Your German work visa gets you in the door; a chain of registrations turns it into a working life. Miss the order and things stall: no bank account without an address registration, no salary without a tax ID, no residence card without health insurance. Here is the sequence our Europe desk walks every worker through.
Day 1–3: Move In and Get a Housing Confirmation
Whoever provides your accommodation — the employer, a landlord or a flatmate — must give you a signed Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (housing confirmation). Without it nothing else is possible.
Within 14 Days: Anmeldung (Address Registration)
Book an appointment at the local citizens' office (Bürgeramt) and register your address. Bring passport, visa, housing confirmation and the registration form. You receive a registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung). This single document unlocks everything that follows. Your tax ID arrives by post within two to three weeks.
Statutory Health Insurance
Your employer enrols you in a statutory health fund (TK, AOK, Barmer and others) from your first working day, but you must choose the fund and provide the membership confirmation. Cover starts immediately; you receive a health card in the post.
Bank Account
With the registration certificate and passport, open a current account at a bank or an online bank; salary is paid only by bank transfer. Ask the employer which banks their payroll works with easily.
Residence Permit Appointment
Your visa is typically valid for six months. Before it expires, apply at the Foreigners Authority (Ausländerbehörde) for the residence permit matching your visa category. Bring the contract, registration certificate, health insurance confirmation, passport and biometric photo. Appointments in large cities book out weeks ahead — apply in the first month, not the fifth.
Social Security Number
Your employer registers you with the pension insurance; you receive a social insurance number by post. Keep it — it follows you through your entire German working life.
SIM Card and Deutschlandticket
A prepaid SIM needs passport identification; the monthly Deutschlandticket is bought through an app or your employer.
What Your Employer Needs From You
Tax ID, social insurance number, health fund confirmation and bank details — usually within the first month for the first full payroll.
Documents to Carry From India
Bring originals and two copies of: passport with visa, employment contract, degree or trade certificates with sworn translations, marriage and birth certificates if family will follow, a set of passport photographs meeting German biometric rules, and your Indian PAN and Aadhaar for remittance registration. Keep digital scans in cloud storage — German offices increasingly accept uploads, and a lost original takes weeks to replace from India.
Money in the First Month
Salary is usually paid at the end of the month, so you may go four to six weeks before the first transfer. Carry or arrange access to €600–1,000 for groceries, transport and the deposit on a SIM or ticket. Employers who recruit from India often advance the first month against payroll; confirm this before you fly.
Common Pitfalls
- Missing the 14-day Anmeldung deadline (fines apply)
- Delaying the residence permit appointment until the visa is nearly expired
- Opening a bank account with a provider that cannot receive German payroll
Taha Airwaves' Europe desk supports every deployed worker through these steps. Read next: health insurance and social security explained and bringing your family to Germany.
