Newcomers to Berlin will be able to complete their Anmeldung registration online from mid-October 2024, meaning a Bürgeramt appointment will no longer be necessary.
No more refreshing and refreshing in despair as bots eat up the few available appointments before they are even published: from mid-October, newcomers to Berlin can go online to register themselves in the city and receive their document by post.
While everyone who moves to the capital is obliged to register their new address within 14 days of arrival, a severe dearth of appointments at the Bürgeramt, the local citizens’ office where registrations are processed, means that registration within a few months of arrival, let alone 14 days, has been nigh impossible in recent years.
The bureaucratic shortcoming creates a particularly large hurdle for newcomers since everyone in Germany needs to show their Anmeldung certificate for all kinds of administrative tasks, such as applying for a residence permit, opening a bank account or finding a job.
With 500.000 registrations annually, Anmeldung is the most used Bürgeramt service in the federal state. Now, a Bürgeramt appointment will no longer be necessary, freeing up time for Bürgeramt employees and simplifying the task for newcomers.
Moving Anmeldung appointments to the internet is another step in Berlin’s plan to digitise more services in a system which is still very paper-heavy. Since November 2023, it has also been possible to complete a Meldebescheinigung registration online, the certificate acquired when you move house within the city.
However, some believe the bureaucracy of Anmeldung should be done away with altogether since the worst housing crisis in 20 years means finding a secure and legal address at which to register in Berlin is already extremely difficult and getting harder. These circumstances mean that new arrivals can spend months finding somewhere to rent, and years in unofficial sublets before they can find a more permanent address where the landlord will allow Anmeldung.
Established in late 2023, the “Anmeldung für alle” (“registration for all”) is demanding that authorities set up a fairer address registration system. “For many migrants, the vicious circle of Anmeldung means the exclusion of basic rights and services that are essential for a dignified life,” the campaign argues. The current situation leaves newcomers at “risk of sexual aggression, abuse and other types of violence”, a risk which is even more acute for migrants who do not come from wealthy families, women and queer people, Anmeldung für alle points out.
Alongside a fundamental demand for Berlin to act on its housing crisis, the campaign proposes that a universal Anmeldung system be introduced for all Berliners, “through the creation of a new municipal institution [...] where it would be possible to provisionally register and receive mail”.
Lastly, the campaign demands that Berlin decriminalise Scheinanmeldungen (false registrations), which it argues are “not a crime, but a reaction to the housing crisis and the bureaucratic obstacle of the Anmeldung”.
You can find out more about the Anmeldung für alle campaign here.
Thumb image credit: Mo Photography Berlin / Shutterstock.com