Leaving from Belgium?To the Belgian plan →See the plan for Belgians moving to Germany →This plan is for people leaving the Netherlands.
Germany · No visa required
Emigrating to Germany
For Germany you collect proofs in a fixed order: every counter wants proof of something else. The country is next door, and that's exactly why almost everyone underestimates it.
€ 199 one-off · 31 steps · no subscription
- Kind of journey
- No visa, but the Anmeldung: your registration with the municipality
- The pivotal step
- Register within 2 weeks of moving in. Everything wants this proof.
- The move
- One day's drive, with no customs or declaration
Last updated: 14 October 2026
Will your departure date work? Check it in the free step-by-step plan →
Five phases, from orientation to being settled
No visa and no ocean, but the strictest registration culture in Europe. Everything revolves around the Anmeldung: every other German proof builds on it. The plan puts it exactly where it belongs: after the home, before everything else.
- Orientation
Emigrating next door is still emigrating
In this phase you see where Germany works differently, before you sign anything. As an EU citizen you need no visa or residence permit. The immigration office has even been abolished for EU citizens. Do get to know the health system with two flavours: the public GKV with free family insurance, and the private PKV, whose way back is boarded up. A salary threshold decides which doors are open. And discuss whether the family is ready for a country that on paper is next door, but in practice is really abroad.Read more
- Closing the Netherlands
The familiar list, with German accents
In this phase you close the Netherlands: notify health insurance, deregister with the municipality with an international extract, go through AOW (the Dutch state pension) and pension. And prepare the M return, your tax return for the year of the move. The German accent is in the details. The child benefit makes way for the German Kindergeld. And the tax treaty has a peculiarity around Dutch pensions. You want to know it before you leave, not at your first German tax return.Read more
- The move
No customs, and the car even makes money
In this phase you plan the move and sort out the car. The move is one day's drive: no declaration, no inventory list, in stages with a trailer if need be. The real homework is the car. It has to go on German plates as soon as you live there. But the Dutch side chips in. On export you get back the undepreciated BPM, the tax that was in the car's purchase price. For many cars that's more than the whole German registration costs.Read more
- Registration in Germany
Home → Anmeldung → everything else
In this phase you arrange the centre of gravity: the home, the Anmeldung and what follows from it. No Anmeldung without a home, and almost nothing without the Anmeldung: no tax number, no smooth bank account, no plates. Within two weeks of moving in you register at the Bürgeramt, the municipal counter. Bring the declaration your landlord is legally obliged to issue. And watch the religion field: it can quietly cost 8 to 9 percent church tax. After that come the Steuer-ID (your tax number), health insurance and the bank account, in the right order.Read more
- Arrival
Ordinary life, the German way
In this phase everyday life begins. The car gets its German plates and environmental sticker. The children go to school, and the Schulpflicht (compulsory schooling) knows no home schooling. The letter about the broadcasting fee comes by itself and wants an answer. And you get to know the health system, including the Bonusheft: a stamp booklet for the dentist that's literally worth money. After that the paper culture becomes second nature. Almost.Read more
This is what one step of your plan looks like
This is the real thing: one of the steps of the Germany journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan, with the deadlines, the offices and the sources.
Step 4.2 of your plan
The Anmeldung: within two weeks, and mind that one box
- Lead time
- the appointment itself a quarter of an hour; book the Termin in advance
- Validity
- legal deadline: within 2 weeks of moving in
- Costs
- free
With the Anmeldung you're registered at your German address. You get the Meldebestätigung free in return: the paper employer and bank want to see.
How to go about it:
- Register at the Bürgeramt within two weeks of moving in.
- Bring your passport or ID card, and your landlord's confirmation.
- Book the Termin, the appointment, as soon as the rental contract is signed. In big cities the waiting times are weeks.
Being late is an offence. It carries a fine of up to € 1,000.
One field on the form deserves all your attention: religion. Whoever registers as a member of a recognised religious community pays church tax. That's 8 or 9 percent on top of income tax, automatically withheld via the payslip.
So fill in that field deliberately. Getting out later is only possible via a formal withdrawal, with fees. And never retroactively.
Where you arrange it
What this step rests on
And this is the dashboard that step lives in. The example shows the plan for Spain; your dashboard shows the plan for Germany.
This is step 4.2 of 33. The other 32 are ready for you, each with the same sources, the same offices and a schedule that keeps track of your dates.
See all 33 steps for GermanyWhat you get for € 199
All 33 steps to Germany, for your situation
In order, with the office and the official source at every step. Steps that don't apply to you don't appear.
