The departure checklist: documents, suitcase, money, first days

Information checked on 11 September 2026.

The visa is in your passport, the ticket is booked: all that's left is to leave. The last weeks fly by, and that's often when a document gets forgotten, originals end up in the hold, or you arrive with a suitcase full of things you can find anywhere in France and without the ones that can't be replaced. This checklist follows the order of events: one month before, one week before, the day before, the cabin bag, arrival day and the first 72 hours. If you're still in the middle of the application itself, start with our complete Campus France guide.

One month before departure: the steps that take time

• Reread your visa: name, passport number, validity dates, "student" category. A mistake is corrected at the consulate before you leave, not at the border.
• Check your passport's expiry date. If it expires during your studies, you'll have to renew it from France through your consulate: better to know now.
• Confirm your housing, at least for the first nights: lease, residence certificate, booking for temporary accommodation. The traps to avoid are covered in finding student housing from abroad.
• Gather your civil status and academic documents: birth certificate (French health insurance asks for a full copy or an extract showing parentage), diplomas, transcripts. If translations are needed, start them now: they take time.
• Tell your bank you'll be using your card in France, and check the fees and limits for payments and withdrawals abroad.
• See your doctor: renewed prescriptions, vaccination record up to date. Ask for medicines to be written on the prescription under the name of their active ingredient, which is easier to find in a French pharmacy than a brand name.
• Check that your phone is unlocked, so it accepts a French SIM card, and pick a plan or eSIM in advance to activate on arrival.
• Scan everything: passport, visa, admission, housing, proof of resources, civil status, diplomas. Store the scans in a secure online space and email yourself a copy.

One week before: the suitcase

Clothes for a French winter

If you arrive in September, the first weeks are often mild. Winter follows, cold and damp across much of the country, with short days. Bring a proper coat, layers you can combine and closed shoes that can handle rain. There's no need to fill your suitcase, though: you can find everything in France, including at low prices, and the students who arrived before you know the good places.

Plugs and electrical devices

In France, electricity is 230 V and 50 Hz, and sockets are type E: two round pins and an earth pin, compatible with type C plugs. Check the label on your chargers: most phone and laptop chargers accept 100 to 240 V and only need a plug adapter. A device designed for 110 V only, however, needs a transformer, or stays at home.

Food: what's banned

• Meat, milk and dairy products from a country outside the European Union are banned from luggage, whatever their form: fresh, dried, vacuum-packed or canned. Customs seizes and destroys them, and the traveller pays a fine.
• Some products of animal origin are tolerated for personal consumption, within set limits: up to 20 kg of fish, 2 kg of infant formula or special medical food, 2 kg of other products such as honey. They must be declared.
• Plants, fruit and seeds are also subject to health checks: look into the rules before slipping any into your suitcase.

Medicines

You may bring your personal medicines up to the length of treatment on the prescription or, failing that, three months of treatment. Keep the prescription on you: customs may ask for it, especially beyond three months of treatment, and medicines classed as narcotics or psychotropics follow stricter rules. Pack them in your cabin bag, in their original packaging.

The day before: final checks

• Online check-in done, suitcases weighed against your airline's rules.
• Phone and power bank charged, offline map of your arrival city downloaded.
• Housing address, contact for the residence or landlord and the route from the airport written down on paper.
• Flight times sent to your family and to your contact on site.
• Document pouch ready, packed in your cabin bag.

In the cabin bag: the documents to keep on you

Nothing irreplaceable goes in the hold. In a pouch, as originals:

Add a bank card, a little cash in euros, your phone, its charger and the adapter. Keep a second set of paper copies in another bag, and the scans in an online space you can reach from any device.

Cash: what customs says

Anyone entering or leaving the European Union with €10,000 or more in cash must declare it. "Cash" is understood broadly: banknotes, but also cheques and other bearer negotiable instruments, gold and prepaid cards. The declaration is made online with French customs' DALIA service, up to 30 days before travelling and at the latest before crossing the border. Failing to declare is a customs offence, punishable in particular by a fine and the withholding of the sums.

Most students travel with far less, and that's safer: lost or stolen cash can't be recovered. Bring enough euros to cover the first days (getting from the airport, groceries, a SIM card), keep the rest in your account, and open a bank account in France as soon as possible. Banks generally ask for an ID document, proof of address and proof of enrolment.

Arrival day

The first 72 hours

What comes next, the CAF (the family allowance fund that pays housing aid), health, budget and the rhythm of classes, is covered in an international student's first month in France.

Don't land alone

A checklist doesn't replace a person. Before you leave, join your country's community in your future city on Compatri: a settled compatriot can tell you which bus to take, where to buy a coat without breaking the bank, and sometimes wait for you on arrival day. How to find it, how to write a first message, and the precautions to take with contacts met online: joining your community before you leave. Once you're there, the meetups calendar tells you where to find them.

Official sources

• French customs: travelling with €10,000 or more?
• French customs: products of animal origin in luggage
• French customs: carrying medicines as a private individual
• Service-Public.fr: visa and residence permit for international students
• Ameli: you are coming to study in France
• CVEC: student life and campus contribution