Already in Germany?

If you have a national visa, it should be converted into a residence permit at least four to six weeks before expiry. You must apply for the residence permit at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde). Use the public service finder to find out which immigration office is responsible for you. If you have any questions or problems with the application process, please contact SUKI.

We are happy to offer you further language courses to help you get used to using German. These will allow you to further develop your language knowledge. Together with you, we identify the course that best suits you and will give you the language skills you'll need at DB.  
Our language offering for future DB employees includes general language and railway-specific language courses in various formats, including online, face-to-face and WBT (web-based training): 

General language courses  

• Online language courses in your home country with our local partners 
• Language qualification in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut (for A1 to C1; WBT) 
• Self-study via Speexx (for A1 to C1; 6-month access) 

Specialist and rail-specific courses – Online  

• Language skills for everyday working life – A1 to C1  

You can also find an overview here of free online courses to give you additional help learning German: 

• Free online German course, learn German grammar and practise free of charge - DeutschAkademie
• Registration for B2 at: Deutsch am Arbeitsplatz - Goethe-Institut DaF   
• Practise German for free - Goethe-Institut  
• Learn German on the Internet for free - deutsch.info  
• German courses | DW Deutsche Welle  
  • Interact with others  
  • Very good free app available  
  • Many explanatory videos  
  • Different learning content (e.g. news reports spoken slowly)  
• vhs-Lernportal - German courses  
  • Level A1 to C1  
  • Including offline app  
• Learn German for FREE (How to Reach B1 Without Expensive Courses) 

Examples of YouTube channels:  

• B1 Learn German Intermediate - YouTube  
• German B2 (1-66) - YouTube  

If you need recognition of your professional qualification for your visa:  

In many cases, the recognition of your qualification is a prerequisite for your visa. If your qualification has not yet been (fully) recognised, we will be happy to support you before and during the recognition process. Here you can find information on the recognition process. You can find an overview of the relevant contact persons here.

School-leaving qualifications: If you want to start vocational training in Germany, you may need to have your school-leaving certificate recognised. You can have your school-leaving certificate recognised by the state education authority (Staatliches Schulamt) in the relevant federal state in Germany.

Academic degrees: If you completed your studies at a foreign university, you can check whether your degree is comparable to a German degree. Using the Anabin database, you can find your foreign university and check whether it is equivalent to a German university (status: H+). It is important that your university (with status: H+) and your degree (with status: equivalent or comparable (entspricht or vergleichbar)) are listed in Anabin.

Vocational training: Do you have a foreign vocational qualification? If you want to work in a regulated occupation in Germany, you must have your vocational training recognised by the relevant chamber.

In the case of occupations represented by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Industrie- und Handelskammer, "IHK"), the IHK Foreign Skills Approval competence centre IHK FOSA is responsible. In the case of occupations that are assigned to the Chamber of Crafts (Handwerkskammer), recognition by the local Chamber of Crafts is required.

Finding accommodation in Germany is not always easy. To help you look for somewhere to live, DB has long-term arrangements with various partners who offer accommodation to DB employees. You can find an overview of all available accommodation via the following link. 

You also have the option of ordering your private move via DB Schenker. You can find important information here.

It is important to arrange your children's daycare place, start of school or change of school in good time. You can find tips and information in the information leaflets on daycare, schools and education and in the checklist for families.

Your first steps in Germany will involve appointments with the authorities and quite a bit of paperwork. If, for example, you need help opening a bank account or registering with the registration office, you can sign up for SUKI's assistance programme (Lotsenprogramm). The SUKI team can support you digitally or in person and guide you through the first steps.

The tax authorities often take some time to assign your income tax code. To ensure you have the correct tax code by the time you start work, we will provide you with the Abfrage Lohnsteuermerkmale form, which you can fill out in advance and return to the payroll accounting department. This will prevent you having too much tax deducted.

To get back some of the tax you have paid, it is worth filing a tax return. You can find important information on tax returns in the SUKI download area.

You should regularly check what payments are being debited from your account. Always open bills and official mail straight away. If you miss deadlines, you may be charged extra.

At the beginning of your employment, you should inform your employer of the health insurance provider of your choice. Otherwise, your employer will automatically register you with the Bahn-BKK health insurance fund, the DB Group's company health insurance scheme.

In total, there are over 100 statutory and around 50 private health insurance providers. This means that they do not all cover exactly the same services. You can get an overview of the different health insurance providers here:

http://www.abc-der-krankenkassen.de/Kassenwahl.htm

If you are ill, report to your manager immediately. If you are unable to work for more than three calendar days, we require a doctor's certificate of incapacity for work. This is automatically sent to the employer by your health insurance company. To be on the safe side, please have the certificate handed over to you anyway. You can find the exact process for reporting sickness here.

Note: You can only access the DB Planet page with your active DB user account from your first day of work.

There are also many opportunities outside work to get to know people in your new home town and to pursue shared interests. For example:

• Sports clubs (football, swimming, gymnastics, dancing ...)
• Hobby groups (e.g. model making, handicrafts, cooking, animal welfare, ...)
• Organisations (e.g. trade union, political parties, nature conservation organisations...)
• Family groups (neighbourhood cafés, children's office (Kinderbüro), Caritas, Diakonie, ...)
• Religious institutions (churches, mosques, temples, ...)

In our Lotsenprogramm, DB staff have volunteered to support you and your family with any questions you have about these topics. You can practise German together, or they can help you with admin such as registering your children for daycare or filling in an application. If you are interested in this programme, please contact us directly using the registration form.

We are happy to help you get started in Germany. You can find an overview of contacts here: 

Application process, recognition of your professional qualification, residence permit prior to your employment, and adaptation qualification  

• Your local recruiter 
• Your HR business partner
• Your manager 

Employment contract 

• Your HR business partner

Conversion of your visa into a German residence permit, advice regarding partial recognition of your professional qualification 

Global Mobility Helpdesk 

Tel.: +49 (0)30 297 1048 

E-mail: global.mobility@deutschebahn.com  

Support with the immigration office, help finding accommodation and questions about integration and multiculturalism 

Social and Cultural Integration (SUKI) project
Tel.: +49 (0)69 809076-288 (Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)
E-mail: suki@stiftungsfamilie.de