After arrival in Berlin
➜ Full guide for everyone moving to Berlin: Entry and first steps in Berlin for work and study
Do these in order. Each step needs the one before it.
1. Register your address (Anmeldung)
§ 17 BMG: within 2 weeks of moving in. You go to a Bürgeramt with your passport and a confirmation signed by your landlord (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). Registration is free. You get a registration certificate (Anmeldebestätigung), which almost every other office asks for.
Bürgeramt appointments are hard to get. Book as soon as you know your address and keep checking for cancellations. No official source states that a late Anmeldung caused by a lack of appointments is excused – keep proof that you tried.
2. Tax ID (Steuer-ID)
Sent by post automatically a few weeks after your Anmeldung. Your employer needs it.
3. Bank account
Most banks want your registration certificate and your passport.
4. Health insurance
Compulsory. Employees are insured through their employer from the first day; choose a statutory health insurer (Krankenkasse) and tell your employer. Students take student insurance.
5. Residence permit at LEA Berlin
Your visa is only the entry document. Before it expires you convert it into a residence permit at the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA). Fees: €100 for the electronic residence card, €93 to extend it. An application made in time keeps your stay lawful while it is processed.
6. Then
- Willkommenszentrum Berlin – free orientation for new arrivals.
- MBE (Migrationsberatung für erwachsene Zuwanderer) – free advice for adults.
- German courses: Learning German. Child benefit and pensions: Rules between your country and Germany.
A question this page does not answer? Contact us. Free orientation only, no legal advice for individual cases.