Residence registration within 3 months of arrival

It appears that you must register within 3 months of arriving in Germany. It is however not clear if this means :
a)any period exceeding 3 months ie 90 days in a calendar year
b)3 months or 90 days in any 12 month period.

What if you live here for for say less than 3 months, return to UK for say 2 weeks and then return back to Germany for a further 2/3 months?

If a continuous period of residence never exceeds three months, is it at all necessary to register.

What happens if you don't?

All of the above applies to retired ie: not working or earning any income in Germany

you need to register (anmeld) no matter how long you plan on living here... you don't need to apply for any kind of residence visa if you aren't living here for longer than 90 days... if you leave and then come bck you get another 90 days on ur tourist visa... atleast thats how it is for us Americans...not ure how the visa things works with Eu citizens?

It's 90 days every *six months*, last time I checked. You can't just leave for a day and come back. This is also from a US perspective; you can check with the German embassy in London.

If you can provide adequate documentation proving you have the financial means to support yourself, I believe you can get a longer-term residence permit without trouble.

If you are an EU citizen you do not need a residence permit.

Anyone planning residence in Germany for a continuous period of longer than 60 days must register with the local authority within a 7 days of taking up residence. Temporary residence does not require registration. Temporary residence under 60 days is typically people here as tourists or on short term trips, living in hotels or temporary accommodation (Note however, that some cities which charge a "Kurtax" - one local example being Bad Tölz, and require registration of anyone staying more than 24 hours and paying for their accommodation e.g. in a hotel). Control of registration is lax, especially for EU passport holders or for people travelling between countries under the Schengen agreement, but if you are "checked" on the streets you could be caught out, although this is pretty rare unless you attract attention to yourself. Children under 16 years old living with parents in the same residence do not need to register.

Registration is a simple formality, but does require that you are legally entitled to reside in Germany. ALL EU passport holders who have proof of adequate income or financial support and with accepted insurance for health have this entitlement without any further action or paperwork. Non-EU require permits dependant on country of origin and reasons for residence. Age (over 16), employment status, etc., does not affect the requirement to register.

Proof of registration is required for many other activities, such as registering a car, claiming child or unemployment benefits and for some health insurances. Failure to register can be penalised by a fine of up to €500 (per person)

Thanks again Yorkshire Lad. Yes 'm an EU citizen. Seems to me the easiest thing is to just register anyway as I am likely to be here over 60 days continuously. There should be no tax implications as I pay my dues to Gordon Brown (ugh!).

So how and where do you register if you are an EU citizen? And what do you need in order to do that? Any ideas, websites etc anyone? Cheers!

Think you just need to sign a single document at the nearest "Einwohnemeldeamt" or "Auslanderamt" (in Munich its called the Kreisverwaltungsreferat and is on Poccistrasse) and then you get a green Aufenthaltserlaubnis (residence permit) in the post. That is as long as you have an EU passport

This website has the addresses for all the Einwohnermeldeamte in Berlin

thanks a lot!

Bad thinking Bellman. The Auslanderamt don't register residence, and an Aufenthaltserlaubnis has nothing to do with residence registration. The "EinwohneRmeldeamt" of your Gemeinde/Rathuas is the place to go, or the "Bürgerbüro" in larger cities which often have field offices ("Aussenstellen") in outlying areas. The central Munich Bürgerbüro is Ruppertstraße 19, not in Poccistrasse. (The later link for Berlin offices is correct). You need formal identification, usually your passport, along with that of any family members you are registering at the same time. Initial registration must be done in person, but you can usually download the forms (for Berlin here) so you can complete them before going along to save time.

well I did my first registration at Poccistrasse and what I posted was the advice given to me then

Reading between your lines you probably got your residence permit ("Aufenthaltserlaubnis ") at Poccistrasse. That is different and separate to registration of residence ("Wohnungsanmeldung")

Isn't the Auslander's office at the intersection of Poccistrasse and Ruppertstrasse? So maybe YL6 and Bellman are talking abt the same office

But he doesn't want to go to the "Auslander's Office" to register residence...

As a Bulgarian (EU) citizen I contacted the Bulgarian consulate in Berlin to get information on how long I can stay in Germany and what I need to do and where to register. This is the reply I got:

Please register at the Bürgeramt in order to get a legal status (called Freizügikeitsbescheinigung) to stay in the country. You need to have a reason for your stay e.g. student, marriage, work contract etc. Otherwise you are allowed to stay in Germany for 3 months during a period of 6 months.