Opening a bank account

For receiving your salary as well as making contracts in Germany, i.e. mobile phone, renting an apartment, etc. it is necessary to have a so-called SEPA bank account. SEPA is short for "Single Euro Payments Area". Most European Union countries are part of the SEPA.

To check the member countries please have a look at the Website of the European Central Bank (ECB).

If you are not from a member country you must open a bank account in Germany. Therefore you need your passport, temporary visa and the document for the registration of your address.

If you do not have a working contract (student, scholarship holder, guest, etc.), you might even need to open a blocked bank account, where you deposit a fixed amount of money, that will be locked. Month by month this money is being released to the account holder. From September 2024, the amount that is required is set to €11,904 for 12 months, so you will receive €992 per month for 12 months.

The Sparkasse as a bank institute, as well as Expatrio, Fintiba and Coracle as online providers open these kind of accounts.

Please read more about the blocked bank accounts on this website: https://www.germany-visa.org/