Your guide to life in Germany

Anmeldung is mandatory address registration with the local Bürgeramt within 14 days of moving into a German address, under §17 of the Bundesmeldegesetz. Your Anmeldebescheinigung is the document you need before you can open a bank account, sign a phone contract, get a tax ID, register with health insurance, or convert your visa to a residence permit.

Yes. Health insurance is legally compulsory for every resident under §193 of the German Insurance Contract Act. Most expats join a statutory provider (TK, AOK, Barmer, DAK) at around €135 per month for students or roughly 14.6% of gross salary plus a small additional contribution for employees. High earners and freelancers can opt for private insurance.

Five years of legal residence as of June 2024, reduced from 8 under the StAG reform. You also need a permanent right to live in Germany, secured livelihood without unemployment benefits, B1 German, the Einbürgerungstest, and a clean criminal record. Special integration achievements can shorten this to 3 years. Application fee is €255.

Yes since June 2024. The 2024 citizenship reform abolished the renunciation requirement, so you can now hold German citizenship plus your original nationality without any "Beibehaltungsgenehmigung" application. This applies retroactively to applications filed before June 2024 that were not yet decided.

A single expat in Berlin or Munich typically spends €1,400 to €1,900 per month on rent (€700 to €1,100 for a studio), food (€250 to €350), public transport (€49 Deutschland-Ticket), health insurance (€100 to €135 student, more for adults), phone (€10 to €30), and utilities. Smaller cities like Leipzig or Dresden run €1,000 to €1,300.

Your Schufa score is built automatically once you have a German address, bank account, and at least one credit-relevant contract (mobile phone, rental contract, BNPL purchase). After roughly 6 to 12 months of clean payment history you have a usable score. Until then, landlords often ask for 3 months bank statements and a Bürgschaft (guarantor) instead.