Mail Forwarding from Germany: The Complete Guide

Why you have to sort your mail now

You are leaving Germany. The residence deregistration is done, the flat is handed over, your name is off the mailbox. And then? The postman cannot deliver anything else. Bank statements, tax documents, cancellation confirmations, insurance letters — all of it goes back to the sender. Or worse: it vanishes into a void no forwarding service ever sees.

Across more than 40,000 deregistrations we keep seeing the same mistake: people deal with their mail too late. Deadlines get missed, important documents disappear, and suddenly you are abroad without the records you urgently need.

Good news: there are two proven solutions — the classic Nachsendeauftrag (Deutsche Post's mail-forwarding order) and a digital mailbox. This guide walks through both, compares costs and providers and gives you the recommendations we have hammered out over a decade of expat work.

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Mail forwarding: the classic Nachsendeauftrag

What is a Nachsendeauftrag?

The Nachsendeauftrag is a service from Deutsche Post (and other carriers like DHL, PIN or Hermes) that redirects your mail to a new address. It works domestically and worldwide. For up to six months everything addressed to your old address is automatically forwarded to your new target address. If you stay abroad longer, you extend the order or combine it with a digital mailbox.

The Nachsendeauftrag is particularly useful when you:

• Move abroad for a limited time and plan to come back
• Are still waiting on specific documents (cancellation confirmations, tax records)
• Have a fixed address abroad where physical mail can be delivered

Two routes to mail forwarding

Option 1: do it yourself. You contact Deutsche Post directly and set up the forwarding order online or at a branch. On top of that, you build a list of every company, bank and authority that needs your new address and notify them in writing. Workable, but laborious — and the form is German-only.

Option 2: let us run it. We set up the Nachsendeauftrag end to end. You give us your old address and your new address, we handle the rest — booking, communication with carriers, confirmation. You get the booking confirmation within 48 hours.

"Do not let yourself miss important mail. People rarely think of every address they need to update. With our forwarding service your mail keeps reaching you reliably, no matter where you are." — Oliver Frankfurth

How mail forwarding works with deregistration.de

We are your independent intermediary for postal services. You decide which mail gets forwarded, we handle everything else:

1. Book the service — we open a support ticket with the details
2. Fill in the form, German or English
3. Choose the scope, letters only or also parcels and packages
4. Choose the duration, up to six months (renewable)
5. Pay, we file the Nachsendeauftrag
6. Receive confirmation within 48 hours

For the setup we only need a power of attorney (Vollmacht, generated in the booking flow), your previous German address and your new address.

Book mail forwarding

What does the Nachsendeauftrag cost?

• Mail forwarding for six months: from EUR 11.65 per month (one-time payment for the period)
• Renewal for another six months: possible up to four weeks before the existing order expires, same price

Deutsche Post has only been offering durations of up to six months since 2025. If you stay abroad longer, combine the Nachsendeauftrag with a digital mailbox or renew the order in time.

Prices include statutory VAT. We book the Nachsendeauftrag in your name and cover the fees. For a surcharge, parcels and packages can also be redirected to your new address.

Important deadlines and timing

• Activation: the Nachsendeauftrag usually needs 3 to 5 business days to go live
• Recommendation: book the service at least 14 days before the move
• Delivery times: redirection adds time, especially for international forwarding
• Renewal: possible at the earliest four weeks before expiry — we remind you in time

What does NOT get forwarded?

International forwarding excludes: direct mail, goods letters, advertising letters, press mail, registered mail (Einschreiben), cash-on-delivery, insured items, DHL parcels, DHL small packets and express shipments. For these item types you need an alternative — this is exactly where the digital mailbox shines.

What customers tell us in practice

A typical story: a customer moves from Berlin to London. He sets up the Nachsendeauftrag, the mail flows reliably — until he notices the application form is German-only, and any issue with Deutsche Post needs a phone call in German, from abroad.

That is exactly what our service exists for. We take over communication with carriers, deal with complaints and make sure every item arrives. Complicated for you, standard for our team.

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Digital mailbox: receive mail online

Why a digital mailbox can be the better option

A classic mail forwarding has limits: long international postal paths, letters that get lost in transit, deadlines you miss because the letter spent three weeks on the road. We see this regularly with customers — particularly in Southeast Asia or South America, where international postal delivery can be unreliable.

