How to fill in the Anmeldung form (Berlin)

What the form is for

When you move into a home in Berlin, you must register it at a Bürgeramt (citizens' office). This is the Anmeldung. You fill in this one-page form and bring it to your appointment, together with your ID and your landlord's confirmation.

After the check you get a Meldebestätigung (registration confirmation) on the spot. It shows your name, date of birth and current address. There is no fee.

If you moved to Germany from abroad, registering also gets you your tax ID (steuerliche Identifikationsnummer): the federal tax office sends it by post to your registered address. You need it for work and, for example, for Kindergeld.

Who needs it

You must register within 14 days of moving into a home in Berlin that is your only home in Germany (alleinige Wohnung) or your main home (Hauptwohnung).

• If you live abroad and stay in Berlin for three months or less, you don't have to register.
• If you are already registered somewhere else in Germany and stay in Berlin for six months or less, you don't have to register.
• Registering online is only possible for adults with German or EU citizenship who moved within Germany and have an ID card with the online function. If you arrive from abroad, or have a non-EU passport or a residence permit card (eAT), you register in person, at any Berlin Bürgeramt, with an appointment.
• In person you must be at least 16. Children under 16 are registered by the adult whose home they move into.
• Registering late or not at all is an administrative offence that can be fined up to €1,000 (§ 54 Federal Registration Act, BMG).

Before you start

• This form, filled in and signed. One form covers up to two people; use a second form for more family members.
• A valid passport or ID card for everyone who moves. Foreign nationals bring their passport and, if they have one, their residence permit card (eAT). Bring originals.
• The Wohnungsgeberbestätigung: a confirmation signed by your landlord with their name and address, your move-in date, the flat's address and the names of everyone registering. Your landlord must give it to you within two weeks of moving in. A rental contract does not replace it.
• For a first registration in Berlin the office may ask for civil status certificates, such as a marriage or birth certificate. Bring the ones you have.
• For children: if both parents have custody but only one comes, a simple written consent from the other parent. Separated parents with joint custody use the official consent form and bring the other parent's ID.
• If someone goes for you: a written power of attorney (Vollmacht), and the form signed by you.

Section by section

The form is in German. Here is what each part asks, in plain words, in the order it appears.

1. 1

   Tagesstempel, Amtl. Vermerke, Gemeindekennzahl

   The boxes at the very top (date stamp, official notes) are for the office: leave them empty. "Gemeindekennzahl" is an official municipality code. If you don't know it, don't guess: leave it empty.

2. 2

   Neue Wohnung: "Die neue Wohnung ist"

   Tick alleinige Wohnung if this is your only home in Germany. Tick Hauptwohnung only if you have more than one home in Germany and this is the one you mainly live in. Tick only one box. A second home (Nebenwohnung) is registered through a different service.

3. 3

   Tag des Einzugs, address of the new home

   The date you moved in (DD.MM.YYYY), then postcode, "Berlin" and the district (Ortsteil), then street, house number and any additions such as the building part or floor. Use the same date and address as on your landlord's confirmation.

4. 4

   Bisherige Wohnung (previous home)

   This part is only about your last home in Germany ("im Inland"): its type, the day you moved out and its address. If you are coming from abroad, leave the address empty and write the country in Bei Zuzug aus dem Ausland Staat, in German (for example "Portugal", "Ukraine", "Brasilien").

5. 5

   "Wird die bisherige Wohnung beibehalten?" and other homes

   Are you keeping your previous home in Germany? Tick Nein, or Ja and whether it stays your main or second home. The next line asks whether anyone on the form has other homes in Germany. If any answer is Ja, you also need the extra sheet "Beiblatt zur Anmeldung", and you register in person.

6. 6

   Persons 1 and 2

   Family name as in your passport ("Passname"), all first names (underline the one you are called by), birth name if it was different (for example before marriage), sex, date, place and country of birth, and all your nationalities. For person 2, write the family relationship next to "Familienmitglied ist" (for example Ehefrau, Ehemann, Kind).

7. 7

   Religionsgesellschaft

   Only enter a religious community that is a public-law corporation in Germany and that you are a member of, for example Roman Catholic (rk) or Protestant (ev). This information is passed on to that community, including for church tax. If you don't belong to one, leave it empty.

8. 8

   Ordens- / Künstlername

   A religious-order name or a registered artist's name. Most people leave this empty.

9. 9

   Familienstand and marriage details

   Marital status (for example ledig = single, verheiratet = married, geschieden = divorced). If married or in a registered partnership: date, place and country of the marriage and, if you know it, the certificate's reference number (AZ).

10. 10

    Dokumente

    One block per person: name, document type as a code (PA = ID card, RP = passport, KP = child's passport), issuing authority, serial number, date of issue and expiry date. The type box is tiny: write "RP", not "Reisepass".

11. 11

    Datum, Unterschrift

    Date and signature of one of the people registering. If someone goes to the appointment for you, you still sign the form yourself.

Common mistakes

• Bringing the rental contract instead of the landlord's confirmation

  The Bürgeramt needs the signed Wohnungsgeberbestätigung. Ask your landlord for it as soon as you move in.

• Ticking both "alleinige Wohnung" and "Hauptwohnung"

  They exclude each other. If you have no other home in Germany, tick only "alleinige Wohnung".

• Writing your home abroad as the "previous home"

  The previous-home address is only for an address in Germany. Coming from abroad, just write the country in "Bei Zuzug aus dem Ausland Staat".

• Names that don't match your passport

  Write your names exactly as in the passport you bring, including all first names and every nationality you have.

• Waiting for a perfect appointment

  The deadline is 14 days after moving in. Book an appointment as early as you can; the earliest one may be at any Bürgeramt in Berlin.

• Sending someone without a power of attorney

  A representative needs your written Vollmacht and the form signed by you.