Skip to content
PapertameBeta

Guides

Guides to the Germany paperwork chain. Every rule is cited. Every date is checked against an official source.

Read these first

A few minutes each, and everything after them makes more sense.

The job searchHow a German job application worksWhat goes in a Bewerbung, where the jobs are posted, and whether your profession is regulated.Checked 8 July 2026Start hereHow German bureaucracy actually worksThe six rules the whole system runs on. Nobody says them out loud, and once you know them most of the surprises stop feeling personal.Checked 8 July 2026The flat huntHow the German flat hunt worksWhere flats are advertised, what Kaltmiete and Kaution mean, and how a viewing really goes.Checked 8 July 2026ArrivalYour first 90 daysThe whole arrival, in order. From the Anmeldung to the flat hunt, with the letters in between. Every dated claim links to its official source.Checked 8 July 2026

When something happens

You will come back to these. Worth knowing they exist before you need them.

ContractsContracts, and how to get out of themPhone, internet and electricity — what you are signing up to, and how you get out. The law changed and most newcomers were never told.Checked 24 July 2026If it went wrongIt went wrong. Now what?You missed a date, a letter demands money, or an office said no. What actually happens next — and the second chances the law gives you.Checked 8 July 2026

Look it up

For the moment you are holding a word, a bill or a letter you do not recognise.

MoneyWhat this move costsWhat you pay once, what you pay monthly, and the things that are free even though people pay for them. Every number from an official source.Checked 14 July 2026WordsThe words on your German lettersOfficial German is its own language. Every word that turns up on your letters, forms and contracts, in plain English — searchable.

More guides are being checked right now. They appear here only once every fact in them clears the sourcing bar.

Quick answers to common questions →