"I HAVE ARRIVED!" -- The Quest for Luxembourgish Residency, Pt. 1

Méindeg, 14 September.

Moien! Today I made the first official step in obtaining Luxembourgish residency. (Well, apart from the whole "packing my bags and flying to Luxembourg" part.) I made my déclaration d'arrivée, or declaration of arrival, at the Hôtel de Ville!

Contrary to popular belief, the déclaration d'arrivée consists of more than just standing on the steps of the town hall and declaring, "I HAVE ARRIVED." It's an important -- though admittedly virtually painless -- process that must be completed within three business days of your arrival in the country. In order to make my déclaration d'arrivée, I had to show up to the Hôtel de Ville with four important documents:

1. my passport
2. my autorisation de séjour temporaire, which was mailed to me over the summer (and for which, I had to provide a copy of my passport, of my acceptance to the university, and of my criminal history -- talk about thorough!!)
3. my contrat de bail, or housing contract
4. the proof of my enrollment in the University of Luxembourg

Naturally, I only had three of the four.

So back to the house I went. And back to the Hôtel de Ville I triumphantly marched, contrat de bail in hand (as well as literally every other piece of paper I'd received, just in case).

I sat quietly -- still a little embarrassed about having forgotten the correct documents -- while the government official photocopied and stapled and stamped until the pile of papers on the desk had multiplied by three. In exchange for my documents (and a six euro fee), I received a certificat de résidence, or residence certificate, and a receipt of my arrival in Esch-sur-Alzette.

Lest you think that the quest for residency could be resolved in a day, let me assure you that this was but step one of a multi-step process in order to acquire an elusive -- but all too necessary -- titre de séjour. Next up? A tuberculosis test at the local Centre Médico-Social, a medical exam from a (hopefully English-speaking) Luxembourgish physician, and a trip to the Ministre des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes to hand in all my paperwork. Because the paperwork itself can take up to three months to be processed, it's best to get all this done as soon as possible. My goal is to turn everything in by Friday ... stay tuned for the results!

But for now, Äddi!

This post is part of a series. Click here to read more!