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
Proof of health insurance

Step-by-step

1
Book the Bürgerbüro online before you arrive
Wiesbaden takes registration appointments through its online booking system. Book as soon as you know your move date — the appointment, not the paperwork, is what determines whether you make the two-week deadline.
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 under §19 BMG — 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
Book the Ausländerbehörde separately — and do not turn up without one
The city's Ausländerbehörde is on the Alcide-de-Gasperi-Straße and states that appointments are the only way in. It handles residence permits and extensions, settlement permits, travel documents and skilled-worker cases. Book online as soon as you have your Meldebescheinigung.
OnlineWho: YouImmediately after registering
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. The federal agencies, the insurers and the Frankfurt employers most Wiesbaden residents work for all process these routinely, but default to whatever they filed last time unless asked.
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

Registering in Wiesbaden and working in Frankfurt is entirely ordinary — and it is Wiesbaden's offices you deal with.

Your Anmeldung, your Ausländerbehörde, your Bürgerbüro and your Finanzamt all follow your registered address, not your employer's. Thousands of people work in Frankfurt and are administered by Wiesbaden. Do not join a queue in the city where your desk is.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden — Ausländerbehörde

An address that says Mainz can still be Wiesbaden.

Kastel, Kostheim and Amöneburg are Wiesbaden Ortsbezirke on the left bank of the Rhine that kept Mainz in their postal names after the occupation-zone boundary was drawn along the river in 1945. If your flat is in 'Mainz-Kastel', your registration office, your Ausländerbehörde, your tax office and your state are all Wiesbaden's and Hesse's. Booking with Mainz is a wasted appointment.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden — Ortsbeiräte

Both offices are appointment-only, and one of them says so bluntly.

The Ausländerbehörde states that visits are possible only with an appointment. There is no walk-in queue to join at seven in the morning as there is in some German cities. Book online, and book the permit appointment the moment the registration is done rather than waiting for a letter.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden — Ausländerbehörde

Church tax is 9% in Hesse.

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: Hessisches Ministerium der Finanzen

Common mistakes to avoid

Turning up at the Ausländerbehörde without an appointment.
Booking with Mainz because the address says Mainz-Kastel.
Dealing with Frankfurt's offices because that is where you work.
Missing the two-week registration deadline because the first appointment offered was later.
Declaring church membership without realising it triggers 9% church tax.

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