Arriving in Europe with a long-stay visa: the steps and their deadlines, country by country

Information checked on 25 October 2026.

A long-stay visa is not enough: in every European country, a first compulsory step must follow your arrival, with a short deadline. Validate the VLS-TS online within 3 months in France, go to the municipality within 8 working days in Belgium, register your home within 2 weeks in Germany, apply for the permesso di soggiorno within 8 working days in Italy, apply for the TIE within a month in Spain, register within 14 days in Switzerland. Then come health insurance and, later, renewing the permit. This page compares the six countries and points, for each one, to the detailed guide.

Why the deadline matters more than anything else

The visa stuck in your passport is permission to enter. In most countries, it only becomes a full right of residence after a step taken on the spot: validation, registration, card application. Missing that deadline can be costly. A visa that was not converted in time leaves you without a valid document on the day it expires, and an irregular situation, even a brief one, then weighs on a renewal, a change of status or a family reunification.

These deadlines are short because they run from the day of entry (or the day you move in, in Germany), not from the day you feel settled. The first weeks go by fast: housing, enrolment, bank, phone. Put the compulsory step at the top of the list, before everything else.

The comparison table: six countries, six first steps

These deadlines come from the legal texts and official administrations (see the sources at the bottom of the page). Practice varies within a single country: by prefecture in France, by municipality in Belgium, by Land in Germany, by questura in Italy, by province in Spain, by canton in Switzerland.

France: validate the VLS-TS, then the OFII depending on the visa

In France, most long-stay visas are VLS-TS, visas that serve as a residence permit provided they are validated online within 3 months of arrival, on the website of the digital administration for foreigners in France (ANEF). Depending on what is printed on the visa, a summons from the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) follows: a medical visit and, for some visas, the republican integration contract. The next permit must be requested before the visa expires.

• The central page: arriving in France with a long-stay visa, steps and deadlines by visa.
• Students: validating your VLS-TS online, social security for foreign students, a foreign student's first month in France.
• Families: family reunification in France, the steps after arrival, spouse of a French national, the first 3 months.
• Everyone: the OFII summons and the republican integration contract, renewing your residence permit in France.
• Work: employee visa or talent passport, the steps on arrival.

Belgium: the municipality within 8 working days

In Belgium, the law of 15 December 1980 (article 12) requires a foreign national authorised to stay more than three months to apply for registration with the municipal administration of their place of residence within eight working days of entry. The municipality issues a provisional document, a neighbourhood police officer comes to check that you really live at the address given, then the electronic card is ordered. Students receive an A card, renewed every year.

• The central page: arriving in Belgium with a D visa, steps and deadlines by visa.
• The key step: declaring your arrival at the municipality, the 8-day deadline and the neighbourhood officer's visit.
• Students: the steps of the first month, renewing your student A card.
• Families: family reunification in Belgium, what happens after arrival.
• Health: joining a mutual health fund when you arrive in Belgium.

Germany: the Anmeldung within two weeks

In Germany, the federal registration act requires you to register your home with the municipal office (Bürgeramt) within two weeks of moving in, with the landlord's confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). The residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) is then requested from the foreigners' office (Ausländerbehörde), before the visa's end date. Students must also prove health insurance and, often, unlock their blocked account. Everything is detailed in our guide to arriving in Germany: Anmeldung, residence permit, health insurance, blocked account.

Italy: the permesso di soggiorno within 8 working days

In Italy, the residence permit is requested within eight working days of entry, Sundays and public holidays not counted, according to the Polizia di Stato. For many reasons of stay, the application goes through a postal kit handed in at an authorised post office, which gives you a receipt; together with your passport, this receipt lets you stay in Italy while you wait for the card. The tax code and registration with the national health service follow. See arriving in Italy: permesso di soggiorno, codice fiscale, SSN registration.

Spain: the TIE within a month

In Spain, the consulates state that the holder of a national visa has one month from entry to apply in person for their foreigner's identity card (TIE), at the Oficina de Extranjería or the police station. Employees are a different case: Social Security registration within three months, then one month to apply for the TIE. Registration with the municipal register (empadronamiento) and the NIE complete the picture: see arriving in Spain: TIE within a month, NIE, empadronamiento.

Switzerland: register within 14 days

In Switzerland, the federal OASA ordinance (article 10) requires you to declare your arrival within fourteen days of entry, for a stay of more than three months without gainful employment. You register with the municipal residents' office, or with the OCPM in Geneva. Biometrics, the B permit and health insurance, compulsory within three months, follow. The canton-by-canton detail is in our guide to arriving in Switzerland: residents' office, B permit, health insurance.

