Are you planning to move to Germany or have you just arrived and you are not aware of the basic bureaucratic steps you are meant to face? Nothing unusual! It is important for you to know that, according to the German law, there are some important procedures you have to accomplish in order to finalize your stay. With our support you will be able to plan and complete them all, sparing time, money and a lot of stress!

The first steps to face are about the spheres of everyday life: residency/domicile, health insurance, opening of a bank account and finding a job. Each of them are of extreme importance for your integration process as well as basic requirements for the integration in the German labour market and for social security.

Civil Registration

If you already have an apartment or a room for rent  you are obliged, according to the German law and the European legislation, to communicate your domicile within a maximum of 90 days. If however you have already agreed to an employment, this registratione is required immediately! The document you need is the Meldebestätigung zur Anmeldung einer Wohnung, briefly called Anmeldung (German for “notification”). In order to get the Anmeldung is advised to book an appointment in a town hall of the city and go there with a compiled form, the rental agreement and a valid ID document. In many blogs and social networks you will find that you could go there and speak English. This is not actually true: it can happen to be lucky and find a kind and informed employee willing to help you, but it is good to know that the City Hall has no obligation whatsoever to assist you in a language other than German and it often happens to be sent back home after having waited for a rather long time! The Form (Anmeldungsformular) is in German as well.

The Anmeldung is essential to proceed to all further steps– be they the signature of the employment contract or the opening of a bank account. Therefore it would be better not to risk… and we are here to help!

Health insurance

The German health care system requires the compulsory subscription of an health insurance, which can be chosen between a“public” or “lawful” (gesetzliche Krankenkasse) and a private one (private Krankenkasse): it is thus a dual system.

We suggest you choose carefully! While it is certainly true that many private insurance companies in Germany offer very attractive prices, it is also true that they also frequently hide many disadvantages and not always guarantee the basic health services, which are instead always provided by the public insurances. Also good to know: it is not always possible to subscribe to the public insurance due to some basic bureaucratic rules of the German law. If you have questions and doubts we are at disposal for a consultation.

The subscription is deemed necessary in Germany also for the citizens of the EU since the date of their transfer and the registration of a domicile. It is possible to use another European Card in case of emergencies but it is also important to know that it is absolutely compulsory to have the German health insurance card if you are employed in Germany and also if you are a free-lance working on the territory. In the first case the costs of the health insurance are divided between employer and employee. In the second case the burden falls entirely on the insured person. There are still many exceptions to the rule and variations from case to case. Too many infos? Definitely so! This is why it is important to get the right information before proceeding with the subscription. We are at disposal for a consultation, to answer to your many questions.

Bank Account

Without a bank account the daily life gets complicated. Sure, you can go on for a while withdrawing money from the bank of your country of origin but often the commissions costs are high and many shops and restaurants in Berlin do not accept a credit card whatsoever.

A German bank account is also compulsory, if you subscribe a work contract and very useful to pay the household bills or to receive unemployment benefits. What kind of account and bank you should choose depends on what suits your needs. In any case you are required to present  your document of  domicile (Anmeldung, see above) and go to the chosen credit institute with a translator to make sure to understand all the relevant information before subscribing. If you need someone to accompany you as interpreter, you can contact us.

Work

Many of us have moved to Germany for the many job opportunities. For those who have already found or are about to subscribe a subordinate employment, being or becoming thus Arbeitnehmer, all the aforementioned steps are compulsory.  Different is the case of those who want to work as free-lance  (Selbständige) or are still looking for a job (Arbeitsuchende). For the professional free-lances there are many documents to be obtained and therefore many appointments to be booked  in many public institutions: be it the opening of the VAT (Gewerbeanmeldung) or the rules about opening an activity  Take Care offers you thorough consultations.

People who are looking for a job should instead subscribe to the German employment agency (Agentur für die Arbeit) and  this would be appropriate even if you are in the meanwhile attending a language course, in order to move ahead.