Your deadlines in one place
For each step you see the latest date to start, and you get a heads-up before something is due or expires. Your documents sit in the vault, with their dates.
A plan that stays right
Twice a month we check the sources. If something changes, it's in your plan and you get a message.
The step-by-step plan for Germany
€ 199
one-off · 33 steps
- Pay once, no subscription
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Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Germany: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Germany change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Which country may tax your pension once you live in Germany? Is there a favourable regime, a scheme that lowers your tax? And how do you get insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you'll see which rules apply to you, with the source.
See the financial conditionsClosing down the Netherlands: all your letters in one go
Moving to Germany starts with leaving the Netherlands properly. That's why the plan includes the letter tool: you enter your details once and every cancellation and notification letter is ready.
Just the letters, without the plan? That works too, for € 49
- Health insurance, rent, energy, subscriptions, GP, school, bank and pension fund: 16 kinds of letters. You enter your details only once.
- A sending list that counts back from your departure date and your notice period, even when that's three months.
- Also what you need to ask for as an emigrant: your no-claims years in English, your medical file and the school report (the report on your child for the new school).
Auke, maker of Vertrekklaar
On 2 January we're leaving ourselves, on a trip around the world with our family. What I put here, I'm arranging for my own family too.
On 20 September 2026 a customer wrote that the CAK rule for early retirement was missing from his plan. He was right. That evening the step was in thirteen plans, with the source attached.
The knowledge base on Germany
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
- GKV or PKV: the German healthcare choice you can only get right onceWhoever goes to work in Germany is automatically publicly insured (GKV) — family covered free. Whoever earns above the wage threshold may go private (PKV), and that tempts with low entry premiums. But the way back is legally sealed off, and above 55 it is virtually locked.
- The Anmeldung: the two-week clock the whole of Germany hangs onWithin two weeks of moving in you must register at the Bürgeramt — with a confirmation from your landlord that he is legally obliged to issue. Without the Anmeldung no tax number, no easy banking, no subscriptions. Being late costs up to € 1,000, a sham address up to € 50,000. And watch the religion field: that one box costs 8 to 9 percent church tax.
- Being allowed to stay in Germany: no permit, no certificate — but a condition that counts after three monthsAs an EU citizen you need no visa, no residence permit and, since 2013, not even a Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung in Germany. What you do have is a condition: work, looking for work (six months), or sufficient means plus health insurance. After three months the Ausländerbehörde may ask about it, and after five years the right becomes unconditional. What the law actually says, and what that means for a pensioner and a jobseeker.
- Tax and pension in Germany: the € 15,000 threshold that turns everything aroundIn almost every tax treaty the rule is: pension is taxed where you live. The treaty with Germany has an exception no other corridor knows — if your Dutch pension plus AOW comes above € 15,000 a year, the Netherlands may tax it too. Whoever only discovers that at the first German tax return has a problem they could have known about.
- Taking your car to Germany: re-registering, the HU — and money back from the NetherlandsAs soon as you live in Germany, your car belongs on German plates — the route runs via insurance, inspection and the Zulassungsstelle, and the German road tax is a fraction of the Dutch one for an average petrol car. The good news almost nobody knows: on export the Netherlands refunds part of your BPM, provided the German registration is done within thirteen weeks.
- Taking your pet to Germany: the EU rules at the border, the German rules after itThe border is the easy part: microchip, rabies vaccination completed at least 21 days before departure, European pet passport, at most five animals per vehicle. The German part starts after arrival, and for dogs it is serious: dog tax via the Finanzamt, in Berlin a compulsory liability insurance of at least € 1 million, registration in the dog register, a general leash requirement and a breed list with stricter rules.
All 14 articles about Germany
- Your household goods to Germany: no customs, but a parking ban that takes four weeks
- Opening a bank account in Germany: the Basiskonto no bank may refuse, within ten working days
- Renting in Germany: Kaltmiete, three months' deposit and who pays the agent
- Your first weeks in Germany: two weeks, one confirmation, and three letters that come by themselves
- Working in Germany: no permit, but a Steuerklasse, a Versicherungsnummer and sometimes a recognition
- Buying a house in Germany: the system protects you with sequence — and the Finanzamt holds the key
- Your driving licence in Germany: simply valid, and only on expiry or loss to the Führerscheinstelle
- School in Germany: compulsory without exception, selection after grade 4, and € 259 Kindergeld
Also applies to your move
Ready to begin?
The step-by-step plan for Germany: 33 steps, with your documents and your costs in one place. For each step you see the latest date to start. You pay once and it's yours.