The common principles, whatever the country

1. Do the compulsory step in the first week. Even when the deadline is three months, as for the VLS-TS, there is no reason to wait. Appointments at the municipality, prefecture or questura are sometimes booked weeks ahead.

2. Keep every proof of filing. Receipt, certificate, postal kit receipt, the municipality's provisional document: this paper proves that you acted on time. Photograph it, keep the original with your passport, and do not throw it away even after receiving the card.

3. Never let the visa expire without a document taking over. Your visa has an end date. Before that date, you must have the residence permit or, failing that, official proof of an application filed on time. If the administration is slow, ask in writing for a document covering the wait.

4. Have a stable, real address. Belgium checks your residence through a neighbourhood officer's visit, Germany requires the landlord's confirmation, Spain registration with the municipal register. An address of convenience, or accommodation you leave without reporting it, makes the procedure fail. Every move must be declared.

5. Sort out health insurance on arrival. In Switzerland, the deadline is three months, with cover going back to your arrival if you meet it. In Germany, the university and the foreigners' office will ask for proof of insurance. Everywhere, a hospital stay without cover is very expensive.

6. Note the renewal date straight away. Student permits are annual almost everywhere. In France, the renewal application is filed within a window set by the code on the entry and stay of foreigners (most often between the 120th and the 60th day before expiry); in Geneva, no later than 15 days before. Set a reminder on your phone the day you receive the card.

7. Do not travel out of the country without a permit or proof of application. While you wait for the card, a trip home may prevent you from coming back. Ask the administration which document will allow you to return.

For the order of the non-compulsory steps (phone, bank, transport), also see our general article: administrative steps on arrival, where to start.

Case by case, depending on your visa

Student visa. This is the most clearly marked path: compulsory step, enrolment, health insurance, bank account, then annual renewal with proof of means and an enrolment certificate. Work is regulated in all six countries, with different caps: check the country's rule before signing a contract. In France: validating your VLS-TS; in Belgium: a foreign student's first month; elsewhere, the country guide. To choose a country before leaving, see our comparison for studying in Europe from Africa.

Family reunification. The visa is granted because someone is receiving you; the residence permit remains tied to living together. Each family member takes their own step (validation, municipal registration, permit), and each must be covered by health insurance. Expect checks: a cohabitation check in Belgium, an OFII summons in France. See family reunification in France and family reunification in Belgium.

Spouse of a national of the country. The rules are often more favourable than those of family reunification, but the deadlines stay the same. In France, the spouse of a French national validates the VLS-TS within three months and goes through the OFII: see spouse of a French national, what to do within 3 months.

Employee or talent. The employer has often done part of the work before the visa, but the arrival steps remain yours. In Spain, Social Security registration comes before the TIE; in France, visa validation and the OFII apply depending on the visa: see employee visa or talent passport, the steps on arriving in France. To move from a student permit to a work permit, read changing status from student to employee.

Finding your compatriots in your future city

The real waiting time for a prefecture appointment, the municipality that answers quickly, the mutual fund that speaks your language: your compatriots who are already settled know. On Compatri, a community brings together a country of origin and a city. Find them in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Madrid or Geneva, or by diaspora: Senegalese in France, Congolese in Belgium, Cameroonians in Germany, Moroccans in Spain. The best is to join your community before you leave, then read how to find your compatriots when you arrive. Compatri does not carry out any procedure for you: it points you to official sources and to those who have been through it.

Official sources

• Service-public: VLS-TS and validation within 3 months (students)
• ANEF: digital administration for foreigners in France
• Légifrance: deadlines for residence permit applications, articles R431-4 to R431-8 of the Ceseda
• Belgium: law of 15 December 1980, article 12 (Justel)
• Immigration Office: secondary education, reporting to the municipality within 8 days
• Municipality of Etterbeek: first registration with a D visa
• Germany: federal registration act (Bundesmeldegesetz)
• Service Berlin: registering your home
• Polizia di Stato: issuing the permesso di soggiorno
• Italian Ministry of the Interior integration portal: the permesso di soggiorno
• Consulate of Spain in Nador: study visas and the one-month deadline for the TIE (PDF)
• Consulate of Spain in Nador: employee work visas (PDF)
• Switzerland: OASA, article 10 (Fedlex)
• Canton of Geneva: announcing my arrival to the OCPM
• FOPH: compulsory insurance in Switzerland