Germany · administrative route
Emigrating to Germany
Germany is next door, and that's exactly why almost everyone underestimates it. "It's almost the Netherlands" — until you stand at the first counter and discover that everything wants to see proof of something else. This page shows how the chain runs, and in which order it works with you instead of against you.
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- Kind of journey
- Administrative route — no visa, but the Anmeldung chain
- The pivotal step
- Register within 2 weeks of moving in — everything wants this proof
- The move
- One day's drive — no customs, no declaration
Last updated: August 2026
The journey
Five phases, from orientation to being settled
No visa and no ocean — but the strictest registration culture in Europe. The Anmeldung is the mother of all German proofs, and this route puts it exactly where it belongs: after the home, before everything else.
- 1
Orientation
Emigrating next door is still emigrating
As an EU citizen you need no visa or residence permit — the immigration office has even been abolished for EU citizens. What you do need to know before you sign anything: the health system with two flavours (the public GKV with free family insurance versus the private PKV whose way back is boarded up), the salary threshold that decides which doors are open, and the question whether the family is ready for a country that on paper is next door and in practice is really abroad.
- 2
Closing the Netherlands
The familiar list, with German accents
Notify health insurance, deregister with the municipality with an international extract, prepare the M return, go through AOW and pension. 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 before you leave — not at your first German tax return.
- 3
The move
No customs — and the car even makes money
A move of 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 the undepreciated BPM back, and for many cars that's more than the whole German registration costs.
- 4
Registration in Germany
Home → Anmeldung → everything else
The centre of gravity. 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 — with the declaration your landlord is legally obliged to issue, and with attention to the religion field that can quietly cost 8 to 9 percent church tax. After that the Steuer-ID, health insurance and bank account roll on in the right order.
- 5
Arrival
Ordinary life, the German way
The car gets its German plates and environmental sticker, the children a school (and the Schulpflicht knows no home schooling), the broadcasting-fee letter comes by itself and wants an answer, and you get to know the health system — including the Bonusheft that's literally worth money at the dentist. After that the paper culture becomes second nature. Almost.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Germany journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters 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
Within two weeks of moving in you register at the Bürgeramt — with your passport or ID card and your landlord's confirmation. Being late is an offence that carries a fine of up to € 1,000; so book the Termin as soon as the rental contract is signed, because in big cities the waiting times are weeks. You get the Meldebestätigung free in return — the paper employer, bank and Zulassungsstelle all want to see.
One field on the form deserves all your attention: religion. Whoever registers as a member of a recognised religious community pays church tax — 8 or 9 percent on top of income tax, automatically withheld via the payslip. Fill it in 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
This is step 4.2 of 28. The other 27 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
What it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.000 – € 5.800
Where does that difference come from?
- De eerste maanden€ 2.000 – € 5.500
Open the breakdown below: there you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 0 – € 80
- De verhuizing
- € 20 – € 150
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.000 – € 5.500
View the itemsPer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Akten en eventuele vertalingen(estimate)€ 0 – € 80
De verhuizing
- Reis(estimate)€ 20 – € 150
De eerste maanden
- De eerste maanden(estimate)€ 2.000 – € 5.500
De borg is wettelijk gemaximeerd op drie kale maandhuren en mag in drie termijnen — dat verzacht de klap bij het tekenen. Reken verder op dubbele woonlasten in de zoekmaanden en leven tot het eerste Duitse salaris. De stad is de grote knop: München en Hamburg huren op of boven Nederlands niveau, veel andere regio's er ruim onder.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 7 to 15% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 17.500 to € 37.500.
De Grunderwerbsteuer verschilt sterk per deelstaat: 3,5% in Beieren en Saksen, 6,5% in Brandenburg, Noordrijn-Westfalen, Saarland en Sleeswijk-Holstein. Notaris en Grundbuch zijn wettelijk geregeld en samen 1,5 tot 2% — daar valt niet over te onderhandelen. De makelaar is de post die het verschil maakt: ongeveer 3,57% inclusief btw voor de koper, en zonder makelaar blijft het totaal onder de 8%.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
The rates in this calculation haven't been checked against the official sources yet.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Germany, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Germany: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that only a short update when something in Germany really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
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.
Registration in Germany
- 3 min
The Anmeldung: the two-week clock the whole of Germany hangs on
Within 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. And watch the religion field: that one box costs 8 to 9 percent church tax.
Updated 15 August 2026
- 2 min
Renting in Germany: Kaltmiete, three months' deposit and who pays the agent
The German rent you see is almost never what you pay: on top of the Kaltmiete come the Nebenkosten. The deposit may legally be three months' basic rent (in three instalments), the agent is paid by whoever engaged him — and without a landlord's confirmation you can't register anywhere.
Updated 15 August 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 9 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and why "just staying registered" isn't an option.
Updated 7 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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