The European Expat Checklist: What to Sort Before You Land (And What Nobody Warns You About)

Most people spend months researching where to move in Europe. They compare cities, debate neighborhoods, read cost of living spreadsheets at midnight with the focused intensity of a man defusing a bomb. Then they land, and discover that all of that research covered the romantic part and skipped the administrative part entirely.

The administrative part is this checklist. It is not exciting. It will save you several months of confusion, at least one unnecessary lawyer’s bill, and the very specific misery of standing at a government counter without a document you did not know you needed, while a clerk stares at you with the patient disappointment of someone who has seen this exact situation four hundred times and has long since stopped feeling sorry about it.

Work through it in order. Most of these items have dependencies. You cannot do step four until step two is done, and nobody mentions that until you are already stuck at step three wondering what went wrong.

Six Months Before You Leave

Apostille every important document.

Birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, university degrees, medical records, vaccination history. An apostille is the international certification that makes your documents legally recognized in foreign countries. In the US, you get one through your state’s Secretary of State office for around $20 per document. It takes a few weeks. Without apostilled documents you will someday need one badly, at the worst possible moment, in a country where getting a replacement is a months-long project. Do all of them at once now, while it is merely inconvenient rather than catastrophic.

Sort your banking before your American account becomes a problem.

American banks are not built for people who live abroad. ATM fees add up. Some banks freeze accounts when they see consistent foreign activity, on the theory that you have either moved abroad or been robbed, and they are not always sure which. Before you leave, open an account built for international life. Wise gives you local bank details in multiple currencies at real exchange rates. Charles Schwab’s checking account reimburses every ATM fee worldwide, which is the kind of policy that makes a person feel genuinely looked after. You will still need a local bank account in your destination country eventually. This is your bridge while you build that.

Start your visa application early. Earlier than that.

Processing times across Europe have lengthened significantly. Portugal’s immigration agency AIMA has publicly acknowledged backlogs running months. Italy’s residency applications in major cities move slowly. Germany’s residence permits for non-EU nationals typically take four to eight weeks at best, which is the optimistic version. The correct approach is to apply from your home country before you leave, not after you arrive on a tourist entry with a plan to sort it later. That plan has a poor track record.

Know your visa type before you call a lawyer. In Portugal, the D7 for passive income earners, the D8 for remote workers. In Italy, the Elective Residency Visa. In Germany, the relevant permit category for your situation. Each has its own document list and its own particular way of sending you back for one more thing. Get a lawyer who has handled your specific visa type before, not just someone who describes themselves as doing general immigration.

Before You Sign a Lease

Understand the deposit structure before any money changes hands.

Rental deposits across Europe vary by country and, sometimes, by landlord disposition. In Germany, landlords can legally charge up to three months of cold rent as a security deposit, called the Kaution. In Portugal, two to three months is standard. In Italy, one to three months depending on the property and how the negotiation goes. In Spain, one month is the legal minimum, though landlords will often ask for more on the grounds that the legal minimum is a suggestion.

Whatever you pay, get a receipt. Then photograph every room, every wall, every appliance, and every existing scratch, stain, and questionable repair on the day you move in, and email those photos to your landlord the same day with a timestamp. In most European countries, landlords can only legally deduct from your deposit for damage beyond normal wear and tear. Your dated photographic record is the only thing standing between you and a creative invoice when you move out.

On a €1,500 apartment in Lisbon, first month plus a two-month deposit is €4,500 before you have bought a lamp. Budget accordingly.

Read the lease before you sign it. The whole thing.

This sounds like the kind of advice a person does not need. It is the kind of advice a person needs. Specifically look for: the notice period required to end the tenancy, what happens if you need to leave early, whether utilities are included or excluded, and who is responsible for repairs. In Spain, “gastos incluidos” in a listing does not always mean all bills are covered. It sometimes means whatever the landlord decides it means until you ask in writing. Get clarity on exactly which costs are your responsibility before you sign, not after.

Sort out the utilities before you assume they are working.

In many European rentals, utilities need to be transferred into your name or set up fresh when you move in. This requires your local tax number, your local bank account, and sometimes your residency documentation, all of which you may not yet have, which is one of several reasons this checklist has dependencies.

In Spain, transferring an electricity contract from the landlord’s name to yours routinely takes two weeks and involves holding times with providers like Endesa or Iberdrola that will give you a richer understanding of the word patience. In Germany, you register with local providers using your Anmeldung address. In Portugal, EDP handles electricity and Galp handles gas, and both require your NIF.

Take meter readings on the day you move in, photograph them, and send them to your landlord and the utility provider in writing. This protects you from being charged for whatever the previous tenant used in their final weeks.

