Before you start

An employment contract or proof of self-employed income
Meldebescheinigung from your Anmeldung
Steuer-ID and, once issued, your social security number
A German bank account for contributions

Step-by-step

1
Establish which system you are eligible for
Employees below the compulsory insurance threshold — around EUR 77,400 gross for 2026 — must be in the statutory system. Above it, and for freelancers, private cover becomes available. Dresden salaries mean many people who would be over the line in Munich are under it here.
OnlineWho: YouFirst month
2
Default to a statutory fund unless you are certain
Statutory funds differ modestly in their supplementary rate and their extras, and switching between them is easy. Starting statutory keeps every option open; starting private closes most of them.
OnlineWho: You
3
Let payroll run the contributions
Once your employer has the fund details, health, pension, unemployment and long-term care contributions come off gross pay and are split roughly evenly with the employer. There is no separate invoice to look for.
Via employerWho: Employer and you
4
Get the membership confirmation for the residence permit
The Ausländerbehörde requires proof of valid cover before issuing or activating a permit. Your insurer issues a Mitgliedsbescheinigung on request within days. Have it in the file beforehand.
OnlineWho: You
5
Register with a Hausarzt early, and look beyond the northern districts
Your GP is the gateway to specialists and to sick notes. Practice lists around Klotzsche, Hellerau and Pieschen have tightened as the semiconductor workforce has grown. Registering somewhere on your tram line rather than on your doorstep is a reasonable trade.
In personWho: You
6
Learn the sick note rules if you work shifts
German employers generally require a doctor's certificate from the third day of illness, and many contracts require it from the first. Statutory sick pay continues at full salary from the employer for six weeks before the insurer takes over at a reduced rate. On a rotating rota, know who to notify and by when — 116117 covers urgent problems outside surgery hours.
Via employerWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Employment contract or proof of income
Meldebescheinigung
Steuer-ID and social security number
Passport and residence permit
Bank details for contributions

Things most newcomers don’t know

Six weeks of full salary during illness is a statutory right, and newcomers routinely do not know it.

Under the Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz an employee off sick continues to receive full pay from the employer for up to six weeks per illness, after which the statutory insurer pays Krankengeld at a reduced rate. People arriving from countries with minimal sick pay treat a serious illness as a financial emergency and drag themselves to work. Know the rule, and know your contract's notification deadline, which is often the first hour of your shift.

Source: Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz

GP lists in the semiconductor districts have tightened as the workforce has grown.

The northern districts around Klotzsche and Hellerau sit next to the fabs and have absorbed a lot of new residents quickly. Practices there fill first. Registering with a Hausarzt a few tram stops away is a normal and sensible trade — but do it while you are well, because arriving at a full practice with a fever is how most people discover the problem exists.

Source: community-reported

Private cover is close to a one-way door, and Dresden salaries make the threshold a live question.

Because pay here is lower than in Munich or Frankfurt, more people sit near the compulsory insurance boundary rather than clearly above it — which is exactly where brokers work hardest. Private premiums rise with age rather than falling, every family member is separately underwritten where statutory covers non-earning dependants free, and returning is effectively closed after 55. Decide on the thirty-year path.

Source: Bundesministerium für Gesundheit

116117 exists precisely so a night-shift worker does not end up in an emergency department.

The national medical on-call service handles urgent but non-life-threatening problems outside surgery hours and routes you to whatever is open. If your rota means you are awake and ill at three in the morning, this is the number rather than the university hospital, where a non-emergency is triaged as one and waits for hours. Save it before you need it.

Source: Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung

Common mistakes to avoid

Not knowing that six weeks of full salary during illness is a statutory right and working through something serious.
Missing your contract's sick-notification deadline, which on a shift rota is often the first hour.
Choosing private cover on a first-year premium comparison near the eligibility threshold.
Waiting until you are ill to find a Hausarzt in the northern districts.
Arriving at the Ausländerbehörde without a membership confirmation from your insurer.

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