Your first 90 days

What it is: Whether you may live and work in Germany: the visa, the residence permit, the Blue Card, and everything that hangs on your residence status.

Why we don't do it: Immigration law turns on the details of one person's case, and a wrong steer can cost somebody their right to stay. That is not a risk worth taking to save you a click, so this one is never ours.

What it is: Filing your annual tax return and answering personal tax questions.

Why we don't do it: Reading your payslip is explaining a document. Filing a return is advice about your money, with your money at stake if it is wrong. That belongs to the official portal or to a professional.

What it is: Child benefit (Kindergeld) and parental allowance (Elterngeld).

Why we don't do it: Whether you qualify depends on your residence status, and the amounts change every year. Only the authority can tell you where you stand, and the application goes to it on its own forms.

What it is: An extract from the federal criminal register, asked for by most jobs in childcare, teaching, health and public service, and by some landlords and licensing bodies.

Why we don't do it: Only the Bundesamt für Justiz can issue one, and it comes to you by post. There is no document here for anybody to prepare. What this page can do is show you the counter before an employer springs it on you.

What it is: The state-run German language course plus an orientation course on how the country works. Many non-EU newcomers are entitled to a place; some are required to take one.

Why we don't do it: We do not teach German, and never will. That is what the Volkshochschule and the Goethe-Institut are for. What belongs here is the paperwork attached to it, and the clock on the entitlement that almost nobody is told about.

What it is: Putting a car on German plates, whether you shipped your own or bought one here.

Why we don't do it: Registration happens at your local Zulassungsstelle, on their forms. Bringing a car in from outside the EU adds customs and emissions checks that need somebody qualified to judge them.

What it is: Telling the authorities you have started working for yourself: a trade registration, and the tax office questionnaire that follows it.

Why we don't do it: What you owe and how you are taxed depends entirely on your own situation, and getting it wrong is expensive. The registration itself is just a form, and this page can at least tell you it exists and when it is due.

What it is: Interpreting or contesting an employment or rental contract, a cancellation, or a formal objection (Widerspruch).

Why we don't do it: A contract has legal effect, and interpreting or contesting yours is legal advice. This page points you at the people who can actually give it, several of them free.

What it is: Getting your foreign degree or professional qualification officially recognised (Anerkennung). Regulated professions (doctor, nurse, teacher, lawyer, some engineers) cannot work without it, and it often helps in the rest.

Why we don't do it: The binding recognition is a legal decision, made by ZAB or the authority responsible for your profession. Our converter estimates the grade and the level; only the official route can actually recognise you, and a regulated profession has to go there.

What it is: Exchanging a foreign driving licence for a German one. If it's from outside the EU/EEA you must convert within six months of registering, and whether you sit a test depends on the issuing country.

Why we don't do it: Your local Führerscheinstelle decides what is required of you and whether you sit a test. Nobody else can make that call for you.

What it is: Finding a daycare (Kita) place. Every child over one has had a legal right to one since 2013, but demand outstrips supply in most cities. Start early and apply widely.

Why we don't do it: Places are handed out by the local Jugendamt, and every city runs its own system, often a voucher or its own portal. There is no single process to stand in for. The emails to the Kitas, though, our letter tool writes for you.

What it is: Enrolling a school-age child. School is compulsory from about age six, for every child living here whatever their nationality. This is not optional paperwork. It is the one family step with a legal duty behind it.

Why we don't do it: Education is run by each of the sixteen federal states, and your local school authority assigns the place once you have an address. There is no national form to prepare. The door is your Schulamt, and it opens after you register.

What it is: Insurance that pays for illness, in place from the day you live in Germany, including the stretch before anyone employs you.

Why we don't do it: Whether you join a statutory fund, join one voluntarily or buy private cover depends on your own circumstances, and the fund itself decides. That call belongs to the Krankenkasse. What this page can do is tell you the duty starts on day one, so it is not a surprise in week three.

What it is: Proving a document from your home country is real, so a German office will accept it. Usually a stamp called an apostille; a few countries need a longer route instead.

Why we don't do it: An apostille is issued only by a designated authority in the country that produced the document. It happens abroad, before anything in Germany does, so it was never ours to perform.