Entry and first steps in Berlin for work and study
Do you want to work or study in Germany and stay longer than 90 days? Then you usually need a national visa before entry (§ 6 Abs. 3 Aufenthaltsgesetz, Residence Act). You apply for it at the German embassy or consulate in your home country.
After arriving in Berlin, you must register at a Bürgeramt (citizens' office) within 14 days. For this, you need a written confirmation from your landlord (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung).
Your national visa is initially valid for a limited time. To be able to stay and work in Berlin, you must have it converted into a residence title at the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA, State Office for Immigration) – make the appointment for this as early as possible, well before the visa expires.
- Apply for a national visa before entryApply in person at the German mission abroad (embassy/consulate) in your country of origin. For several employment categories as well as for study, according to the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office), the application can be filled out online in advance and the printout brought to the appointment. Processing takes several weeks, depending on the visa category.
- Enter Germany with the visaThe national visa entitles you to enter and is valid for a limited time; the conversion into a residence title only takes place after entry in Berlin.
- Register at the Bürgeramt within 14 daysBook an appointment via service.berlin.de. Bring: a valid passport, the completed registration form, and the landlord confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). If you cannot book an appointment within the deadline, the booking confirmation for a later appointment already counts as meeting the deadline.
- Make an appointment at the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA)Make an appointment for the issuance of the residence title in good time before the visa expires. For some categories (among others skilled workers, Blaue Karte EU (EU Blue Card), Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card)), an online application via the Service-Portal Berlin has additionally been possible since 2 April 2025.
- Attend the LEA appointment with complete documentsUsually required: a valid passport, employment contract or letter of admission, biometric passport photo, proof of health insurance, rental contract or proof of main residence in Berlin.
- A fixed, officially stated deadline by which the appointment at the Landesamt für Einwanderung must be made after entry cannot be found on the Berlin authority pages checked – they only say in general terms to make the appointment "in good time". On non-official advice sites, a 90-day figure occasionally circulates; there is no official primary source for it. No confirmed information is available on this.
- The official sources checked give no information on the actual waiting time for a Bürgeramt or LEA appointment (e.g. how many weeks in advance appointments are fully booked). Such week figures circulate only on private advice sites/blogs, which were deliberately not used as evidence here.
- Whether there are preferential Bürgeramt appointments in Berlin specifically for newly arriving skilled workers is not documented on service.berlin.de. It is only documented that new appointments are released daily and that in genuine emergencies (e.g. expiring documents) you can also go in without an appointment.
- According to service.berlin.de, anyone who stays in accommodation only temporarily for up to six months, or who moves from abroad and stays only up to three months, is exempt from the registration obligation – for most labor migrants with a longer-term stay, this exception does not apply.
In depth · Legal basis, figures and practice – for counsellors and professionals
Federal law: national visa before entry
Anyone who wants to stay in Germany longer than 90 days – for example to take up work or to study – needs a national visa under § 6 Abs. 3 Aufenthaltsgesetz (AufenthG, Residence Act), which is issued before entry. It is issued under the same provisions as the residence title sought later (residence permit, Blaue Karte EU, ICT Card (ICT-Karte), etc.); the time with a national visa is later credited toward the period of holding this residence title.
Procedure at the German mission abroad
The application is generally made in person at the responsible German mission abroad (embassy or consulate) at the place of residence in the country of origin; for several visa categories for employment – among others for skilled workers with academic or vocational training, for the Chancenkarte, and for study – the application can, according to the Auswärtiges Amt, be filled out online in advance and the printout then brought to the appointment. The Auswärtiges Amt states the processing time only in general terms as "several weeks", depending on the visa category. A visa for employment often does not require separate approval from the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) if the employment itself does not require approval.
Berlin implementation: registration at the Bürgeramt
After entry and moving into a Berlin apartment, the following applies: registration within 14 days at one of the Berlin Bürgerämter (citizens' offices) (Bundesmeldegesetz, Federal Registration Act). You must bring a valid passport, the completed registration form, and the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung – the written, signed confirmation of moving in from the landlord or main tenant, who in turn must issue it within two weeks after moving in. Appointments are assigned centrally via service.berlin.de; according to the official appointment page, "new additional appointments" are released daily; alternatively, booking via the citizens' hotline 115 is possible. If, despite a timely attempt, you do not get an appointment within the 14-day deadline, the confirmation of a booked (later) appointment already counts as proof of meeting the deadline – no administrative offense arises from this. In genuine emergencies, for example with expiring documents or other understandable urgent reasons, you can go to a Bürgeramt without an appointment; there, according to its own statement, "an individual solution is sought on site". Anyone who stays in accommodation only temporarily for up to six months, or who moves from abroad and stays only up to three months, is exempt from the registration obligation.
From visa to residence title: Landesamt für Einwanderung
The national visa is time-limited and must be converted into the actual residence title in Berlin at the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA, State Office for Immigration). The LEA recommends making the appointment "in good time"; for holders of a longer-term 12-month D visa, specifically, a new residence title is issued at the earliest six weeks before the visa expires. Before the appointment, the Berlin apartment should already be registered at the Bürgeramt; if this is not yet possible, the LEA accepts alternative proof of main residence (e.g. rental contract, confirmation of moving in). You must bring to the appointment, among other things, a valid passport, employment contract or letter of admission, biometric passport photo, proof of health insurance, and the rental contract. For certain categories, an online application to the LEA has additionally been possible since 2 April 2025 (see the page "Residence titles for work: overview for Berlin").
Data gaps
On how long the actual processing of the national visa at the mission abroad takes in individual cases, on a fixed deadline for making the LEA appointment after entry, and on reliable, officially confirmed waiting times for Bürgeramt appointments in 2026, no concrete figure is available from the primary sources. This gap is expressly named here rather than filled with information from non-official advice sites.
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