graph TB
subgraph Before moving
VISA --> P[Post a scan of your visa<br/>to YouTrack issue]
VISA[Get National Visa D] --> BUY[Ask to book tickets]
BUY --> TR[Travel to Germany]
BOOK[Find a temporary accomodation, or<br/>ask the Relocation manager<br/>to book accomodation for you] --> TR
ST[Prepare your stuff<br/>to be moved by PrimeMovers]
ST --> CAL[Inform PrimeMovers in 2-3 weeks<br/>about your things and when you are leaving]
end
TR --> SIM[Buy a German sim card. At first, prepaid is recommended, not contract. <br/>Best coverage in Berlin is at Telekom.de and its virtual operators<br/>Coverage of O2 Telefonica is worst, and Vodafone is in between<br/>See more info on the topic <a href='https://tinyurl.com/2p94c3sb'>in this article</a>]
TR --> ACC[Arrive into temporary accomodation]
TR --> SCH1[Get Schufa Auskunft<br/>without IBAN<br/>to JB office address<br/>via ImmobilienScout24.de,<br/>see description below]
ACC --> WOH[Ask a landlord for Wohnungsgeber-Bestätigung]
WOH --> |You need to register within 14 days after arrival.| REG[Register temporary residential address at Bürgeramt, aka Anmeldung.<br/>In case you're married -> whole family comes together<br/>with marriage and birth certificates for kids]
REG --> MAIL[Put your surname on a mailbox, a frontdoor</br>and an apartment doorbell]
MAIL --> TAX[Finanzamt generates<br/>Steuer-ID/Tax-ID<br/>for you in 3 days<br/>and sends it via<br/>papermail in 2 weeks.<br/>You can get it faster<br/>by coming to your<br/>Finanzamt in person]
MAIL --> PAYSLIPS[Receive login<br/>and password<br/>for payslips by<br/>separate<br/>papermails]
MAIL --> SSN[Receive<br/>social<br/>insurance<br/>number,<br/>inform HR]
TAX --> STKL[In case you're married-><br/>come together to Finanzamt<br/>and explicitly tell them,<br/>which tax classes you've chosen.<br/>They will issue you two documents<br/>with your tax classes and tax ids]
REG --> BANK[Open bank account<br/>at Sparkasse, DB, Commerz,<br/>or other, incl. neobanks]
BANK --> IBAN[Get IBAN `International Bank Account Number`]
IBAN & MAIL --> CARD[Receive bank card<br/>and its pincode with <br/>separate papermails]
TAX & STKL --> HR1[Send scan of Tax ID and Tax Class to HR]
REG & IBAN --> SCH2[Get Schufa Auskunft<br/>with IBAN and real address<br/>see description below]
ACC -.-> MSFE[Ask landlord for<br/>`Mietschuldenfreiheitserklärung<br/>des Vorvermieters`]
SCH1 & SCH2 -.-> PERM[Sign a contract for permanent accomodation,<br/>the best case: unlimited]
IBAN --> PERM
MSFE -.-> |Usually, new landlord wants to know,<br/>whether you don't have any debts to previous landlord|PERM
PERM & CAL --> I[Inform PrimeMovers<br/>to deliver your stuff]
PERM --> WOH2[Ask a landlord for Wohnungsgeber-Bestätigung]
WOH2 --> REG2[Register your permanent<br/>address at town hall]
REG2 --> INF[Inform companies about your address change,<br/>see their approx. list after the diagram]
REG2 ----> AMEL[Apply for long-term work<br/>permit in Ausländerbehörde.<br/>Birgit recommends not earlier than<br/> 2-3 month after arrival.]
PERM --> MAIL2[Put your surname on <br/>a mailbox,<br/>a frontdoor</br> and doorbell]
MAIL2 --> INF
AGB[Ask Birgit to issue<br/>Arbeitgeberbescheinigung] --> AMEL
AMEL --> VNZH[Get work and residence long-permit.<br/>It can be a bluecard, or work visa]
VNZH --> HR2[Send scan to HR]
VNZH --> KINDERGELD[Apply for<br/>state benefits<br/>for children,<br/>if applicable,<br/>200eur/child]
VNZH --> ELTERNGELD[Apply for<br/>state benefits<br/>for parents,<br/>if applicable,<br/>for child <1 y.o.]
Some more information on each step:
- Anmeldung
- Tax ID
- Schufa Auskunft: credit history document. Almost always it's required for an apartment viewing, and it's part of document list when applying for a contract. At ImmobilienScout24.de, Schufa Auskunft can be ordered either for 29 Eur, or for free via paid ImmobilienScout24.de subscription. Anyway ImmobilienScout24.de paid subscription for a couple of months is really required for non-zero chances to get good permanent apartment.
Inform companies about your address change: JetBrains HR, insurance companies (health + others), banks, energy providers, BVG, mobile operators, internet operator, car sharings, ImmoScout24, delivery and billing addresses at e-commerce like amazon.de, Highly recommended: set up papermail redirects at Deutsche Post and PIN Mail.
After long-term residence, there will be the following ways to get permanent residence:
graph TB
BC[In case you got Bluecard] -.-> B1[Pass German Language B1 exam]
BC -.-> A1[Pass German language A1 exam]
A1 --> |After 33 months from getting Bluecard|PMZHAPP[Apply for permanent residence]
B1 --> |After 21 months from getting Bluecard|PMZHAPP
WV[In case you got work visa] --> B1_wv[Pass German Language B1 exam]
B1_wv --> |5 years of paying to pension fund|PMZHAPP
PMZHAPP --> PMZH[Obtain permanent residence]
PMZH -.-> MORT[Now you can freely apply for a mortgage<br/>Note: in _very_ rare cases, you can get mortgage<br/>without permanent residence]