Jibran Shahid, founder of Live in Germany

About the Author

I am Jibran Shahid, and I moved to Germany in October 2014. Every guide on this site is written or reviewed by me.

Who Writes Live in Germany

I arrived in Freiburg im Breisgau in October 2014 as a newcomer with no German, no Schufa record, and no idea that registering my address was something I had two weeks to do. I stayed in Freiburg until 2023, then moved to Wolfsburg, where I am based today. That is 11 years of doing German bureaucracy the hard way, in two very different parts of the country: nine years in the south-west, and the rest in Lower Saxony.

Live in Germany exists because the information I needed in 2014 either did not exist in English or was a machine translation of a federal portal that assumed you already understood the system. Most of what I learned came from getting something wrong first, and I would rather you skip that step.

What I Actually Know

I write about the parts of life in Germany I have personally dealt with:

  • Anmeldung, visas and residence permits - registering an address, extending a permit, and dealing with the Ausländerbehörde
  • Health insurance - both gesetzliche Krankenversicherung (statutory health insurance) and the private system, including what changes when you switch
  • Banking and taxes - opening accounts as a newcomer, Steuer-ID, tax classes, and filing a German tax return
  • Housing - Schufa, Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, deposits, and the realities of the rental market
  • Everyday life - pharmacies, supermarkets, recycling, public transport, and the unwritten rules nobody tells you

How These Guides Are Written

Every guide follows the same rules:

  • Primary sources are cited by name. Figures come from Destatis, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BAMF, the GKV-Spitzenverband, ABDA or the relevant ministry, with the year attached, so you can check them yourself.
  • German terms are defined on first use. You will always get the German word alongside a plain-English explanation, because the German word is what you will see on the form.
  • Laws are named. Where a rule comes from a statute, the paragraph is cited, so you can look it up rather than take my word for it.
  • Guides are dated and revisited. Rules change, fees change, and thresholds change every January. Each guide carries a last-updated date.
  • Affiliate links are disclosed. Some guides link to services I have used or researched. If you sign up through one, the site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never determines what gets recommended.

Corrections and Contact

If something here is out of date, or the process worked differently for you at your Bürgeramt or with your Krankenkasse, I want to know. Local practice genuinely varies between cities, and reader corrections have improved a lot of these guides.

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Get in Touch

Jibran Shahid, who moved to Germany in October 2014 and has lived there since, first in Freiburg im Breisgau until 2023 and in Wolfsburg from 2023. He writes or reviews every guide on the site.

Yes. The guides combine first-hand experience of German bureaucracy with figures and rules taken from primary sources such as Destatis, BAMF, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and the relevant federal ministries, each cited with its year.

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20 Weeks Hack Germany

One email a week, in the order the paperwork actually reaches you. Written from having got each one wrong first.

  • Week 1Anmeldung, and why the two-week clock has already started
  • Week 3Health insurance: public or private, and what you cannot undo
  • Week 6Tax class, Steuer-ID and the payslip that makes no sense
  • Week 11Schufa, deposits and winning a flat viewing
  • Week 20Residence permit renewal, before it becomes urgent

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