Before you start

A residence visa (visa de séjour) appropriate to your purpose
For work: an employment contract visaed by the Ministry of Employment before you begin
An address in Tunis with a registered lease or proof of accommodation
Passport, photographs, and the fiscal stamps the district asks for

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether the obligation has already been triggered
More than three consecutive months, or more than six non-consecutive months in a year, and you are required to hold a card. Counting only consecutive stays is the standard mistake among people who winter here.
OnlineWho: YouBefore month 3
2
Find the Sûreté Nationale district for your address
Applications go to the police district or sector covering where you live — La Marsa, Carthage, Lac, Bab Bhar and the rest are all separate offices with different practices. Ask a neighbour or your landlord which one is yours rather than going to a central office.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Assemble more documents than the published list
Passport, photographs, proof of accommodation, the visaed employment contract or company documents, and proof of resources. Districts routinely ask for something not on any list. Take originals and copies of everything you have, and expect more than one visit.
In personWho: You
4
Submit and keep the receipt
The interim receipt is what you hold while the card is produced and is what you show if asked. Photograph it as well as carrying it — losing it while the card is in process is a genuine problem.
In personWho: You
5
Start renewal well before expiry
The temporary card is renewed only on the basis of a new residence visa, and the renewal cannot be assumed. Because any gap leaves you irregular and any irregularity is settled at the airport, begin the renewal a clear two months before expiry.
In personWho: You2 months before expiry
6
Never plan a departure on an expired card
If your card has lapsed or you have overstayed, expect the border police to assess a fiscal-stamp penalty scaled to the overstay, payable before you are allowed to board. Resolve the status with your district first, in the country, with time in hand.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport and copies
Residence visa
Employment contract visaed by the Ministry of Employment, for workers
Company statutes and JORT publication, for founders and managers
Registered lease or proof of accommodation
Proof of resources
Identity photographs and fiscal stamps

Things most newcomers don’t know

Six non-consecutive months in a year triggers the residence obligation just as three consecutive months does.

The threshold has two limbs, and almost every published summary mentions only the first. Someone who spends four months here in winter, goes home for six weeks and returns for three more months has crossed the second limb and is required to hold a card, whatever they believe about resetting a clock at the border. Tunisia's long-established seasonal European population is exactly the group this catches.

Source: décret n° 68-198; loi n° 68-7

A residence problem in Tunisia is not a letter — it is settled at passport control before you fly.

Border police assess a penalty in fiscal stamps proportionate to the length of an overstay, and it must be paid before departure is permitted. The statutory position under article 23 of loi 68-7 is more serious again: imprisonment of one month to a year and a fine for failing to hold a card when required. The practical effect is that people discover the problem at the airport, forty minutes before a flight, with the revenue office queue between them and the gate.

Source: loi n° 68-7 art. 23

The employment contract, not the residence card, is what limits how long you can stay as an employee.

A contract between a Tunisian company and a foreign national is capped at one year and renewable only once. The residence card follows the contract, so the ordinary work route has a two-year horizon written into the labour law rather than into anyone's plans. Employers frequently do not raise this at hiring. Ask in the first interview what happens in year three.

Source: Tunisian Labour Code; TIA guide

Tunisia has no digital nomad visa, and the honest routes are employment or a company.

There is no instrument covering someone paid from abroad who is not employed by or running a Tunisian entity. The realistic legal options are a visaed employment contract with its two-year ceiling, or registering a company — most usefully a non-resident, fully-exporting one — and holding a card as its manager. Anything else is a visitor stay, which the three-month and six-month thresholds then govern.

Source: loi n° 68-7; loi n° 2016-71

Common mistakes to avoid

Counting only consecutive months and missing the six-month non-consecutive limb.
Booking a departure while a card renewal is still outstanding.
Assuming a published document list is complete at your particular district office.
Taking an employment offer without asking what happens after the contract's single permitted renewal.
Working before the Ministry of Employment has visaed the contract.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.