The First Two Weeks After Arrival

Get a local SIM card the day you land.

Not day three. The day you land. You need a local number to receive verification codes for almost everything you will set up in the coming weeks: bank accounts, government portals, lease agreements, school registrations. Buy a prepaid SIM at the airport. In Portugal, NOS and Vodafone have airport kiosks. In Italy, TIM and Iliad. In Germany, Telekom and O2. Upgrade to a monthly plan once you have a registered address.

Register your address officially, and do not delay.

In Germany, address registration is called the Anmeldung and is legally required within two weeks of arrival at the local Einwohnermeldeamt. Miss the deadline and you have created a legal complication for yourself in a country that is serious about deadlines. In Portugal, address registration is required for your residency permit. In Italy, registering at the local anagrafe office activates your rights to the public health system. This is the step that unlocks most of what comes next. Do it first.

Get your local tax identification number.

Every European country has one. In Portugal it is the NIF. In Italy the Codice Fiscale. In Germany the Steueridentifikationsnummer, which arrives by post after your Anmeldung. In Spain the NIE. You cannot open a bank account, sign a lease, register with a doctor, or complete almost any official transaction without it. Getting it is usually straightforward and costs nothing or close to nothing. It just requires showing up in person with your passport and proof of address. In Lisbon, the NIF takes around thirty minutes at any Finanças office. In Milan, the Codice Fiscale can be issued same-day at the Agenzia delle Entrate.

The First Month

Open a local bank account.

Once you have your tax number and registered address, this becomes straightforward. A local account lets you pay rent and utilities without foreign transaction fees eating quietly at your budget. In Portugal, Millennium BCP and Caixa Geral de Depósitos are most commonly used by expats. In Germany, N26 is a fully digital bank that works well for newcomers without a long local credit history. In Italy, Fineco is widely used. Revolut functions well as a supplementary account across all European countries for multi-currency transactions and sits alongside a local account rather than replacing it.

Enroll the children in school. Not when you feel settled. Now.

International schools in major European cities have waitlists. The time to contact them is three to six months before your intended start date, which means ideally before you have left home. In Lisbon, Carlucci American International School and St. Julian’s in Carcavelos fill up well in advance. In Munich, the Munich International School in Starnberg is the main option for American families. In Milan, the American School of Milan in Noverasco is the standard choice. Full international school fees run €12,000 to €18,000 per year per child. Bilingual private schools with English streams cost roughly half that and produce the same outcome for children young enough to adapt into a new language environment.

Register with a local doctor before anyone gets sick.

In Portugal, register at your local Centro de Saúde once you have your NIF and address registered. In Germany, statutory health insurance (GKV) covers you automatically if employed, or you arrange private cover otherwise. In Italy, registration at your local ASL office gives you access to a family doctor under the SSN. The time to figure out how this works is a Tuesday afternoon in your first month, not a Sunday night when someone has a fever.

Close the health insurance gap before it opens.

Your American health insurance almost certainly stops covering you once you are no longer a US resident. Confirm the exact end date. Make sure your international coverage starts before that date, not on the same date, and not after. For families, Cigna Global and Allianz Care are the two most commonly used plans among American expats in Europe. Neither is inexpensive. Both cost less than one uninsured hospital admission.

A note on dental: dental care is mostly private across Europe, even in countries with strong public health systems. Routine cleanings are manageable. More complex work such as implants, crowns, or cosmetic treatment runs close to full private rates in most Western European cities. Many long-term expats handle significant dental work in lower-cost countries when the bill starts to climb. That is a subject worth its own post, which is coming.

The Things That Still Catch People Out

Budget thirty percent more than you think for year one. Your ongoing monthly cost and your setup cost are two entirely different numbers. Deposits, furniture gaps, appliances incompatible with European voltage, school registration fees, lawyer bills, and the four unexpected trips to a government office that each consume half a day add up to considerably more than any cost of living calculator accounts for.

Keep a physical folder with every official document you receive. Lease agreements, permit approvals, tax registrations, school confirmations, insurance documents, utility contracts. You will need all of them again at some point, sometimes years later, and replacements are slow and difficult.

Learn twenty words of the local language before you arrive. Not enough to hold a conversation. Enough to demonstrate that you tried. In Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Spain, the difference in how people respond to you when you open with a few local words rather than defaulting immediately to English is noticeable, consistent, and costs nothing but ten minutes of practice on the plane.

The checklist is not the move. But getting it right gives the move a floor. Everything after it is easier when the paperwork is in order, and considerably more difficult when it is not.

— Phil