Brandenburg

This is general information drawn from official sources, checked 2026-11-04. Rules can change. For your specific case, ask the office responsible for you or a qualified adviser.

This page covers only what is different or local in Brandenburg. For the nationwide rules (the two-week deadline, landlord confirmation, documents, Meldebestätigung, Steuer-ID), see the Anmeldung guide. For visa types and requirements, see the visa guides.

1. Registering your address (Meldebehörde)

How to find your office

• Use the Brandenburg state service portal's search for administrative services and offices. Enter your town to see which office is responsible for you. Source: service.brandenburg.de/service/de (checked 2026-11-04)
• The federal Service Search also covers Brandenburg: servicesuche.bund.de (checked 2026-11-04)
• In Brandenburg, the registration office is usually the town, Amt or municipality where you live, not the district (Landkreis). Check which office handles your address in the service portal.

Main cities

Districts (Landkreise): you register with your town or Amt (see above). These are the districts' official websites, all checked for loading on 2026-11-04: Barnim barnim.de · Dahme-Spreewald dahme-spreewald.de · Elbe-Elster lkee.de · Havelland havelland.de · Märkisch-Oderland maerkisch-oderland.de · Oberhavel oberhavel.de · Oberspreewald-Lausitz osl-online.de · Oder-Spree landkreis-oder-spree.de · Ostprignitz-Ruppin ostprignitz-ruppin.de · Potsdam-Mittelmark potsdam-mittelmark.de · Prignitz landkreis-prignitz.de · Spree-Neiße lkspn.de · Teltow-Fläming teltow-flaeming.de · Uckermark uckermark.de

2. Ausländerbehörde (immigration office)

Who is responsible. Under Brandenburg's regulation on immigration-law responsibilities (AuslRZV §2), the immigration offices are:

• the four independent cities (kreisfreie Städte) and the 14 districts;
• the city of Schwedt/Oder, which runs its own office;
• the Zentrale Ausländerbehörde (ZABH), but only for the tasks listed in §3.

Source: bravors.brandenburg.de/verordnungen/auslrzv (checked 2026-11-04)

Central offices (different from the nationwide guides)

• Skilled workers: Landkreis Dahme-Spreewald, for all of Brandenburg. The district administrator of Dahme-Spreewald is the responsible immigration office for the whole state for §71(1) sentence 5 AufenthG and for the accelerated skilled-worker procedure (§81a AufenthG). Source: AuslRZV, bravors.brandenburg.de/verordnungen/auslrzv (checked 2026-11-04)
• The district's own page says its Migration team (Sachgebiet Migration) handles, for all of Brandenburg, visa procedures for taking up work with a Brandenburg destination and the accelerated skilled-worker procedure, and has done so since 1 Oct 2020. Contact: Schulweg 1b, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen; fachkraefteeinwanderung@dahme-spreewald.de. Source: dahme-spreewald.de › sachgebiet-migration (checked 2026-11-04)
• Your local Ausländerbehörde still handles ordinary residence permits where you live. Source: AuslRZV §2 (checked 2026-11-04)
• ZABH (Zentrale Ausländerbehörde), Eisenhüttenstadt. It is the state's reception facility for asylum seekers. It also handles: preparing and carrying out deportations; voluntary departure; foreign nationals in prison or deportation custody; expulsions (§§53–55 AufenthG); declaring loss of EU free-movement rights; and cases picked up by the authorities where no local office can be found. Source: AuslRZV §3, bravors.brandenburg.de/verordnungen/auslrzv (checked 2026-11-04)
• Official guidance says all other residence matters stay with the local immigration offices. Source: bravors.brandenburg.de › 3 (checked 2026-11-04)
• Address: Poststraße 72, 15890 Eisenhüttenstadt; phone 03364 427-0. Source: service.brandenburg.de › ~032801-zentrale-auslaender… (checked 2026-11-04)
• Contact: phone 03364 427-0, Poststellezabh@zabh.brandenburg.de. Source: service.brandenburg.de › ~032801-zentrale-auslaender… (checked 2026-11-05). It also has branch offices; ask the central number which one handles your case.
• Newcomers coming to work or study normally deal with their local office, not the ZABH.

Main cities

Districts. Each district runs its own Ausländerbehörde (AuslRZV §2). Exceptions: Spree-Neiße is served by Cottbus (see above), and the city of Schwedt/Oder runs its own office.

• Dahme-Spreewald: dahme-spreewald.de › sachgebiet-migration (checked 2026-11-04). You apply online first, then book an appointment online: dahme-spreewald.de › online-terminvergabe (checked 2026-11-04)
• For the other 12 districts (Barnim, Elbe-Elster, Havelland, Märkisch-Oderland, Oberhavel, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Oder-Spree, Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Potsdam-Mittelmark, Prignitz, Teltow-Fläming, Uckermark) and Schwedt/Oder, start from the district homepages in section 1, or search "Ausländerbehörde" with your town in the state service portal (service.brandenburg.de).

Fees: no fees specific to Brandenburg are listed here. Residence permit fees are set nationally (AufenthV). Your office tells you the exact amount.

3. Official portals & finders

• State portal: brandenburg.de (checked 2026-11-04)
• State service portal (services and office finder): service.brandenburg.de/service/de (checked 2026-11-04)
• Brandenburg laws and regulations (BRAVORS), including the AuslRZV: bravors.brandenburg.de/verordnungen/auslrzv (checked 2026-11-04)
• Ministry of the Interior (MIK): mik.brandenburg.de/mik/de (checked 2026-11-04)
• Federal Service Search: servicesuche.bund.de · BAMF: bamf.de · Make it in Germany: make-it-in-germany.com/en (checked 2026-11-04)
• Federal Registration Act (BMG) §17: BMG § 17 (gesetze-im-internet.de) (checked 2026-11-04)
• City portals: potsdam.de · cottbus.de · stadt-brandenburg.de · frankfurt-oder.de (checked 2026-11-04; potsdam.de returned an error to our automated check, but its subpages loaded)

4. Known differences vs the nationwide guides

1. One office for skilled-worker visas across Brandenburg. Landkreis Dahme-Spreewald handles the accelerated skilled-worker procedure (§81a AufenthG) and pre-approval of work visas for all of Brandenburg. The nationwide guides send you to the local Ausländerbehörde. Source: AuslRZV, bravors.brandenburg.de/verordnungen/auslrzv (checked 2026-11-04)
2. The central immigration office (ZABH) does not handle ordinary permits. It covers asylum reception and ending a person's stay (deportations, expulsions and similar). Normal permits stay with your local office. Source: same, plus bravors.brandenburg.de › 3 (checked 2026-11-04)
3. Two shared or extra local offices. Spree-Neiße residents go to the Cottbus Ausländerbehörde (source: Cottbus office page above). Schwedt/Oder runs its own office even though it is not an independent city (source: AuslRZV §2).
4. Booking styles vary by city. Potsdam's Migrationsamt works through a contact form, Cottbus through online booking plus Tuesday walk-ins, Brandenburg an der Havel by appointment only via email or phone, and Frankfurt (Oder) through online booking plus Thursday walk-ins. Sources are in section 2.
5. Online address registration is offered in Potsdam and Brandenburg an der Havel (BundID plus eID). It is not confirmed for Cottbus or Frankfurt (Oder). Sources are in section 1.