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

Step-by-step

1
Book a Bürgeramt appointment online
Hannover runs Bürgerämter across the districts and any of them can register a resident of the city. Book as soon as you know your move date; everything downstream waits on the Meldebescheinigung.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival if possible
2
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
3
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
4
Note that the Ausländerbehörde sits at Region level
Residence permits for people living in the city and the surrounding districts are handled by the Region Hannover, not by a city department. It is a separate office from the Bürgeramt, with its own appointment system — book it separately and early rather than assuming registration and permit happen in one visit.
In personWho: You
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 qualify
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. Employers default to whatever process they already know.
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

Things most newcomers don’t know

Registration and the residence permit are handled by two different authorities here.

In most German cities both sit inside the city administration. In Hannover the Ausländerbehörde is a Region Hannover function covering the city and the surrounding municipalities, with its own appointment queue. Newcomers who book only the Bürgeramt discover the second office weeks later, by which point the permit appointment is the long pole.

Source: Region Hannover — Ausländerbehörde

Most 'moving to Germany' advice online is state-blind, and it will be wrong here.

The federal layer — permits, tax classes, health insurance, the Anmeldung deadline — is identical across the country and travels fine. The state layer does not: tenant protection ordinances, school systems, poison centre numbers, transport authorities and public holidays all vary. Lower Saxony has fewer public holidays than Bavaria and different ones from NRW, and a guide written in Cologne will not tell you that.

Source: community-reported

Church tax is 9% in Lower Saxony.

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: Landesamt für Steuern Niedersachsen

The EU Blue Card is materially better than a general work permit.

Faster access to a settlement permit, easier family reunification with immediate work rights for a spouse, and more freedom to change employer. Hannover's large employers — Continental, VW, TUI, the Talanx group — process a lot of international hires and their HR teams know the route, but they will still default to what they filed last time unless asked.

Source: BAMF — EU Blue Card