When you move out of your apartment and leave Germany, you must deregister your address at the Bürgeramt. This is called the Abmeldung.
This guide explains why and how to do your Abmeldung in Berlin.
Who needs to deregister
You must do your Abmeldung if:
- You move out of Germany, and you will not return to your current address.
- You leave one of multiple homes. For example, if you have two registered apartments, and you sell one of them.
You don’t need to do your Abmeldung if:
- You temporarily move out of Germany, and you will return to the same address later. For example, if you study in another country for a semester.
- You move to another address in Germany. When you register your new address, your old address is automatically deregistered.
- You have not registered your address.
Why you must deregister
When you do your Abmeldung, you officially stop living at your old address. You get a deregistration certificate (Abmeldebescheinigung) that confirms this.
You can use this certificate to:
- Stop paying the TV tax
- Stop paying for health insurance (if you move out of Germany)
- Cancel your phone, internet and electricity contracts
- Get a refund of your pension payments, 2 years after you leave Germany
How to do your Abmeldung
There are 4 ways to deregister your address:
The Abmeldung is free. You can deregister 7 days before you move out. You must deregister maximum 14 days after you move out.1 In Berlin, this is not enforced; people take weeks or months to deregister, and there are no problems.8
After you deregister, you get an Abmeldebescheinigung. This certificate confirms that you are deregistered. If you deregister in person, they give it to you. If you deregister by email or by post, you must ask for this document, and they will send it to you.2
By email
This is the easiest option, but it’s not 100% reliable.
Each Bürgeramt does things differently. They rarely email your Abmeldebescheinigung. They might refuse to mail to another country, so you must give them a backup address in Germany.
To deregister by email, send this message to any Bürgeramt in Berlin:
Subject: Address deregistration
Betreff: Abmeldung einer Wohnung
Dear sir or madam,
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
I hereby wish to deregister my address following my move. Please find enclosed the completed deregistration form and a copy of my identity card.
hiermit melde ich meine Wohnung ab. Im Anhang finden Sie das Abmeldeformular und eine Kopie meines Personalausweises.
Please send me the confirmation of deregistration by email. If this is not possible, please send it to my new address. If it is not possible to send it abroad, please send it to the following person in Germany:
Bitte senden Sie mir die Abmeldebestätigung per E-Mail zu. Falls das nicht möglich ist, senden Sie sie bitte an meine neue Adresse. Sollte ein Versand ins Ausland nicht möglich sein, senden Sie sie bitte an folgende Person in Deutschland:
New address:
Neue Adresse:
Alternative address in Germany:
Alternative Lieferadresse in Deutschland:
Best regards,
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
The
Attach this to your email:
- The Abmeldung form, filled and signed
- A copy of your passport or Personalausweis
- A proof of your move-out date, if you deregister late (optional)10
If you deregister multiple people, also attach…
- A copy of their passport or Personalausweis
- A signed Vollmacht for each person you deregister
Write your new address in the form. If you use a German address, and your name is not on the mailbox, use “c/o” or “bei” on the address form.
You will get an Abmeldebescheinigung 1 to 4 weeks later.3 They usually send it by regular post, not email or registered mail. They might refuse to send it to another country.
In person at the Bürgeramt
This is the safest option, because you always get an Abmeldebescheinigung.
To do your Abmeldung in person…
- Book an appointment for Abmeldung einer Wohnung. Choose any Bürgeramt in Berlin. If there are no appointments available, check again every few minutes.
- Fill the Abmeldung form
- Go to your appointment. Bring:
- The Abmeldung form, filled and signed
- Your passport or Personalausweis, not a copy13
- A proof of your move-out date, if you deregister late (optional)10
If you deregister multiple people, you must also bring…
- Their passport or Personalausweis, not a copy15
If you send someone else to deregister you, they must also bring…
- A signed Vollmacht for each person you deregister
The appointment is short and easy. It takes around 10 minutes. If you don’t speak German, you probably won’t need help, but you can still bring a translator.
During your appointment, you will get an Abmeldebescheinigung.
By post
Send the same documents and message as when you deregister by email.
