How to change your address in Germany

This guide helps you update your address after you move into a new apartment. It’s not automatic.

Put your name on your mailbox

German apartments rarely have apartment numbers. Mailboxes and doorbells have no numbers, just names. To receive your mail, your name must be on your mailbox.

How to put your name on the mailbox

Learn to write your new address

How to write your address

Register your address

Every time you move, you must register your address at the Bürgeramt. During your Anmeldung appointment, they put a new address sticker on your passport, personal ID, residence permit and vehicle registration papers.⁶

How to register your address

Tell everyone else

When you move, you must change your address in these places:

• Bank
  If you leave Germany, keep your bank account. You will still need it.
• Employer
  Your employer might need to send you documents, even if you quit your job or leave Germany.
• Health insurance
  Use your health insurer’s online portal. If you leave Germany, you can cancel your health insurance.
• Other insurers
  If you stay in Germany, you usually stay insured at your new address, but the price can change. If you leave Germany, cancel your insurance contracts.
• Electricity or gas company
  Read your electricity meter before you move out. You usually keep the same contract at your new address. If they can’t serve your new address, you can end your contract.⁷
• Agentur für Arbeit if you get ALG I
• Beitragsservice for the TV tax
• Finanzamt
  Do it online in ELSTER, ask your tax advisor to do it, or email your old Finanzamt.⁸
• Jobcenter if you get Bürgergeld
• Jugendamt
  If your children go to Kita, get a new Kitagutschein.
• Hunderegister if you have a dog
  • Ordnungsamt if your dog is a dangerous breed
• Kfz-Zulassungsstelle if you have vehicles
  They will put a sticker with your new address on your Zulassungsbescheinigung.³ They can do it during your Anmeldung. If you forgot your vehicle papers, do it online, or at the Kfz-Zulassungsstelle.

Use umziehen.de to tell companies your new address for free. They only share your new address with businesses that know your old address.

You do not need to tell the Ausländerbehörde. When you do your Anmeldung, the Bürgeramt shares your new address. They also put a sticker with your new address on your residence permit.⁶

Change your business address

To change your business address, you must update your address in these places:

• Finanzamt
  Do it online in ELSTER, ask your tax advisor to do it, or email your Finanzamt.² If your new address is served by a different Finanzamt, you will get a new Steuernummer.¹
• Ordnungsamt or Gewerbeamt (if you have a Gewerbe)
• Künstlersozialkasse (if you are a member)
• Your website’s Impressum
• Your invoices

Forward your mail

You might still receive letters at your old address. You can ask the Deutsche Post to forward mail to your new address. It’s called a Nachsendeantrag. It costs €31.90 for 6 months.

Forward your mail

Mail forwarding is not reliable. Official mail from the Bürgeramt, Finanzamt, Ausländerbehörde and Agentur für Arbeit is rarely forwarded.⁴ Forwarded mail can take a week longer to arrive.⁵ Packages are not forwarded.

What to do next

How to move out of your old apartment

How to move into your new apartment

How to leave Germany

Sources and footnotes

1. umzugsportal.de ⤴

2. umziehen.de ⤴

3. berlin.de ⤴

4. reddit.com, reddit.com, Oliver Frankfurth (October 2023), verbraucherzentrale.de, paketda.de, reddit.com (August 2023), reddit.com (March 2025), Arbeitsagentur (January 2025) ⤴

5. Kathleen Parker at Red Tape Translation (October 2023) ⤴

6. Berlin.de (January 2025), Reddit (2022), personal experience (2019) ⤴

7. verbraucherzentrale-berlin.de (June 2025) ⤴

8. t-online.de (2025), umziehen.de (2025) ⤴