After arrival in Berlin

Address registration, bank account, health insurance, residence permit – in that order.

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 Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, a confirmation signed by your landlord. Registration itself is free. You get an Anmeldebestätigung, which almost every other office will ask you for.

Without an Anmeldung you will struggle to open a normal bank account, get a tax ID, or complete your residence permit. It also determines which Bürgeramt and which district office is responsible for you.

2. Tax ID (Steuer-ID)

Sent to you by post automatically a few weeks after your Anmeldung. Your employer needs it. If it does not arrive, ask the Finanzamt.

3. Bank account

For students, the blocked account is already open, see Money for studying; you still usually want a normal current account too. Most banks want your Anmeldebestätigung and your passport.

4. Health insurance

Health insurance is compulsory. Employees are insured through their employer from the first day; students take student insurance at roughly €120 to €130 a month. Register with a Krankenkasse yourself – they do not come to you.

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: €56 for issuing, €49 for a sticker, €100 for an electronic residence card, €93 for extending it. Apply well before your visa runs out; an application made in time keeps your stay lawful while it is processed.

6. Then

• Willkommenszentrum Berlin – free orientation for new arrivals, in several languages.
• MBE (Migrationsberatung für erwachsene Zuwanderer) – free personal advice for adults.
• Integration and German courses; for the language itself see Learning German.