Registration, banking and utilities in Luxembourg

Declaring your arrival

Within eight days of moving into your home you present yourself at your commune's citizen office — the Bierger-Center in Luxembourg City — to make a déclaration d'arrivée, bringing your passport or national ID and proof that you live at the address, such as the lease. This registers you locally and is the record every later step relies on. Do it early: the clock starts when you move in, not when you feel settled.

• Where: your commune's Bierger-Center / citizen office.
• Bring: passport or ID card and proof of address (lease).
• Deadline: within eight days of taking up residence.

Residence status

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals may live and work here freely, but those staying more than three months apply at the commune for a registration certificate (attestation d'enregistrement) within three months of arrival, showing employment or sufficient means and health cover. Non-EU nationals follow the Immigration Directorate's process: a temporary authorisation to stay applied for from abroad and granted before travel, a declaration of arrival at the commune within three working days of arriving, a compulsory medical check, and an application for the residence permit within three months. For a salaried-worker permit the employer first has to show ADEM, the employment agency, that the post could not be filled locally; the EU Blue Card skips that test.

• EU/EEA/Swiss: registration certificate from the commune within three months; permanent residence after five years.
• EU Blue Card salary floor: €65,652 gross a year for applications from 3 March 2026.
• Everyone still makes the déclaration d'arrivée at the commune.
• Thresholds and documents change; confirm on Guichet.lu or with the Immigration Directorate before relying on a step.

The matricule, banking and daily admin

Registration produces your national identification number (matricule), a 13-digit number that employers, banks, the tax office and the health system all use. Opening a Luxembourg bank account is straightforward once you have it and a proof of address, and much of daily life — salary, rent, utilities — runs on direct debit (domiciliation). Keep the matricule to hand; you will quote it constantly.

• The matricule is issued once and used by every administration.
• A local bank account needs ID, proof of address and usually the matricule.
• Set up domiciliation for rent and utilities to avoid missed payments.

Utilities and tax

Electricity and gas are contracted in your name, and taking a meter reading on the day you move in is the cheap habit that stops you paying for the previous tenant. Income tax is deducted at source for employees, and you receive a tax card (fiche de retenue d'impôt) that reflects your class and situation; cross-border and dual-income households in particular should check their class is right. If in doubt, the commune and the Administration des contributions directes can point you to the correct form.

• Put electricity and gas in your name with a dated meter reading.
• Employees are taxed at source; check your tax card (fiche d'impôt) is correct.
• Cross-border and married/partnered filers should confirm their tax class.

In order

1. 1Make the déclaration d'arrivée at your commune within eight days.
2. 2Apply for the registration certificate if you are EU and staying over three months.
3. 3Note your matricule and keep it accessible.
4. 4Open a Luxembourg bank account and set up direct debits.
5. 5Confirm you are enrolled with social security and the CNS.
6. 6Put utilities in your name with a meter reading; check your tax card.