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Germany · Relocation guide

Your first 90 days in Germany

The urgent first tasks are continuous health cover, a registrable address, Anmeldung and a timely residence-title application. The exact order can move when appointments are scarce, so keep dated submission evidence and use the local authority’s instructions rather than waiting passively for every earlier task to finish.

Content updated 11 September 2026. Individual source-check dates are listed below.

Arrival day to day 3

Check the entry stamp and visa conditions before working or studying. Keep the passport, visa, employment or admission evidence and insurance proof accessible. Tell the employer, university or resident family sponsor that you have arrived and confirm the first required in-person step.

Move into the address agreed with the landlord and request the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung. If the accommodation cannot support registration, begin solving that immediately; the registration deadline does not wait for a long-term lease.

First two weeks

Register the residence at the local registration authority. Official federal guidance says within two weeks of moving in and identifies the landlord confirmation as required for rented accommodation. Keep the registration certificate and check that every household member’s name, birth details and address are correct.

Confirm health-insurance status without a gap. Employees commonly coordinate statutory insurance details with payroll; students and people without an employer need to establish the correct cover for their situation.

Residence-title handoff

Identify the foreigners authority for the registered address and the exact service for the current purpose. Apply in good time before the visa expires. Do not assume an appointment request, a submitted application or an address registration gives identical work and travel rights in every status.

Retain the submission confirmation and every authority message. Take originals to any in-person appointment and read the final residence document for validity, employer restrictions and other conditions.

Days 15 to 30

Open a current account if salary, rent or other payments require it. Banks set their own acceptance rules; the federal guide says they generally ask for a passport, residence permit, registration certificate and sometimes a payslip.

For workers, confirm payroll has the insurance and address information it needs and compare the first payslip with the contract. For students, complete enrolment and keep the university informed of residence-document timing. For family applicants, verify the work wording on the issued title before accepting employment.

Days 31 to 90

Stabilise the evidence trail: save the tenancy agreement, registration certificate, insurance membership, payslips or enrolment records and residence correspondence. Calendar expiry dates well before renewal.

If the job, course, relationship or address changes, check the effect before acting. A work title may depend on the authorised employment, a study title depends on continuing study, and a family title may depend on the sponsor or relationship.

When the sequence breaks

If Anmeldung appointments are unavailable, keep proof that you tried and follow the municipality’s instructions; do not invent a different move-in date. If the residence title approaches expiry, use the foreigners authority’s published filing or contact method before expiry and keep confirmation.

If the landlord will not provide the occupancy confirmation, the visa does not permit the planned work, insurance is not active or a regulated-profession licence is missing, pause the affected activity and obtain an answer from the responsible authority or institution.

Your moving checklist

Tick off the tasks that apply to you. The timing is a planning order, not a substitute for the deadlines on your permission or an official instruction.

0 of 16 tasks completed

Before you move
On arrival
Your first month
Later and before renewal

Sources and checks

The linked authorities set the rules. VisaAtlas explains how the steps fit together; planning suggestions are not a decision on your immigration status, tax residence or entitlement to services.

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