Moving to Berlin from Australia: the full guide

Good news first: an Australian passport makes Germany one of the friendlier places in Europe to move to. The hard bits are housing and appointments, not the border.

The short version

Australians can generally enter Germany without a visa and apply for a residence permit after arrival, though the German Embassy recommends sorting a visa first if you want to start work straight away [1].
The Germany working holiday visa costs €75, allows up to 12 months, and from 1 October 2026 the upper age limit for Australians rises from 30 to 35 [2].
You must register your address (the Anmeldung) within 14 days of moving into a flat, and you need your landlord's signed move-in confirmation to do it [5].
Berlin's immigration office says to expect at least two to three months before you get an appointment, so apply early [6].
Finding a flat is usually the slowest part of the whole move. Start looking before you book your one-way ticket.

Pick your visa route before you pick your suburb

Your route into Germany shapes everything else: when you can start work, how long you can stay and how much paperwork you'll juggle. Here are the main options Australians use.

Route	Who it suits	Key facts (2026)
Working holiday visa	Australians aged 18 up to 30, or up to 35 from 1 October 2026 [2]	Up to 12 months, any job, €75 fee, once only, apply in person at the German Consulate General in Sydney [2]
Apply after arrival	People who want to look around first	Allowed for Australians, but you can't start work until the permit is granted [1]
EU Blue Card	University graduates with a job offer	Minimum gross salary €50,700 in 2026, or €45,934.20 for shortage occupations and recent graduates [4]
Other residence permits	Study, family, self-employment	Handled by Berlin's immigration office (LEA) after you arrive [6]

The working holiday visa in practice

This is the go-to for younger Aussies. The German Embassy in Canberra's 2026 information says you'll need proof of €2,466 for your first three months, plus more if you don't have a return ticket, and health insurance with at least €30,000 in cover that includes repatriation [2]. Processing takes about two weeks, and the visa covers the full first year, so you can start work as soon as you land [2]. The age change to 35 applies only to Australian citizens, so if you'd aged out, check again.

Coming in first, applying later

The German Embassy confirms that Australians can generally apply for a residence permit at the local immigration authority after entering Germany [1]. That flexibility is handy, but it comes with a catch: you can't legally start a job before you hold the permit that allows it [1]. If a job is already lined up, a visa in your passport before you fly saves weeks of waiting.

The 90 days and the German waiver

Under the Schengen rules, Australians get up to 90 days in any 180-day period for visits like tourism or business meetings [3]. Germany also has a bilateral visa waiver agreement with Australia, which Smartraveller says can allow longer stays under specific conditions; you can only use one bilateral waiver on top of your Schengen days, and you should confirm the details with German authorities [3]. Don't treat it as a back door into working.

The EU's Entry/Exit System now takes your fingerprints and photo at the border, and ETIAS, a pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers, is expected but not yet running as of Smartraveller's latest update [3]. Check before you fly.

Your first fortnight in Berlin: the order of play

Germany runs on paper and appointments. Do things in this order and you'll save yourself a few headaches.

Land somewhere you can register. Hostels and many short-term rentals can't give you the landlord confirmation you need. A sublet only helps if the main landlord has approved it; otherwise, the city's welcome centre warns, you may not be able to register at all [7].
Book a Bürgeramt appointment. Registration is free, but you need an appointment at a citizens' office (Bürgeramt), your passport and the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, your landlord's signed move-in confirmation [5]. A rental contract doesn't replace it.
Register within 14 days. The deadline runs from the day you move in [5]. You get a registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung), which you'll show again and again.
Sort health insurance. Cover is compulsory for residents. Our German paperwork guide explains public versus private.
Apply for your residence permit. If you didn't arrive on a visa, use the LEA's online application where your case is listed, or its contact form, and keep the PDF confirmation [6].
Open a bank account. Most banks ask for your registration certificate, which is one more reason to register fast.
Watch the letterbox. Your tax ID arrives by post after you register. More on that in the paperwork guide.

The flat hunt is the real boss level

Berlin's asking rents have climbed for years and the competition for decent flats is fierce. The city's welcome centre recommends searching on several channels at once, setting alerts, applying fast and sending complete documents with a short introduction about your job and income [7]. Expect landlords to ask for a credit report (SCHUFA), proof of income and a reference from your previous landlord. As a new arrival you won't have German versions of any of this, which is why many Aussies start in a furnished sublet and hunt from there.

The state-owned housing companies, including Degewo, Gewobag, HOWOGE and WBM, list flats on the inberlinwohnen.de portal [7]. Our renting guide goes deeper on deposits, contracts and the rent cap.

Where to land: neighbourhoods for new arrivals

Berlin is big and spread out, and each district has its own personality. The S-Bahn's Ringbahn loop is a handy mental map: inside it is denser and pricier, while the welcome centre notes that flats outside the ring are often cheaper and easier to find [7].

Kreuzberg and Neukölln. Bars, canals, late nights and a lot of English spoken. Popular with younger arrivals, which also means stiff competition.
Friedrichshain. East of the river, close to the East Side Gallery, good transport, lively without being frantic.
Prenzlauer Berg. Leafy, cafe-heavy and full of prams. Families like it; so do people who'd rather sleep.
Wedding and Moabit. Less polished, more mixed, often better odds of getting a flat.
Pankow, Lichtenberg and Steglitz. Quieter and further out, with more space for the money and solid train links.

Our tip: pick a neighbourhood on a U-Bahn or S-Bahn line that gets you to work without changing more than once. Berlin's public transport is good enough that you don't need a car for city life.

Money, timing and getting the job side right

Before you leave, look at your Australian affairs as well as your German ones. Moving overseas can change your tax residency, and decisions about super, Medicare and your bank accounts are easier to make before you board. Our leaving Australia checklist walks through them.

On the German side:

Budget for a slow start. Between finding a flat, waiting for appointments and your first payday, the first two to three months usually cost more than you expect.
Know the job rules. The working holiday visa lets Australians take any type of job with any employer [2]. Other permits are tied to the job or purpose they were issued for.
Learn some German. You'll get by in English in central Berlin, but the Bürgeramt, your landlord and your doctor may prefer German. Even a beginner course makes daily life smoother.
Save the embassy details. The Australian Embassy is at Wallstraße 76–79 in Mitte. Passport services are by appointment only, and the 24-hour consular emergency line is +61 2 6261 3305 [8].

Meet your people early

Moving to a city where you don't know anyone is easier when you can ask someone who's done it. Join Cooee Germany, our Facebook group for Australians in Germany, to swap flat leads, ask who's had luck with the LEA lately and find people to watch the footy with. Our Aussie life in Berlin guide covers the rest of the social side.

Moving to Berlin from Australia: visas, first weeks and where to land