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Two weeks, one appointment, and everything that depends on it
The Anmeldung is the keystone of German bureaucracy: almost nothing else can be done until it is, and the whole system assumes you have it. The rule is that you register your address at the local Bürgeramt or Einwohnermeldeamt within two weeks of moving in. The exact window is set locally and two weeks is the usual figure, so treat it as a hard deadline. Since 2015 you also need a Wohnungsgeberbestätigung — a form your landlord signs confirming you live there. Without it you cannot register, and a landlord is legally obliged to provide it, so ask for it on the day you get the keys. What you get back is a Meldebescheinigung, the registration certificate, and you should keep copies because you will be asked for it repeatedly. What arrives afterwards, by post and without being requested, is your Steuer-ID, the permanent tax number your employer needs (lesson 60). Allow two to three weeks for it. One question on the form deserves advance thought: religious affiliation. Naming a church here is what triggers the Kirchensteuer deducted from your salary — the eight or nine per cent surcharge lesson 58 described. It is a genuine legal declaration rather than a demographic question, and answering keine is a legitimate answer. The practical difficulty is not the paperwork, it is the Termin. In large cities appointments can be weeks out, and the two-week deadline can expire before the earliest slot — which is not held against you if you booked in good faith, and a screenshot of the booking is worth keeping. Tactics that genuinely help: check the portal early in the morning when cancellations appear, look at offices in outer districts rather than the central one, and check whether your city still runs walk-in hours. And when you eventually move away from Germany, there is a matching act — the Abmeldung — which matters because it is what stops the broadcasting fee and the tax office expecting you.