Your first week in Germany has one job: register your address (Anmeldung) at the local Bürgeramt, because almost everything else — tax ID, bank account, health insurance card, residence permit appointment — is unlocked by the registration certificate you get there. The legal deadline is two weeks from your move-in date (§ 17 Bundesmeldegesetz), so the order below is built around that clock.
Day 0–1: Get your Wohnungsgeberbestätigung before anything else
You cannot register without it. The Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (landlord's move-in confirmation) is a signed document your landlord or main tenant is legally required to give you within two weeks of move-in (§ 19 BMG). It must state the landlord's name and address, the property address, your move-in date, and the names of everyone moving in.
Two things trip people up:
Ask for this document the day you get the keys, in writing.
- A rental contract is not a substitute. Many Bürgerämter will reject you if you only bring the Mietvertrag.
- If you're subletting, the person subletting to you signs it — but they need the main landlord's permission to sublet, or you may not be able to register at all.
02Day 1–3: Book the Anmeldung appointment yourself, through the official channel
Registration is done at a Bürgeramt (also called Bürgerbüro, Einwohnermeldeamt or KVR depending on the city). Appointments are booked only through your city's official service portal — for example service.berlin.de in Berlin, muenchen.de in Munich, hamburg.de in Hamburg — or by phone on 115, the nationwide public-administration hotline. These appointments are free. Never pay a third party for a slot.
What to bring:
You leave with the Anmeldebestätigung (Meldebescheinigung). Scan it immediately. You will be asked for it a dozen times.
If you genuinely cannot get an appointment before day 14, take a screenshot of the empty booking calendar and the date you tried. It's the standard evidence that the delay wasn't yours. Late registration is an administrative offence and can be fined up to €1,000 under § 54 BMG, though in practice fines are usually applied to long, unexplained delays.
- Passport (and residence permit or visa, if you have one)
- Wohnungsgeberbestätigung
- The completed Anmeldeformular (registration form) — download it from your city's site in advance
- Marriage certificate / children's birth certificates if you're registering a family
03Day 3–5: Health insurance — it's mandatory, not optional
Health insurance is compulsory for everyone resident in Germany. You choose between:
Students and job-seekers have their own routes. Travel insurance is not accepted as proof of health cover for a residence permit; the Ausländerbehörde wants German-recognised insurance.
When you join a fund you receive a Sozialversicherungsnummer (social insurance number) and later an electronic health card (eGK).
- Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung (GKV) — statutory funds such as TK, AOK, Barmer, DAK. Employees below the annual income threshold (Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze, adjusted each year — check the current figure) must be in GKV. Your employer registers you once you sign up with a fund.
- Private Krankenversicherung (PKV) — for high earners above that threshold, self-employed people and civil servants. Switching back to GKV later is difficult, so treat this as a long-term decision.
04Day 5–14: Your Steuer-ID arrives by post — don't lose it
After you register, the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) automatically sends your steuerliche Identifikationsnummer (Steuer-ID, 11 digits) to your registered address, usually within two to three weeks. You do not apply for it and you never get a new one — it's for life.
Your employer needs it to run payroll correctly. Without it you can be taxed under Steuerklasse VI, the highest bracket, and you'd have to reclaim the difference in your annual tax return. If it hasn't arrived, you can request a re-send from the BZSt directly (free) or ask at the Finanzamt.
Note the difference: Steuer-ID (personal, permanent) is not the same as Steuernummer (issued by your local Finanzamt, mainly for freelancers and businesses) or USt-IdNr. (VAT number).
05Week 1–2: Bank account, Rundfunkbeitrag, and the small obligations nobody mentions
- Bank account. Most banks want your Anmeldebestätigung and passport. A German IBAN is needed for salary, rent and direct debits. Many employers still won't pay to a non-German IBAN without friction, even though SEPA discrimination is illegal.
- Rundfunkbeitrag. The broadcasting fee is €18.36 per month per household (not per person), payable to the Beitragsservice regardless of whether you own a TV. After you register, a letter arrives asking you to sign up. If a flatmate already pays for the flat, you register as part of an existing household rather than paying twice.
- Driving licence. An EU/EEA licence stays valid. A non-EU licence is generally valid for six months from the date you establish residence; after that you need a conversion (Umschreibung) at the Führerscheinstelle, which for some countries requires theory and practical tests. Start early — six months goes quickly.
06Week 2–4: Residence permit, if you're not an EU citizen
EU/EEA/Swiss citizens need no residence permit; the Anmeldung is enough.
Everyone else deals with the Ausländerbehörde (in Berlin: the Landesamt für Einwanderung, LEA). Nationals of countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Israel may enter visa-free and apply for a residence permit from inside Germany within 90 days of entry. Most other nationalities must already hold a national visa (D-Visum) issued by a German embassy before arrival.
Typical documents: passport, biometric photo, Anmeldebestätigung, proof of health insurance, proof of income or employment contract (or, for a Blue Card, degree recognition and a salary at or above the annual Blue Card threshold), and the relevant application form. Book through the official portal of the authority in your city — this is a government service and there is no legitimate paid shortcut.
07If you have children: two separate offices, two separate deadlines
- Kindergeld is applied for at the Familienkasse (part of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit). You need your child's birth certificate and both the child's and your Steuer-ID. Since 2018 it can only be paid retroactively for six months before the application month — a real deadline that costs money if you miss it.
- Elterngeld is applied for at your state's Elterngeldstelle, and it is paid retroactively for a maximum of three months before the month your application arrives. Apply as soon as you have the birth certificate issued for this purpose by the Standesamt (ask for extra certified copies — one is specifically marked for Elterngeld).
- Kita place: in Berlin you need a Kitagutschein from the Jugendamt, applied for no earlier than nine months and at the latest two months before you need the place. Other states have their own systems. Waiting lists are long; start before the birth if you can.
08What actually helps in week one
Nothing about this process is difficult in isolation — the problem is that it's a dependency chain in a language most newcomers don't read yet, and one missing landlord signature stalls everything.
That's the problem Bürokratix was built for: a day-by-day plan for your first week, 25 guides on the individual steps, 16 official German forms (including the Anmeldung, Kindergeld and Elterngeld applications) that you fill in your own language while the output stays correct German, deadline reminders for things like the 14-day Anmeldung window and the six-month Kindergeld cut-off, an encrypted on-device vault for your Anmeldebestätigung and Steuer-ID letter, a net-salary calculator, an AI coach called Argo for the "what does this letter mean" moments, and links to the three official German lawyer directories if a case gets genuinely legal.
To be clear about the limits: Bürokratix does not book Bürgeramt or Ausländerbehörde appointments — those come from the official city portals and the 115 hotline, and anyone charging you for one is selling you something you can get free. The iOS app is currently in App Store review, so it isn't downloadable yet, and the forms and guides live inside the app rather than on this website. Until it ships, this article is the checklist — you can ask to be notified on the homepage when the app goes live.