There is no reason to do your Abmeldung by post. It’s slower, but not more reliable.
How to mail a letter — from your computer, without a printer
Pay someone to do it
You can pay someone to deregister you address for you. They book the Bürgeramt appointment, register your address, and send you the deregistration certificate by email. It’s expensive, but it guarantees that you will get an Abmeldebescheinigung, and it lets you focus on other problems.
These companies can help you:
They can also cancel your TV tax, your health insurance, and your other contracts.
What happens when you deregister
When you deregister, you lose your official address in Germany. This has consequences.
Residence permit
You do not lose your residence permit when you deregister.
Your residence permit can expire if…
- You leave Germany for “non-temporary reasons”14
For example, you deregister and move back to your home country. - or you leave Germany for more than 6 months9
For example, you travel for more than 6 months. Some residence permits let you leave Germany for 12 or 24 months. You can get permission from the Ausländerbehörde to leave longer.12
You still need a registered address to renew your residence permit.
Health insurance
When you deregister, you can lose your German health insurance.4 German health insurance is only for German residents. If you want to keep your health insurance, you probably should not deregister.
If you have private health insurance, you can ask for Anwartschaftsversicherung. You pay a little money every month while you are outside of Germany. When you return to Germany, you can get your old health insurance back.5 It guarantees that you will get the same health insurance for the same price.
Social security
When you deregister, you could lose access to ALG I, Bürgergeld, Kindergeld and other social services.6 Those services are only for German residents.
Bank account
You can keep your German bank account. If the bank sends you a letter, and it can’t be delivered, they might freeze your bank account.7 If they freeze your bank account, you can’t withdraw money, use your credit card, or make bank transfers.
Vehicles
You can’t own a vehicle registered in Germany if you don’t live in Germany.4 Some people had a different experience, so there are exceptions to this.
Other services
When you deregister, you get an Abmeldebescheinigung. Use this certificate to cancel your phone, internet and electricity contracts without fees or delays.6
If you own a business in Germany, you might also need to deregister your business, or transfer it to another person.
If you already moved out
If you already left Germany, you can do your Abmeldung by email or by post.11 You will not be punished.
What to do next
How to move out of an apartment
2 years after you leave Germany, you can get a refund for your public pension payments. You can get thousands of euros back.
This calculator tells you if you can get a pension refund, and how much you can get back.
You can't get a pension refund
You can't get a German pension refund because you are a European Union citizen.
You can't get a German pension refund because you are a
You can't get a German pension refund while you live in the European Union. If you leave the European Union, you can get a refund.
You can't get a German pension refund while you live in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia or Turkey.
You can't get a pension refund because you live in Israel. If you move out of Israel, you can get a pension refund.
You can get
You can already apply for a pension refund, because your last pension contribution was over 2 years ago.
You can apply for a refund in {{ monthsUntilEligible }}. That's 2 years after your last pension contribution.
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You can't get a pension refund
You can't get a pension refund because you made pension payments for over 60 months. When you are 67 years old, you can receive a German pension.
You can't get a pension refund because you are a UK citizen, and you worked in Germany before Brexit. When you are 67 years old, you can receive a German pension.
You can't get a pension refund because you live in the UK, and you worked in Germany before Brexit. If you leave the UK, you can get a pension refund.
If you move out of Japan, you can ask for a refund.
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You can pay someone to request your pension refund. They do all the work for you, and transfer the refund to your bank account. — More information
You can apply for a pension refund without help. It's harder, but if you speak German, it's not so bad.
Your pension refund
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Sources and footnotes
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Robert Hantzsch (August 2025), Oliver Frankfurth (April 2023), Facebook, reddit.com ⤴
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Robert Hantzsch (August 2025), reddit.com ⤴
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Finanztip, Seamus Wolf (2025) ⤴
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Robert Hantzsch (August 2025) ⤴
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Robert Hantzsch (August 2025), Oliver Frankfurth (April 2023) ⤴
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§51 Abs. 1 S. 6 AufenthG, frag-einen-anwalt.de (January 2020), Fiona Macdonald (October 2024), VAB A.51.1.6 (July 2025) ⤴