After the Move: Your Car Needs Re-Registering, Your License Doesn't

Alongside registering with the citizens' office, first-time movers often worry that their driver's license also needs to be reissued after a move. That's simply wrong for a modern card-format license, since it doesn't carry an address at all. Your car, on the other hand, genuinely does need re-registering.

Why your driver's license stays untouched

The card-format license issued since 2013 no longer has a home address printed on it. A move, even to another city or state, doesn't require reissuing it. If you still have an old paper license with an address noted on it, you don't have to have it changed either; that entry no longer has any legal bearing on its validity.

What actually needs doing with your car

The picture is different for the vehicle registration certificate (Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I), the former Fahrzeugschein: it must be updated after a change of address, even if you're only moving within the same city. If the responsible registration district changes, for example if you move to a different county, your license plate usually changes too, unless you explicitly keep your old plate and register that in time.

The right order to do things in

Address registration at the citizens' office has to happen first, since the vehicle registration office requires a current registration confirmation or an ID card showing the new address. Only after that can you re-register the vehicle. In administrative practice, re-registering a vehicle is required "without delay" after a move, which is generally interpreted as around one month, though there's no fixed statutory deadline for it the way there is for the address registration requirement itself.

Our Anmeldung guide covers the deadline and fine that apply to the address registration itself, and our electricity, gas, and internet setup guide shows how to handle those alongside registration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to change my driver's license after a move?

No. The modern card-format license carries no address, so a move has no effect on its validity or any re-registration requirement.

Do I need to re-register my car if I move within the same city?

Yes, the address on the vehicle registration certificate has to be updated even for a move within the same registration district.

In what order do address and vehicle registration happen?

Address registration at the citizens' office first, then vehicle re-registration, since the registration office requires a current registration confirmation.