Register your residence in Cologne

Welcome to Cologne! Your next step is to register your residence at the Bürgeramt. We help you!

Here we explain in detail how to book an appointment at Bürgeramt in Cologne. If you want to do the application together with us, use our application service. Do you have general questions about registering your residence? Read our FAQ’s.

Application Service

FAQ – Residence Registration

No need to speak German

Save time and effort

Fill out the form online

Step by step guide

How we help

The Problem(s)

What does ‘Anmeldung des Wohnsitzes’ (residence registration) mean?
You do not know how to to register your German address / residence.
You have moved to Germany permanently and forgotten to inform the authorities.
The registration form is only available in German.

Read FAQ’s

The SOLUTION

Simply fill out the German registration form on this website in English.
Receive instantly all necessary forms and documents. Follow our detailed instructions.
Book an appointment at your responsible citizens office
Get your residence registration confirmation.

Application Service

Which steps are necessary to register your residence in Cologne

German bureaucracy is not easy. We are here to help you!

Step 1:

Sign your rental contract

You made it and got an apartment in Cologne? Congratulations. Don’t forget to get a confirmation from your landlord that you have moved in. You will need this later.

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Step 2:

Move-In

You moved in. You must register your residence at a Cologne Citizens’ Office within 14 days of your suit.

Step 3:

Fill out forms and other documents

You will need some forms for your appointment – among other things the registration form for you (and your family). You have problems filling out the german form? We are happy to help you!

Step 4:

Book an appointment

You have all the papers together? Wonderful, now you need an appointment with a city hall. A residence registration is only possible with an appointment.

Step 5:

Go to the appointment

Be sure to be on time and have your appointment number ready. This will be displayed as soon as it is your turn. The room number or the responsible workplace is displayed. Now submit all documents there.

Step 6:

Receive your confirmation

After checking the documents and entering them into the computer system, you will receive a certificate of residence registration. You’ve done it!

Book an appointment at Bürgeramt in Cologne

We strongly recommend that you make an appointment at the Bürgeramt before your visit. If there is no free appointment on that day (which is the rule), you will be sent home. Registration is mandatory within 14 days after moving in.

I. How to book an appointment at Cologne Bürgeramt

There are three ways you can make an appointment at a Bürgeramt in Cologne. Unfortunately all the options are only available in German.

We recommend the online appointment booking. We’ll help you!

Book an appointment online

The electronic appointment system offers you the possibility to make an appointment with a public authority online.

Cologne is growing at a rapid pace and with it the demands on the administration. Cologne’s citizens’ offices have been prepared for this challenge in terms of personnel. The aim is to achieve the goal of providing every customer with an appointment at the Bürgeramt within 14 days if required.

It is also worthwhile to check the calendar of appointments repeatedly for free dates. If the daily organisation in the Citizen’s Offices allows it, new additional appointments are set up every day, which you can book for your concern – even at short notice.

In case of requests with a legal deadline (e.g. in case of registration/change of residence), the confirmation of the booked appointment is already considered as proof for the adherence to the deadline. You are not committing an administrative offence, even if your request is only processed at the Bürgeramt after the deadline has been exceeded.

Book an appointment by telephone

Bürgertelefon 115 – the central, telephone access to the Cologne administration

Simply dial 115 without area code from a Cologne landline or your mobile phone in the Cologne area. The Cologne 115 or +490221-2210 Service Center can now also be reached directly from outside Cologne by calling 115 or +490221-2210 (from the fixed network and from many mobile networks).

You can reach Bürgertelefon 115 or +490221-2210 Monday to Friday from 07:00 to 18:00 hours.

Book an appointment in Person

We recommend that you book an appointment in advance online or by telephone and do not go to the Bürgerbüro without an appointment.

If today’s online appointments are fully booked, this also applies to appointments at local residents’ registration offices on site. In these cases, please switch to another citizens’ office in the city or postpone your visit to another day.

The number of free capacities (still) available on the day of the appointment is naturally reduced more and more towards the end of opening hours. Therefore, it is possible that, depending on the number of visitors, a visit without an appointment may not be possible on the same day.

Should a visit to a citizens’ office nevertheless be necessary urgently and without an appointment being made, the staff in all citizens’ offices will in any case make a proposal for clarification of the respective concerns in a personal meeting.

II. Choose your Cologne Bürgeramt and book an appointment online

In Cologne there are several citizens’ offices per district. Choose the ones that suit you and then select “Termin buchen= Book appointment”. You will find detailed instructions below this text.