Munich’s Bürgerbüros Go “Appointment-Only”: Here’s What You Need to Know

Ah, the Munich Bürgerbüro: every expat’s favourite rite of passage, AKA the golden gateway to the wonders of sweet German bureaucracy.

*sheds a happy tear*

WELL, in case you missed the letters that went out earlier this month, here’s an important update for you: two weeks ago, Muenchen.de announced a big change to the way Munich’s Bürgerbüros take care of business: all six Bürgerbüros (yes, including the Hunger Gamey one on the ground floor of the KVR) are now operating on a new online appointment system. This article will recap what you need to know.

What’s Changed with the new Munich Bürgerbüro Appointment System?

All 6 Bürgerbüros across Munich have now moved onto an appointment-only system which can be accessed online here.

This means that if you want to do anything at the Bürgerbüro (registration stuff, changing addresses, passports, etc.), you need an appointment beforehand which can be made either online at the site above, on the phone or in-person.

How the New Munich Bürgerbüro Appointment System Works (2019)

STEP ONE: To make an appointment online, head over to the fancy new portal here. Beware, the system is all in German, and doesn’t seem to play nice with Chrome’s auto-translate tool, so if your German is nicht so gut, make sure you have a translation app handy.

STEP TWO: From the list, pick out the purpose of your visit and the menu will expand with more options.

STEP THREE: Choose the option you want and from the drop-down menu, select the number of people you’ll be doing this for and scroll down to the grey “Weiter” button.

STEP FOUR: Select the Bürgerbüro location you want to make an appointment for.

STEP FIVE: You’ll be brought to a calendar where you can choose available dates. Click on the date you want, and then choose a time slot.

STEP SIX: You’ll be brought to a final page where you enter your personal info and confirm your appointment.

STEP SIX: Happy dance – you’re done!

Can You Still Do a Walk-in at the Munich Bürgerbüro Without an Appointment? (2019)

In theory, this new appointment system is more organized and convenient. In practice however, all the appointments seem to be booked up two months in advance, which just won’t fly if you have something urgent.

The official announcement article states that short notice appointments are possible but only when urgency can be proven.

BUT from personal experience last week (January 21), I can confirm that walk-ins are still possible – they just look a little different than before.

[Based on experience at the main KVR building] Whereas before, walk-ins would basically have to wait in line very early and then run to grab a number in the designated room for your surname, now there is a special part of the KVR, the “Terminvergabe” where you have to go and make an appointment first. It looks like this and you can find it on the ground floor if you just run straight in from the main entrance:

After you get an appointment at this desk, you get a slip that has a number and a colour-coded waiting zone on it. You then proceed to your designated colour zone and wait for your appointment.

So, in practice, not much has changed, you just need to run in and get an appointment at the desk rather than a number. Based on a personal experience last week, I walked in at 8:30 and got an appointment for 8:55 – not too shabby!

NOTE: According to the official announcement article, they also release appointments on the day-of about 30 minutes before opening.

Best of luck braving the Munich Bürgerbüro!

Hopefully this article was straightforward and helped you understand the new system. Good luck!

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Aspen

A seasoned content strategist and American abroad, owns and authors Bored In Munich, with firsthand knowledge of Munich's vibrant culture, she shares her expertise in diverse content creation and community engagement.

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