How to send a registered letter online in France (LRAR & LRE)

Quick answer

You can send a French registered letter without setting foot in a post office, in two ways. Either a paper registered letter with AR (LRAR) that a service prints and posts for you — the recipient gets a physical letter and signs on delivery — or a qualified electronic registered letter (LRE) delivered by email under the eIDAS regulation. Both have the same legal value as a registered letter posted at the counter (art. L100 of the Code des postes). The LRE is instant but requires the recipient's prior consent when they are a private individual; the paper LRAR works for any recipient.

A registered letter is rarely about the paper — it is about proof: proof you sent it, proof of the date, and proof the other side received it. That proof is what makes a cancellation, a notice or a formal notice enforceable. You no longer need to queue at a post office to get it.

1. The two ways to send online

Paper registered letter with AR (LRAR), posted for you

A service receives your text or PDF, prints it, puts it in an envelope and posts it as a registered AR letter. The recipient receives a normal physical letter and signs on delivery; you get the deposit proof and, later, the signed acknowledgement of receipt.

• Works for any recipient — no consent or email needed.
• Ideal when the recipient is an administration, a landlord, an employer or a company.
• The only option that physically reaches someone who ignores email.

Qualified electronic registered letter (LRE)

The LRE is sent and delivered electronically under the eIDAS regulation. The recipient is notified by email and identified before accessing the content.

• Instant and paperless.
• When the recipient is a private individual (non-professional), the law requires their prior consent to receive LREs — otherwise it is not enforceable against them. Professionals can be sent an LRE without prior consent.
• The provider must be eIDAS-qualified (in France, certified by ANSSI) for the LRE to carry full probative value.

2. Same legal value as a counter letter

Article L100 of the Code des postes et des communications électroniques states that an electronic registered delivery is equivalent to a paper registered letter, provided it meets the requirements of article 44 of the eIDAS regulation (EU 910/2014). In other words:

• A paper LRAR posted for you is a registered letter in every legal sense — the channel you used to order it changes nothing.
• A qualified LRE is legally equivalent too, subject to the consent rule above.

Both produce a provable date and proof of receipt — the two things a judge, an insurer, a landlord or an administration will ask for.

3. Which one should you choose?

When in doubt — especially for cancellations, notices to a landlord, or formal notices to an individual — the paper LRAR is the universally accepted choice.

4. What proof you actually get

• Proof of deposit — the date your letter entered the postal/qualified system.
• Tracking — following the letter to delivery (paper) or the qualified delivery log (electronic).
• Acknowledgement of receipt (AR) — the recipient's signature (paper) or the qualified proof of receipt and its timestamp (electronic).

Keep all three together with a copy of the letter — that bundle is your evidence.

MaisonMail prints and dispatches your letter using an available registered service, so you don't have to go to a post office — useful when you live abroad or far from one. The origin market, timing, tracking and return-receipt options are confirmed before payment.

5. Common questions

• Is an online registered letter "really" registered? Yes — a paper LRAR posted for you is a standard registered letter; a qualified LRE is legally equivalent under eIDAS.
• Can I send an LRE to anyone? Not to a private individual without their prior consent. To a professional, yes.
• Green letter or registered? They are different products with different proof levels — see our guide green letter vs registered mail.
• Do I still get a signature? Yes — the signed AR (paper) or the qualified receipt proof (electronic).

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Bottom line: sending a registered letter online means choosing between a paper LRAR posted for you — universal, works for any recipient — and a qualified electronic LRE — instant, but needing a private recipient's consent. Both carry the same legal value as a counter-posted registered letter. Pick the paper LRAR whenever the recipient is an individual or a contract demands a physical "lettre recommandée"; the proof of receipt is what makes your letter count.