If you arrive in Germany during the weekend, then you have to wait till the first Monday to start with the process and if you arrive on a weekday then you can begin as soon as you’ve had enough rest.
Let’s get started, shall we?
The list is as follows:
1. Confirmation from Landlord
2. City registration
3. Sim card
4. Bank account
5. Blocked account
6. Health insurance
7. University enrolment
8. Residence permit
*1. Confirmation letter from landlord* – as soon as you settled in, you should get a confirmation letter from your landlord or floor-in-charge in case you are living in a student dorm. Don’t worry, the person who has to give the document to you knows about it. It is called Wohnungsgeberbestätigung in German. If you want help pronouncing it then just break the word into three parts, Wohnungs-Geber-Bestätigung, see easy peasy. This document is required for the city registration, which follows next. You can ask your owner/landlord to either email the document to you or give you a printed version of the document. After getting the document, all that is left is the city registration and we will talk about that one in point no. 2
*2. City Registration* – ideally, you should do your city registration within two weeks of your arrival in Germany. All that you have to do it take your Wohnungsgeberbestätigung or the landlord’s confirmation letter to the local city hall. Generally, you do not need an appointment, but I would advice asking some fellow students who have already gone through the process and some cities might be different. I did not require an appointment in Heidelberg and the Rathaus in Heidelberg is in Altstadt (you can easily find it through google maps). You can use google to find out the address of the City Hall and the opening time schedule. The registration hardly takes 10 minutes. Documents required for the city registration are passport, house contract, landlord’s confirmation letter and address registration form (available at the Residence Office)
From there you will get a confirmation of your City Registration and make sure that you keep this document in a safe place along with all the other important documents. Just to be on the safer side, get a few photocopies of this document and keep them with you as you will be required to submit this document several times for various things such as university enrolment and health insurance.
*3. Sim Card* – I Wouldn’t place getting a sim card third on the list but it is totally up to you when you want to get a sim card. If I recall correctly, I probably got a sim card 3-4 days after I came to Germany. So, it doesn’t matter when you get it what is important is that you ask your housemates or people living in the same building about the range or signal you get for different sim card providers. You don’t wanna be stuck with a sim card with no reception at your place. Also, get a prepaid one first because it is easy to get rid of them if you do not like the services. With contracts, it is tricky and difficult to get rid of a sim card. I would always recommend getting a prepaid sim card first and if you feel that you require more data or perhaps a new phone then you can go with contracts. I got my sim card from Lidl (supermarket), and I still have it. Remember that sim cards in Germany have a lock on them (they are password protected), and the password is on the card itself. You also have to do the registration of the sim card to unlock it and it is a tricky process, well, it was for me or maybe it was just for the sim card that I got. You do not require more data in Germany because will have wifi nearly everywhere. Stick to 1 GB or 2 GB packs per month. Wait did I just say 1 GB per month? Yes, I did. You don’t get 1 GB internet daily so don’t be shocked.
*4. Bank Account* – this one is very important and easy. Go to a bank of your choice (I recommend Sparkasse because they have many ATM branches and taking out money from some other Bank’s ATM costs 3 freaking euros and it is something you might wanna consider). Go to the bank and tell that you want to open an account. They will do the rest; it doesn’t take long and they will explain the entire process to you because unfortunately, all the official documents are in German. They will also ask you to download the online banking app and if they ask you that do you wish to do it yourself later or right now with them, then I will always recommend going through the process with the bank person. You will get your debit card and the pin of the debit card on your registered address and that reminds me- take your passport and the document you got from the city registration office with you when you go the bank.
*5. Blocked account* – this one again is slightly tricky. This comes fifth on my list after opening a bank account because you will require your bank account details when you deal with the blocked account process. When I came to Germany in 2018, I opened a blocked account with Fintiba. Even though on the website the process of how to unblock your money was given and explained, it was still very confusing for me (probably because I’m dumb! Or am I?). I remember I had to print some stuff from the website of Fintiba and send it by post to the Fintiba office. I hope the process is simplified now. Also, there are better options like Expatrio available and their process of unblocking your funds seems simpler. Whenever you have to send your documents through the post in Germany, send it in the form of a registered post because that way you can be sure that the documents were received. Spend a little money and save yourself from unnecessary headaches.
*6. Heath Insurance* – Sehr sehr sehr wichtig (means very important in German). I don’t know if different universities in Germany follow different processes but for my university (SRH Hochschule Heidelberg) I could not enrol at the university without getting a health insurance confirmation first. So I went with AOK, you can either go for either AOK or TK as both of them are Public health Insurance Providers in Germany. For me obtaining health insurance was fairly simple in comparison to all the other things because the AOK representative was in the university itself and he filled up the form himself. The documents that you need are again your passport, bank account details and city registration certificate. The AOK representative then gave me two papers, one for the university enrolment and one for VISA extension. So you see there is an order to the list as without city registration and bank account, obtaining health insurance is not possible and without health insurance, there will be no university enrolment.
*7. University enrolment* – the next step that follows is enrolling at the university. This one is simple as the university deals with the enrolment of international students regularly. You probably have to go to the international office or the registration office with your city registration certificate, passport and health insurance confirmation.
*8. Residence permit* – for Germany you will be given a VISA for either 3 or 6 months from India and when you come to Germany, you have to get it extended at the local immigration office before your visa expires. I was given a VISA for 3 months that is from 20th September 2018 till 20th November 2018 and I went to the immigration office at the end of October. You probably should go a month in advance which means one month before your expiration date. It’s always wise to play it safe. You have to take your passport, rent contract, proof of finances, city registration certificate and health insurance certificate. You can either make an appointment or you can just walk in and get a token number. I am not sure about the amount of time it will take as it depends and varies from one city to another. In Heidelberg, it will take approximately 1 hour if the immigration office is slightly packed.
I hope this helps you for a seamless transition to Germany.
*All the Best! Viel Glück!*