Your first 90 days

One appointment unlocks everything else: the Meldebescheinigung is the paper that banks, employers and offices ask for first.

You must register within two weeks (14 days) of moving into your dwelling. The deadline runs from your move-in date. Source ↗

Anmeldung starter pack →

Salary and rent both need a German account — and the counter can't just wave you away: the law backs you up.

Every consumer lawfully resident in the EU has a legal right to a basic payment account (Basiskonto). A bank that offers consumer accounts must offer you one, and must do so within ten business days of your application. Source ↗

Bank account basics →

Cover is required and the choice is yours, not your employer's. Declare it early — the sequence has a deadline.

When you start a job, you declare your choice to the Krankenkasse you picked — it may not refuse you, and it may not talk you out of joining with false or incomplete advice. Tell your employer which fund you chose right away: if you haven't named one within two weeks of starting, the employer registers you with your previous fund — or, if you have never been insured in Germany, with a fund the employer picks and tells you about in text form. The fund then confirms your membership to the employer electronically; there is no paper for you to chase. Source ↗

Health insurance explainer →

Registering sets the machine in motion: the post that follows looks alarming and mostly isn't. Identify each letter by its sender before you worry.

A plain letter from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (Federal Central Tax Office) brings your tax identification number (IdNr / Steuer-ID) after your first Anmeldung. For data-protection reasons the number is only ever communicated by post — nobody legitimate will email or phone it to you. Keep the letter: your employer needs the number, and it stays yours for life. Source ↗

Who sent this letter? →Rundfunkbeitrag helper →

Brutto is not netto, and a small first payslip usually has a boring explanation. Still applying? The grade converter and the CV check put your credentials in German shape first.

If your employer cannot retrieve your electronic tax details — most often because your tax identification number (Steuer-ID) is not yet on file — the law requires wage tax to be withheld under class VI, the highest withholding. This is a common reason a first payslip looks unexpectedly small; it usually corrects once your Steuer-ID is registered. Source ↗

Payslip explainer →Grade scale converter →CV format quick-check →