Before you start

A visa or entry permission appropriate to your purpose, obtained before travel for most non-EU nationals
A signed rental contract and a Wohnungsgeberbestätigung from your landlord
An employment contract, for work-based permits
Proof of qualifications, for the EU Blue Card route
For international-organisation staff: written confirmation from your employer of which regime applies to you

Step-by-step

1
If you are joining a UN body or another international organisation, ask HR first
Staff of the organisations on the UN Campus are covered by headquarters agreements between Germany and the organisation, and are normally accredited through the Federal Foreign Office rather than holding an ordinary residence permit. The exact status, and what it means for family members' work rights, taxation and health cover, varies by organisation and by contract type — get it in writing from your own HR before you do anything else.
Via employerWho: Your organisation's HRBefore arrival
2
Book a Bürgeramt appointment online
Bonn runs Bürgerämter in the city districts. Registration is required regardless of which regime you fall under. Book as soon as you know your move date.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival if possible
3
Get the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung at signing
Registration requires a signed confirmation from whoever provides your accommodation. Landlords are legally obliged to supply it — ask as you sign rather than chasing it later.
In personWho: Your landlord
4
Complete the Anmeldung within two weeks
A legal deadline, not a guideline. The Meldebescheinigung it produces is required for almost everything that follows.
In personWho: YouWithin 2 weeks of moving in
5
Wait for the Steuer-ID by post
Issued automatically after registration and arriving within a few weeks. Until your employer has it, payroll applies the least favourable tax class — recoverable at filing, but a real cash-flow hit in your first months.
OnlineWho: The tax office
6
Ask for the EU Blue Card by name if you are on the ordinary route
It gives faster access to a settlement permit, easier family reunification with immediate spousal work rights, and more freedom to change employer than a general work permit. DHL, Telekom and the research institutes all process these routinely, but will default to whatever they filed last time unless asked.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with visa or entry permission
Wohnungsgeberbestätigung from your landlord
Signed rental contract
Employment contract and proof of qualifications
Biometric photographs to German specification
Proof of health insurance, or your organisation's confirmation of institutional cover

Things most newcomers don’t know

Leaving an international organisation is the immigration event, not joining one.

Accreditation through a UN body or similar is tied to the appointment. When a fixed-term contract ends, the status ends with it, and the years spent on it may not count toward a settlement permit the way years on an ordinary residence permit would. Anyone arriving on an international-organisation contract should ask early — at the start, not at the end — what their path looks like if they later want to stay in Germany on their own account. This is the single most consequential Bonn-specific question and it is rarely asked in time.

Source: community-reported

Confirm your own regime in writing rather than assuming it from a colleague's.

Arrangements under headquarters agreements differ by organisation and by contract type — consultants, seconded staff and fixed-term professionals are not all treated alike, and family members' work rights vary too. Two people on the same corridor of the same building can be under different rules. Ask your own HR for your own position in writing.

Source: Auswärtiges Amt — the United Nations in Bonn

The flat, not the appointment, is what delays a Bonn arrival.

In most German cities the Anmeldung queue is the bottleneck. Here it is the housing: under 350,000 people host six ministries, a UN campus, two DAX headquarters and a large university, and the rental market is correspondingly tight — tight enough that NRW put the city and its whole surrounding ring inside the Mietpreisbremse in March 2025. Start the search months ahead.

Source: community-reported

Church tax is 9% in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Declaring church membership at Anmeldung triggers automatic deduction of 9% of your income tax — the standard German rate, against 8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. It is decided in a five-minute appointment most newcomers do not know has a price.

Source: Finanzverwaltung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming your immigration status matches a colleague's at the same organisation without checking.
Reaching the end of an international-organisation contract without having asked what comes next.
Underestimating how long finding a flat takes here compared with the rest of NRW.
Declaring church membership without realising it triggers 9% church tax.
Accepting a general work permit when you qualify for an EU Blue Card.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.