upheld, the matter can be brought before the pôle social of the tribunal judiciaire (the civil court). A fresh application remains open if your condition changes.