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Rights & regulations
EU citizenship gives you the right to move to another EU country to live, work, study, look for work or retire. What you need to do after arriving depends mainly on how long you stay and what you are doing there.
EU citizens
Residency
Registration
Permanent residence
You can stay in another EU country for up to 3 months without registering, though some countries require reporting your presence. For stays over 3 months, you must register based on your employment, study, or financial status, while 5 years of continuous legal residence automatically grants permanent residence. The conditions depend on your situation.
| Your situation | What usually applies |
|---|---|
| You work or are self-employed | You have a right to live in the country based on your employment contact. |
| You study | You may need to show enrolment, sufficient resources and health cover. |
| You are looking for work | You can stay to look for a job and are subject to specific jobseeker rules. |
| You do not work | You may need to show sufficient resources and comprehensive health insurance. |
Your EU right is common. The procedure is not. Depending on the country, you may need to register with a municipality, population register, immigration authority or another local administration. The deadline, documents and name of the registration also differ.
Your Europe Portal (europa.eu/youreurope): The official EU administrative desk that breaks down residence registration, required documents, and deadlines by selecting the target country from a dropdown menu.
Under standard EU law, as an EU citizen living in another EU country, you can vote in municipal elections and European Parliament elections there under the same conditions as nationals. However non-citizen residents generally cannot vote in national parliamentary or presidential elections linked to citizenship and left to each member state’s individual sovereignty.
EU citizens have the same rights as nationals when buying or selling property in another EU country, including a main residence or second home. Mortgage, tax and administrative requirements can still differ locally.
Do not assume that moving out automatically ends your registration. Some EU countries require you to deregister when you leave permanently or for a long period. Depending on the country, deregistration may also affect tax, healthcare, vehicle registration or other public records.
Before leaving a country, check whether you need to deregister.