My first month in Berlin
I came to Berlin to join a startup here in July 2018 . I intend to share my experience in first few days and initial formalities …This is more from employee perspective as that is what I am aware of …
Anmeldung — Local office “Burgeramt” or “Rathaus” : This is the first and most important document you need no matter in which city in germany you are .This is registering your resident address to local citizen office ,known as Burgeramt . Once you register you get a piece of paper stating your resident address ,and this will be needed starting with Mobile Contract,Bank Account, Residence Permit/ EU Blue card and what not. To get this thing an appointment is necessary,looking at the scarcity of availability of slots it is better if you take the appointment before coming to Berlin if you already have sorted out your living space ( finding a living space in Berlin is a topic of another blog post !!). Go to the link to book an appointment https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/120686/ . For some Burgeramt it is possible to go without an appointment but it is advised to go with an appointment to avoid the waiting time . You will need your rental contract,Owner certificate(wohnungsgeberbestätigung) , Passport,Visa,Marriage Certificate .
Mobile Connection: Berlin’s telecom providers are 1&1,Vodafone,O2,Telekom and MVNOs like Lyca,Lebara,Aldi,Edeka,Nettocom . You can go into shops of these providers show your passport and if necessary Anmeldung(depends on provider) and get the SIM . For someone new to city it is better to get start with Prepaid SIM . Now here is a catch ,in Germany it is mandatory now to get your sim registered .To do that you need to go through an Identity Verification process . If you take the SIM from stores of telecom vendors they will verify you with your passport .On the other hand if you have taken the SIM from any prepaid sim stall or have ordered online then you have to do the verification yourself. There are mostly two providers POSTIDENT and WEBId . POSTIDENT is backed by Deutsche Post and after their system modernization they stopped accepting passport from many Countries and if you are from India like me you won’t be able to verify through POSTIDENT (not even going to POST office as they use same thing) . WebId seems to support more ids so before taking SIM make sure what is the verification process it uses and if your passport is accepted or not .
Health Insurance: Having a health insurance is mandatory .if your gross income is less then 59,400 EUR then you are under statutory health scheme in this scheme your employer will add you to the scheme . If you earn more than that you have option to chose from Statutory Scheme or Private ones. There are pros and cons for both .Most important thing is if you take Statutory Scheme your family member will be covered free of cost ,which is not the case if you take a private insurance . On the other hand if you are young private insurance will cost you less than the statutory one . It is important to start your process of getting covered as sson as you get the Anmeldung it takes around 2 weeks and you get a electronic chip enabled health card . If you are someone eligible for EU Blue Card you have to show your health insurance proof so do this step asap .
Opening Bank Account: For your first salary what you need is checking account or “GiroKonto” . There are many banks in Berlin like Deutsche Bank,CommerzBank,Sparkasse,Targo,Berliner-Volksbank etc .. and some completely on line banks which has no branch like DKB,N26,ING-Diba etc. You can apply to these. Although banks may refuse your application .One of the parameters banks check is your credit history which is called “Schuffa” — it is generated when you start transacting and paying bill now the catch is you cannot start transcation unless you a have bank account and if you do not have schuffa bank may refuse your application !!! . So my personal experience is while applying for bank account visit the bank personally talk to personal there and ask for basic account without any credit card . Visiting the bank personally will also save you from verifying your identity online which I said earlier in Mobile section .
Usage of cash is predominant here in Berlin and except big Grocery Marts or Shopping Mall won’t acept credit cards so it is always better to keep some cash handy .
Tax ID — Local office “Finanzamt”: Once you register a Tax number will be generated for you and this is valid lifelong.You will receive this via post and your employer need this while crediting salary .This is also called “SteuerNummer” or “Personliche Identifikationsnummer”. It takes generally 2 weeks after you get the Anmldung done to reach you via post. If you need it earlier you can visit any “Finanzamt”/ Tax office after 5 days of Anmeldung and ask for your number .
Social Security Number — Local office “ Deutsche Rentenversicherung”: “Sozialversicherungsnummer” is another number that your employer will need before your first salary . If you are availing Statutory health insurance it will be generated and communicated to your employer by the Health insurance provider.In case of privately insured you have to apply to Deutsche Rentenversicherung to generate the number .
Apply for Blue card / Residence Permit/Work Visa Extension — Typically you get a 6 month National “D” Visa from your local German Embassy . When you get your Anmeldung,Health insurance(even confirmation mail from Health insurer) take an appointment to “Auslanderbehorde” or Foreigners’ Office to apply for EU Blue Card / Visa extension/Residence Permit based on your eligibility . If your gross salary is minimum 52,000 EUR per year(subject to revise ) and your job contract is unlimited and permanent and you have accredited university degree you are eligible for EU blue card this is a temporary residence permit for max 4 year with option to extend it . However it is another topic which I will write later .However it takes 6–8 weeks to renew your visa/work permit/blue card so it is advised to apply with ample time before your VISA expire .
Your first salary : You need to submit to your employer — Bank Account IBAN+Tax id+Health Insurance +Social Security Number !! and you are all setup for your first pay day ..
This is the first few formalities you have to go through when you first come to Berlin.At times it may feel overwhelming but take one thing at a time.German bureaucracy sometimes seems a bit daunting but if you have the necessary documents then it’s a breeze . Information given here is based on my own experience for complete details please follow websites of respective authorities , rules are subject to change time to time so don’t consider information here is complete !!
