Formalities after departure
Just as with arrival, there are also some formalities to be observed when leaving Germany. Broadly speaking, these relate to the following:
Deregistration with the city
If you are moving permanently to another country, it is necessary to deregister with the city through the BürgerServiceCenter. To do this, you need to fill out this form and bring it to the Stadtamt together with your ID card one week before you move away.
Cancelling your broadcasting fee ("Rundfunkbeitrag")
To deregister, you must declare on the form that you are moving away ("that I am moving abroad permanently"/ "ich dauerhaft ins Ausland ziehe").
Cancel health insurance
You can usually cancel your private health insurance up to three months before the end of the insurance year (depending on the start of the contract). You should state in the letter of termination that you are moving to another country. With all statutory health insurance companies, you must (as a rule) send a letter of termination - if it is not a fixed-term contract - two months in advance. You can find samples on this website.
Additional notices of termination
You should remember to cancel your day-care centre, sports club, telephone contracts and bank account, etc. If you move out of Bremen and/or out of Germany, special cancellation deadlines usually apply.
Statutory pension insurance
If you have paid contributions to the German statutory pension insurance and the VBL, we strongly recommend that you check the Find your Pension portal. Under certain circumstances you may be entitled to a refund.
Join the Alumni network
We would like to keep in touch with you and invite you to become a member of the Alumni network. To become a member of our university-wide alumni network, please register here. If you live outside of Germany, membership is free of charge for "Alumni der Universität Bremen e.V.".
As an Alumni, you have the chance to become an Research Ambassador. Aiming to promote worldwide the University of Bremen and the research work it does, eleven research alumni have been appointed Research Ambassadors since the summer of 2015. They are from various departments and research areas, with a special focus on their geographic diversity. Further information can be found here.
Registration Alumni World Map
We invite you to register for our alumni map! This map is an interactive world map to visualise where our alumni are located.
Contact
Anika Lange
The Research Ambassadors act as ambassadors for the University of Bremen and the research work carried out here.
Learn more here.
We hope you enjoyed your stay in Bremen and we, the Welcome Center Team, were able to advice and support you in any matter. We would be very pleased if you could fill in the feedback form so that we can always update our offer.
Alumni Network and World Map
In 2014, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation jointly awarded the University of Bremen and Alumni der Universität Bremen e.V. for their researcher:in alumni strategy. The core of the approach is to maintain contact with those former researchers of the University who have come to Bremen from abroad and who return to their home or third countries after their stay in Bremen. In this way, a worldwide research alumni network of the University of Bremen is to be created. Our research alumni strategy includes various measures such as data collection & contact maintenance with the university's research alumni or the nomination of former researchers of the university as Research Ambassadors, among others through the Alumni World Map.