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  5. International Welcome Guide
  6. When you arrive

When you arrive

Table of contents

 

 

 

 

 

Please note: it’s important to complete the actions below in the order in which they are presented. For example, a residential address is necessary (and, for students, be enrolled at the university) to be able to register at city hall; some banks require proof of registration at city hall to be able to open a bank account.
 

Find your accommodation

Students:

- If you reserved UCL accommodation in advance, report to the Accommodation Office with the following documents:

  • UCL admission documents;
  • (photocopy) of identification document;
  • An international bank account number (with complete data: IBAN number, BIC/SWIFT code, bank name and address, other useful codes depending on your home country).

You will sign a lease agreement and be informed of the rental conditions (appendix of the lease agreement).

You will have to pay a security deposit, administrative fees, and first month’s rent. You will then receive the keys and a date will be fixed for an entry inventory of the accommodation.

Please remember that the accommodations have neither bed linens or crockery.

More information

- If you plan to look for private accommodation upon arrival, the Accommodation Office can provide you with both short-term (hotels and hostels) and long-term (private owners and property agencies) accommodation information.

- If you did not reserve UCL accommodation in advance but want to apply for it, report to the Accommodation Office. Staff will provide you with short-term accommodation information (hotels and hostels). You may be asked to return daily and possibly be placed on a waiting list. If this is not desired or possible, staff can also provide you with long-term private accommodation information.

Researchers and lecturers:

See ‘Accommodation’ in the ‘Practical information’ section above.

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Enrol at the University

Bachelor’s and master’s students

Bachelor’s and master’s students must enrol in two places, in the following order:

1. Enrol at the university

You must confirm your admission by following the instructions indicated in the admission letter you have received at home. The procedure varies depending your situation. If the admission letter instructs to register at the Enrolment Office, you must bring your signed and dated admission letter and all required documents: diplomas, transcripts, passport, study visa (ASP), financing plan and proof of financial support. However, if the file is judged to already be complete, you may only be asked to send your dated and signed admission letter to validate your enrolment. During validation of your enrolment, you will have the opportunity to sign up for sport and fitness activities and for the Culture Card and the Solidarity Card.

Upon enrolment you will receive by post:

  • a tuition fee invoice;
  • a provisional student card (which is confirmation of your enrolment);
  • a public transport certificate.

After paying the tuition fee invoice, you will receive by post your definitive UCL student card, which grants you access to libraries, sport centres, and certain buildings and to obtain discounts in certain shops and cinemas.

You will also receive in your virtual office the following certificates:

  • a certificate that allows you to join a health insurance agency (a ‘mutuelle');
  • a certificate proving you are a student, for submission to the municipality (‘Administration communale’ or simply ‘commune’, located in the town hall) in which you reside;
  • a family allowance certificate, if relevant.

From the moment of your enrolment at UCL, you are covered for physical accidents that may happen within the strict framework of your academic activities.

Please note the enrolment deadline is 30 September.

More information at the Enrolment Office.

2. Enrol in your faculty

Go to the office of your faculty secretary to complete a faculty enrolment form, which must be submitted by the end of the second week of classes.

Please note: Late enrolment – after 30 September – requires written faculty authorisation.

Exchange students

Exchange student registration is taken care of prior to their arrival in Belgium. On arrival, contact your faculty or school for information on your study programme, welcome and orientation meetings. More information.

PhD Students

For PhD students, as applications for admission can be submitted at any time during the year, there are no enrolment deadlines. More information.

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Sign employment contract (researchers and lecturers)

Employed researchers and lecturers must read the relevant regulations and prepare the documents required at contract signing (see the "Working at UCL" intranet pages).

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Register with your commune

1. If you are not an EU national:

  • Within eight days of your arrival in Belgium, you must begin the process of registering with the municipality, or commune, in which you reside. Report to the commune’s Foreigners Department (Service des Etrangers) with:
    • your identification card or passport and visa;
    • your accommodation lease;
    • one passport-type photo.
  • In the days that follow the police will visit you at your residence to verify your address. You will then return to the Foreigners Department with documents specified by your commune in order to complete the registration process, for which the commune will charge €18.
  • When the commune completes the registration process, it sends you a Registered Foreigner Certificate (Certificat d’Inscription au Registre des Etrangers).

2. If you are an EU national:

  • Within eight days of your arrival in Belgium, you must register with the local government administration of the commune in which you reside, by reporting to its Foreigners Department (Service des Etrangers) with documents specified by the commune, which will charge a fee.
  • When the commune completes the registration process, it sends you a Registered Foreigner Certificate (Certificat d’Inscription au Registre des Etrangers).

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Open a bank account

As mentioned in ‘Bank accounts’ in the ‘Practical Information’ chapter above, before you leave your home country check with your bank to see if it has a partner in Belgium.

Opening an account requires the following documents:

  • passport or identification card;
  • proof of residence in Belgium (a lease with Belgian address);
  • for students, proof of university enrolment; for UCL employees, an employment contract.

Be advised that certain banks will also request proof of registration with the municipality (‘commune’).

 

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Health exam

Belgian and foreign students who enrol for the first and second time at UCL and who have lived in a country where tuberculosis is endemic (mostly Africa, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe) are required to undergo a health exam by the student doctor before 15 December.

Other students don't have to undergo a health exam.

More information: Student support office (Fr)

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Register with a health insurance agency

Students who are not EU citizens are required to register with a health insurance agency (‘mutuelle’), which partially covers the cost of care, drugs and hospitalisation. To find a nearby office, consult their websites:

While registering with a mutuelle is not a requirement for EU citizen students, who must show proof of coverage in their home country and provide form E 111, E 109 or E 128, or for some grant-assisted students whose funding organisation provides partial coverage, the university nevertheless advises these students to register with a Belgian health insurance agency to complement their existing coverage. To do so, students must be enrolled at the university and present the specific certificate provided by the university for health agency registration.