I would like to deregister from Germany - can i deregister online?
How long does the process take? When i will get my "Abmeldebestätigung"?
As a rule, the process takes 1-3 weeks. The processing time depends on the city and may take longer or shorter.
You can find the current status of your citizen office in our post: Processing times of citizen’s offices in Germany for the deregistration of residence.
‘Abmeldebestätigung‘ is an official German document that confirms you have deregistered in Germany.
Due to corona there are currently delays.
I have another question
We have answered many questions in our “Ultimate Guide: How to Deregister in Germany“. We answered questions like the following and many more:
I have already deregistered, but have lost my deregistration confirmation
Don’t worry, this has already happened to many others. We can help you and request a copy of your cancellation confirmation. You can find more details at: How do I get a copy of my deregistration confirmation from Germany.
This website is the most extensive resource with regards to deregistration in Germany I’ve come across. Big thumbs up for the research that went into this project, guys. In short, what happened: I filled out the deregistration form on this website, made the payment, received the PDF with the official German deregistration form via email, printed it, sent it off to the address that was provided on the letter. My opinion? Finally a project that serves a need!
Being Dutch I always felt my German skills were alright. That being said, filling this official document out in English was a great help. I was missing a printer though – important detail! Make sure you can print the form somewhere. I printed the form at work, signed it. Made a copy of my passport. The Meldeamt was next to my workplace in Cologne, so I just dropped the documents off in person. This was good actually, because I got the deregistration confirmation right away. I was able to use this to cancel my gym contract, which I thought was great!
All in all, this is a fantastic website and I wish there were more projects like this, for other bureaucratic procedures, too.
What I really liked about this online form is that you are able to save the form and return to it later, in case you do not have time to fill it out in one session.
Little note: Filling in all the fields of the abmeldung-form took me a little longer than I thought. Why? I was not sure about, firstly, when my last day in Germany would be, and 2, which address I would be moving to after leaving Germany. And these information are necessary!
So my advice to other users would be: Be sure to have these details at hand when you fill out this form.
In their accordion, they explain how you can deregister without using this paid online form – which I think is kind of awesome. You only pay, if you want to support the project and/or want to make use of the translation service.
As for my own experience with using the paid deregistration form on here: After sending off the form, I received the deregistration confirmation within less than a week. That’s what I call smooth sailing.
My German skills are solid but I was happy to pay for this translation service anyway because you never know with bureaucratic language – sometimes you miss something important.
It all went extremely smoothly; it took me about 5 minutes to fill out the form. Then I sent it to the Bürgeramt in Berlin, the address was printed on the cover letter. The officials sent the deregistration confirmation to a friend of mine who still lives in Berlin. Seemingly, it was not a problem that I deregistered approximately one year too late – phew.
