How and where to register for temporary residence?

Applying for temporary residence is an important step. Within 1-2 weeks when you have the house contract and the landlord's verification, you should immediately go to the Temporary Residence Office (Bürgeramt) where you live to ask for temporary residence.

You can get your “registration confirmation” (Meldebestätigung) here. With this certificate, you will feel secure to live and study in Germany, without worrying about being asked by the police/foreign affairs department.

Temporary Residence Office (Bürgeramt) is a place where 

you can ask for temporary residence

You just need to type the keyword "Anmeldung + name of the city where you are staying" on the Internet and you will find the address of the temporary registration office closest to where you live. For example, Anmeldung Mannheim.

For big cities, there will be different temporary residence registration offices at different addresses. For smaller provinces, there is usually only one place to register for temporary residence.

After getting the address of the office, go to apply for temporary residence registration. In big cities, you usually go to the office and pick up the numbers then wait to be called, which is similar to Vietnam. Then give the staff documents like house contract, landlord confirmation form and passport and have them register your temporary residence.

You don’t have to pay for this process. Once completed, they will give you a temporary residence registration certificate, and remember to keep it carefully.

In addition, there will be support and assistance for the well-being of people living in that city right at the registration office, you should look into it carefully and ask if they can offer you any help.

For example, when I applied for residence registration in Leipzig, I received additional support for priority cards for low-income people. Social costs such as taking extra language courses and gifted programs opened by the city, your tuition fee will be reduced by up to 50% when you have this card, or the train ticket price will also be reduced by 50%.

Register your mailbox

It’s really necessary for you to have a mailbox when you arrive in Germany because almost all matters will be done through mail and correspondence in Germany.

For work study students and students of master's degree, you have already defined where you live and study before coming to Germany, so you can easily choose a place to live in Germany while you are still in Vietnam. Once you arrive, you can write your name on the mailbox at your home in Germany.

And for those who are studying university, it will be more difficult at first, because you will have to take the pre-university exams in different places. Only when the results are available can you determine where you will be and in which city you will live.

So accommodation will be a bit complicated at first. If you have relatives or someone to stay with, it will be easier to ask for a temporary stay and temporary filling of your name on the mailbox. Or else, you can ask them to receive the letter for you so that you can avoid losing important documents.

Sign up for insurance

Students in different level in Germany will buy different types of insurance

Insurance registration is one of the necessary procedures before coming to Germany. Health insurance is a type of insurance in the field of community health care, helping to reduce health care costs, costs related to treatment and health rehabilitation in case of illness or accident.

This is mandatory in Germany. Government regulates public health insurance (GKV), private health insurance is created by a German or international company (PKV), or by both.

Most work study students or students at the university will be registered for insurance such as AOK, TKK and DAK. Monthly costs vary by state by a few Euros:

• AOK (83 Euro)
• TKK ( 81.30 Euro)
• DAK (85.49 Euro)

This is a mandatory expense that you have to pay each month, because this will help you with your illness while in Germany.

For those who study language courses in Germany and who are preparatory students in Germany, you will buy private insurance such as: Care Concept, Mawista and Hanse Merkur. Then the cost for these private insurance will be much lighter than private insurance in general. You only have to pay: 30-40 euros per month.

Necessary certificates of insurance registration: You can come to the office or register online via online form, the contract will be sent via email. After each medical examination, you can bring the bill and certificate to have them process the payment for you.

Documents required for insurance registration:

• Passport or residence card.
• Student certificate or student card – Studienbescheinigung or Immatrikulation.
• Apprenticeship contract if you learn apprenticeship (Ausbildung)

Open a bank account in Germany

After you settle down and get used to the environment in Germany, as well as your money has gradually dried up, quickly activate your bank account in Germany – the account that you did before in Vietnam. .

If the bank account you open belongs to a German bank, then you can go to that bank and ask for the necessary procedures to activate your account. Then, your bank card will be delivered to your mailbox after a few days.

If you want to open a Vietinbank account, you need to ask for the procedures and documents, then you must send the documents requesting to open an account via mailbox to the branch you registered in Germany, which is in Berlin or Frankfurt. When they check all the documents, they will activate the account for you, then you will receive the card in your mailbox.

In addition, for more convenience, you can open a personal bank account of another common bank in Germany for easier use. You can also apply in the bank or just apply online through a website.

Popular German banks are Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, Commerzbank.

Commerzbank - one of the most popular banks in Germany

Apply for a German Visa extension - the most important procedure

 Visa extension is so important because it can decide your time in Germany

After you have completed the necessary paperwork on: housing, temporary residence registration, admission documents, insurance and banking.Then the next thing to do is to extend your visa at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the city where you live.

To be granted a long-term visa to help you stabilize in living and studying. This is very important because if you do not renew your visa you may be deported from Germany.

A visa extension application includes the following documents:

• Application form, accompanied with passport photo 3.5×4.5 size. You should use photos acquiring German standards
• APS certificate (If studying abroad).
• Passport.
• Valid visa to Germany.
• A rental agreement, you buy it from a bookstore and have it signed by the landlord.
• Temporary residence registration.
• Insurance.
• Certificate of finance – the document of the bank, which is used to see how much in your account. You don't need to attest, go to the ATM and print it out instead. (2 prints include 1 original and 1 copy).
• Apprenticeship contract (admission letter is required for international students) (it is necessary in some cases or you just have to provide a student card or a language learning contract instead)
• With visa extension, as long as you have enough and transparent documents, you will quickly be granted a residence card, otherwise they will notify you to add all the necessary documents.
• With the next renewal, if you are still in that city, the Department of Foreign Affairs will send you an appointment to renew your visa along with the relevant documents via your mail. So please pay attention as well as check your mail daily.

Tags: studying abroad in Germany, studying abroad, German visa, visa extension, German mailbox, German bank account, bank in Germany, German insurance