How to Move to Germany: A Complete Guide

Written By Simon Klys

This page covers all the key steps of moving to Germany. From visas and insurance to accommodation and banking, we detail how to successfully move to Germany with minimal stress and hassle.

 
How to move to Germany
 

Moving to Germany can seem intimidating. You will need to juggle multiple tasks at the same time. From applying for a visa and finding an apartment to landing a job and ensuring you are correctly insured, you can quickly feel overwhelmed and at a loss as to where to start.

As everyone’s situation is different when moving to Germany, it can be tricky to create a definitive guide. However, below you will find a comprehensive checklist of how to successfully move to Germany. While there is flexibility in the order in which you do things, following the key steps below will ensure you can move through the relocation process in a logical and smooth manner.

  1. Find an apartment in Germany

  2. Apply for a visa for Germany

  3. Sign up for suitable health insurance

  4. Open a German bank account

  5. Land a job in Germany

  6. Start working in Germany

Step 1: Find an apartment in Germany

Finding a suitable apartment that permits address registration (Anmeldung) is absolutely imperative for a successful move to Germany. Without registering at an apartment in Germany, you cannot:

  • Apply for a visa or residence permit at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.

  • Obtain a German tax ID (needed for starting work in Germany).

  • Complete basic admin steps such as taking out an internet or phone plan.

A key mistake that expats make when moving to Germany is committing to a hostel, hotel or Airbnb that does not permit address registration (Anmeldung). This is not only a costly error but also puts an immediate stop to your relocation process until you are able to find suitable accommodation.

Thankfully, there are some well-rated accommodation options that can be quickly booked online prior to your arrival in Germany. These housing providers offer short to mid-term accommodation that allows Anmeldung and is therefore the perfect starting point when moving to Germany:

By initially opting for short to mid-term accommodation, you can complete the Anmeldung process shortly after your arrival in Germany and will also then have ample time to find a long-term apartment. When it comes to finding a long-term apartment in Germany, there are some popular listing sites:

For further information on finding long-term accommodation in Germany, see our German Apartment Hunting Guide, which outlines where to search for accommodation, how to apply and what paperwork you will need. When it comes to actually registering at your address in Germany, check out our Anmeldung Guide for advice.

And if you would like to find out exactly how much renting an apartment is likely to cost in Germany, see our Cost of Living Guide.

Step 2: Apply for a visa for Germany

Unless you are an EU or EEA passport holder, then you need a visa to live in Germany. The type of visa you need is dependent on what you plan to do in Germany (e.g. work, study, job seek, travel, etc.).

When moving to Germany, you will either need to apply for your visa before or after arriving in Germany. Where you can apply is dependent on your nationality:

  1. Citizens from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States have 2 options:

    • You can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. During this 90-day period, you can apply for a German visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany. The one exception to this is the German Working Holiday Visa for South Korean Citizens, which must be applied for in South Korea.

      OR

    • You can apply for a visa at a German embassy or consulate before arriving in Germany.

  2. Citizens from all other countries must apply for a visa at a German embassy or consulate before arriving in Germany.

We have put together step-by-step visa application guides for the most popular German visas:

✅ Work Visa

✅ EU Blue Card

✅ Job Seekers Visa

✅ German Language Visa

✅ German Student Visa

✅ German Working Holiday Visa

✅ German Freelance Visa

Our visa guides are based on 7 years of experience helping expats successfully move to Germany. The information is tried and tested and verified with German embassies and consulates around the world as well as the immigration authorities in Germany.

Step 3: Sign up for suitable health insurance

No matter your reason for moving to Germany (employee, job seeker, student, etc.), you require suitable health insurance. This is not only a legal requirement but also a key prerequisite for obtaining a visa for Germany. Find out exactly what insurance you need for different German visas in our German Visa Guides.

Most importantly, it is essential that you have adequate medical insurance if you get ill or injured while in Germany. Paying for treatment out of your own pocket can be ruinously expensive, and may prove unaffordable leaving you in a tough spot if uninsured.

But what insurance you are eligible for is dependent on what you are doing in Germany. To help you out, we have provided an overview of some suitable policies for different situations:

👨‍💼 Employees: TK Health Insurance

👩‍🎓 Students: TK Student Health Insurance

👨‍🎨 Freelancers: TK Public Health Insurance or Feather Private Health Insurance

🕵 Job Seekers: Feather Expat Health Insurance

🙋 Working Holidaymakers: Feather Expat Health Insurance

For more in-depth information about these policies and why they are suitable when moving to Germany, see our full German Health Insurance Guide.

Step 4: Open a German bank account

When moving to Germany, getting set up quickly with a German bank account is important for a smooth relocation process. Using a foreign bank account in Germany will leave you trapped in a cycle of overseas bank fees, poor exchange rates and costly ATM withdrawal fees.

In addition, many landlords require that you have a German bank account in order to pay your rent and many employers require that you have a German bank account in order to pay you your salary.

Thankfully, there are some great online banks in Germany, including:

These banking options have all the features and functionality you need when moving to Germany – in particular, they are cheap (or free) to set up and maintain, come with free ATM withdrawals and a free debit card, making them suitable daily transactional accounts for newcomers to Germany.

If you are needing more extensive banking services (loans, investments, savings etc.), then we suggest combining one of the online transactional accounts listed above with a traditional high street bank such as:

For an overview of all these options, and to help you select the right bank for you when moving to Germany, see our German Banking Guide.

Step 5: Land a job in Germany

Germany is one of the largest economies in the world and has an extremely low unemployment rate. This makes it a promising job market for international workers, especially if you are university educated or a skilled worker.

In particular, you will find ample opportunities in:

  • Engineering and science

  • IT and tech

  • Finance

  • Sales and marketing

  • Renewable energy

  • Hospitality

Whether you are looking to secure a role in Munich’s famous manufacturing and engineering sector, get paid the big bucks in Frankfurt’s financial district or cut your teeth in one of Berlin’s many exciting startups, Germany is rife with opportunities for foreign workers.

A good place to start your German job hunt and to see the breadth and scope of opportunities out there is via some of Germany’s largest job boards:

We also recommend combining your job search with smaller (often more specialised job boards) such as:

For more extensive tips on how to find a job in Germany, see our German Job Hunting Guide, which includes information on how to create a German-style CV, how to write cover letters in Germany, what to expect in interviews with German employers, and much much more. In addition, explore our German Job Board Guide for an overview of the best places to search for jobs in Germany.

Step 6: Start working in Germany

Once you have landed a job in Germany, you will almost certainly want to get cracking in your new role as soon as possible.

However, in order to legally start working in Germany and to be onboarded correctly by your new employer, you will need to complete some key administrative steps. In particular, you will need a:

✅ German Work Visa or EU Blue Card

✅ German Tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer)

✅ German Health Insurance (Krankenversicherung)

✅ German Social Security Number (Sozialversicherungsnummer)

✅ German Bank Account

Failing to complete these steps and obtain these documents will delay your employment start date and may even jeopardise your job offer, so it pays to get them squared away as quickly as possible. For full details of each of these documents and how to get quickly get ahold of them, see our Starting Work in Germany Guide.

We hope you have found this rundown helpful of the 6 key steps for moving to Germany! For more in-depth information on each of the steps, see our individual guides linked below:

Simon Klys
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