After you arrive: the admin, in order

Germany runs on paperwork, and the paperwork runs in a fixed order. Each step unlocks the next, so doing them out of order costs weeks. This is the order.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Details vary by city and by your own situation. Where a step has an official source, it is linked.

The order

1. Find somewhere to live — even temporarily
2. Register your address (Anmeldung)
3. Health insurance
4. Tax ID (Steuer-ID) — arrives by itself
5. Bank account
6. Residence permit, if you are not an EU citizen
7. The broadcasting fee, which finds you either way

Steps 3 and 5 can happen in parallel with 2. Nothing else can happen before 2.

1. An address

The whole system hangs on having one. You cannot register without an address, and you can do very little without being registered.

You need a Wohnungsgeberbestätigung — a signed confirmation from your landlord that you live there.^[1] A rental contract alone is not enough; it must be this specific confirmation.^[2] Ask for it on the day you get the keys. Landlords are legally obliged to give you one within two weeks of moving in.^[2]

A sublet or a room in a shared flat is fine, as long as whoever lets it to you signs the confirmation.^[3] If you are starting in a hotel or a short-stay flat, ask before you book whether they will sign it — which is why "arrive first, sort it out later" is harder than it sounds.

2. Anmeldung — registering your address

The legal deadline is 14 days after moving in.^[1][2] In practice, appointments in big cities can be hard to get — Munich, for example, tells people to keep checking, because it releases new slots several times a day.^[4] Book the appointment as soon as you have an address and keep the confirmation email as proof you tried. Registering late can be fined as an administrative offence,^[5] so take the earliest slot you can get rather than waiting.

Take with you:

• Passport or ID card^[6]
• The Wohnungsgeberbestätigung^[6]
• The completed registration form (Munich, for example, has it online)^[6]
• Marriage and birth certificates, if you are registering a family^[2]

You walk out with an Anmeldebestätigung. Keep it, scan it, and expect to be asked for it constantly.^[6]

Some cities, Munich among them, publish the registration page and form in English.^[6] Others do not. Bringing a German speaker is never a bad idea.

3. Health insurance

Health insurance is compulsory in Germany.^[7] Not optional, not something to arrange later — your employer needs it for payroll, because contributions come straight out of your salary, and a residence permit generally requires it.^[7][8]

Public (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV) is the default for employees.^[9] The contribution is a percentage of your gross salary, split between you and your employer, and your spouse and children can usually be covered at no extra cost.^[10][7] Most people should take this.

Private (private Krankenversicherung, PKV) is only open to employees earning above a set line — €77,400 gross a year in 2026 — and to the self-employed and civil servants.^[11][9][7] Premiums depend on your age and health, so it can be cheaper when you are young and healthy and more expensive later; family members are not free, and going back to public insurance is difficult.^[7] Do not choose it casually.

Pick your insurer, sign up, and give your employer the membership number. They handle the rest through payroll.^[12] How to choose one, the two-week deadline and how to switch later are in the health insurance guide.

4. Steuer-ID — the tax number

Your Steueridentifikationsnummer is a permanent 11-digit number.^[13] You do not apply for it. It arrives by post, some weeks after your Anmeldung, once the registration office has passed your details to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).^[14][13]

Your employer needs it. Without it your employer has to deduct tax in class VI, the most expensive one, and you get the difference back later through your tax return — annoying, not a disaster.^[15] If it has not come three months after you registered, or you lost the letter, the BZSt can send it again; your local Finanzamt is not allowed to tell you the number.^[14][13]

This is not the same as the Steuernummer, which the Finanzamt assigns separately — to self-employed people and businesses, and to employees once they file a tax return.^[16]

5. A bank account

You need a German account for salary and rent. Banks generally want your Anmeldebestätigung along with your passport.^[17] Online-only banks are usually cheaper, which can make one a useful first account even if you switch later.^[17]

One thing to know: cash still matters far more in Germany than many newcomers expect — plenty of smaller shops and machines take only cash.^[17] Carry some.

6. Residence permit

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, skip this. You do not need a permit.^[8]

Everyone else: if you entered on a national visa, you convert it into a residence permit at the local Ausländerbehörde after registering, and you must apply before your visa runs out.^[8][18] Book that appointment early — in Munich, processing alone can take up to four months.^[18]

Take what the office's own checklist names — in Munich, for example, your passport, a biometric photo, your employment contract, an employment declaration form and proof of insurance.^[18] Every office publishes one. Follow it exactly.

7. The Rundfunkbeitrag

After your Anmeldung you will receive a letter about the public broadcasting fee.^[1][19] It is charged per household, not per person and not per television, and it is compulsory whether or not you own one.^[20] If you live in a shared flat and someone already pays it, you give that account's number rather than paying twice.^[19][21] Do not ignore the letter.

Other things, once the basics are done

• Sozialversicherungsnummer — your social security number. Issued automatically once you start work: you are sent a card with the number, and you give it to your employer.^[12]
• Anmeldung again — you re-register every time you move. Same procedure.^[22]
• Liability insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung) — not compulsory, but close to universal in Germany and inexpensive. Most people have it.^[23]
• Tax return — often optional for employees, and often worth doing anyway, because most people get money back.^[12]

Where to check

• make-it-in-germany.com — the German government's English-language portal, including a city-by-city section
• Your city's own website. Search for the city name plus "Bürgerbüro" or "Einwohnermeldeamt" — the appointment booking lives there
• Your employer's HR team. Companies that hire internationally do this several times a month and usually have a checklist

This guide is about Germany. Austria and Switzerland work differently — sometimes very differently. See working in Austria and working in Switzerland.

Figures on this page were checked on 23 September 2026 against the sources below, and are revised most years.