How to register in Germany at a new place of residence. Obtaining a residence permit in Germany in stages: where to do it, terms and penalties in the absence of registration.
How to register: where to apply?
Let’s start with the fact that the procedure for both visitors and Germans is almost the same. Only visitors need to present a valid residence permit in the country.
If you have found permanent housing or moved to another place inside Germany, then you need to «register» within 2 weeks. Contact the Resident Registration Service, which is located in the City Council (Resident Registration Office).
The law regulating the obligation to register and defining the deadlines is called the federal law on reporting. Key paragraph §17 BMG:
Wer eine Wohnung bezieht, hat sich innerhalb von zwei Wochen nach dem Einzug bei der Meldebehörde anzumelden.
Thanks to this «notification», the authorities have data on the number of citizens registered in specific lands.
Another aspect is the distribution of income taxes paid, a significant part of which goes to the budget of those localities where a particular person is registered.
The German registration at the place of residence looks like an A4 sheet. All family members are included in one document.
An example of a certificate of registration is visible in the picture at the top of the article. It is quite possible that they may differ in appearance in different places of residence.
To obtain such a residence permit in Germany, prepare a passport with a visa for the department, a copy of the documents for the ownership or rental of housing.
Additional requirements for tenants
If you rent a house, you will receive a completed residence permit confirmation form from the landlord — «confirmation from the landlord». The questionnaire can be downloaded from the websites of the Mayor’s Office or obtained from the information desk.
The law obliges both the landlord to issue a permit and the tenant to request a document. The point is to prevent a situation where no one knows who lives in the apartment.
The document must contain:
- Name and address of the person renting the living space.
- Contract start date.
- Residential address.
- Names of all tenants.
The remaining fields depend on the wishes of the authorities of a particular city.
Filling out the registration form
The questionnaire will be issued at the office of the Resident Registration Service.
It is not easy for foreign citizens to understand the fields of the form for registration at the place of residence (especially upon arrival in the country). But the German bureaucracy strives not to create unnecessary problems – responsive employees of the city hall can fill in the fields themselves or suggest what to write there.
The address of residence is entered on the chip of the German internal passport or the foreigner’s residence card. Migrant cards are not always issued.
The address on the map is sealed, a new one is glued on top of the sticker.
Registration in Germany is FREE. Up-to-date confirmation of the address of residence, if necessary, costs 3-5 €, but a certificate is rarely required.
Where is the certificate of registration presented?
The process of obtaining a residence permit in Germany is described above — there are no multi-day procedures with visits to authorities and affixing a stamp in the passport.
They brought the documents, filled out the questionnaire — and they will immediately issue a registration sheet!
Keep it in a safe place, after making copies of:
- Photocopies are presented if asked to confirm the address of residence.
- The original can be requested when renewing the residence permit, for example, at the Office for Foreigners.
What does registration give?
Simultaneously with registration, your address will be entered into a common database accessible to government agencies.
Please note that the data is transmitted to companies that produce telephone directories. GEZ, an organization that collects tax on German TV, also has automatic access to the database.
If you are against such dissemination of information about yourself, ask the official for another form where you write all family members by name. In this case, the information will get into the database with a note about non-proliferation to third parties.
The ban on the dissemination of residence registration data in Germany may be called differently by different housing alarm authorities. There is no single name.
Let’s summarize the results of the German «registration»
At the address of residence in Germany, you need to register within two weeks from the moment of actual entry into the housing. There is no need to check out, the new registration automatically erases the old one. Once registration is required, only when a person leaves the country.
Tourists (holders of a Schengen visa) are allowed to stay in the country without registration for up to three months.
Migrants arriving in the country on a national visa are not required to register in hotels, hotels and other places of short-term stay. But it is better to consult with local officials.
IMPORTANT: in blocking a migrant for quick registration, because without a residence permit you cannot open a bank account, you cannot get confirmation of the creditworthiness of SCHUFA (Community for the Protection of General Credit Security), and without it it is very difficult to rent a house.
FINES
Violation of the 2-week period leads to a fine of up to 1000€. In reality, officials rarely go to such cruel punishments. Small delays are punishable by amounts up to 10-20€. If a person applied for registration on time, but received an appointment time outside the allotted time, there is no penalty.
The landlord may be fined up to 1000€ for refusal or late issuance of confirmation.
For the «sale» of an address – the provision of a residence permit in Germany for fictitious residence to a violator of the law, will have to pay up to 50,000 €.