A digital mailbox solves the problem at its root. Your mail goes to a German address, gets scanned there and lands in your account within hours. You access it from anywhere in the world — Bangkok, Barcelona or Buenos Aires. No long postal routes, no risk of letters disappearing.

How does a digital mailbox work?

The principle is simple:

1. Receive mail: letters land at the provider's address
2. Scan: mail gets opened mechanically and digitised with modern scanners
3. OCR recognition: the software reads the text so you can search documents
4. Online access: a web portal or app gives you 24/7 access
5. Manage originals: depending on the provider, you can request, archive or have the originals shredded

"If you go abroad for only a few months, having a German address is helpful. With a digital mailbox your post gets digitised so you miss nothing while travelling." — Oliver Frankfurth

Advantages

• Instant access: mail is digital, no weeks-long postal routes
• Location independent: access from anywhere with an internet connection
• No lost mail: digital documents do not go missing in transit
• Searchable: OCR makes documents full-text searchable
• Paperless: environmentally friendly, no piles of paper abroad

Disadvantages

• Monthly cost: depending on provider and scope, recurring fees apply
• Internet-dependent: no connection, no access
• Data protection: you entrust mail to a third party — pick a provider with strict GDPR standards
• Receipt restrictions: not every provider offers a ladungsfähige Adresse (a legally serviceable address suitable for official mail)

Who benefits most from a digital mailbox?

Three groups stand out across our cases.

Long-term emigrants: anyone living permanently abroad needs a solution that survives the six-month cap of the Nachsendeauftrag. A digital mailbox runs as long as you need it.

Digital nomads and frequent travellers: without a fixed address abroad, a forwarding order is awkward — where should the mail go? A digital mailbox gives you access wherever you are.

Self-employed and entrepreneurs: anyone still running a Gewerbe in Germany or receiving authority mail needs a ladungsfähige Adresse. A normal Nachsendeauftrag cannot provide that.

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Our recommendation: CS Reloc, digital mailbox with ladungsfähige Adresse

Advertising disclosure: this section contains a partner recommendation.

For emigrants needing a reliable postal solution with a legally serviceable German address, we recommend our long-standing partner CS Reloc. We have worked with CS Reloc since 2016 and have referred hundreds of customers there — feedback is consistently positive.

What CS Reloc offers:

• Ladungsfähige Anschrift in Deutschland — legally recognised for authority mail, contracts and court documents
• Scan and forward — you decide what gets digitised and what gets shipped on physically
• Personal service — no anonymous call centre, an experienced team that knows expat constellations
• Kfz registered agent (Empfangsbevollmächtigter) — useful if you still have a German-registered vehicle
• GDPR compliant — strict data protection, German data centres

Why CS Reloc fits emigrants in particular: many digital-mailbox providers offer scan services without a ladungsfähige Adresse. That means authority mail, court delivery and important contractual letters cannot be served correctly. CS Reloc closes exactly that gap.

We have seen it hundreds of times — anyone keeping a Gewerbe, contracts or dealings with German authorities needs a ladungsfähige Adresse. Not eventually, from day one.

Learn more about CS Reloc

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Nachsendeauftrag or digital mailbox? Picking the right route

The right answer depends on your situation:

Our tip: many customers combine both. The Nachsendeauftrag covers the first months after deregistration as a bridge. In parallel a digital mailbox at CS Reloc takes over the long-term mail handling. That avoids any coverage gap.

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Practical tips: what to do before the move

From 40,000+ deregistrations we know exactly which mistakes happen most often. Here is the mail checklist.

1. 14 days before the move: book the Nachsendeauftrag (activation takes 3–5 days)
2. Remove name tags: take your name off the mailbox and the doorbell
3. Notify address changes: banks, insurers, employer, tax office (Finanzamt), GEZ — build a complete list
4. Set up a digital mailbox: in parallel with the forwarding order, for long-term mail receipt
5. Label the mailbox at the new address: if you have a fixed address abroad, make sure name and house number are clearly visible
6. Use the deregistration checklist: our Leaving Germany Checklist lists every body to notify

70 % of emigrants forget at least one body that needs the address update. The damage tends to surface months later — when an important letter does not arrive.

Worth knowing: even with a Nachsendeauftrag in place, your active cooperation matters. Forwarding-related issues abroad happen — sometimes the local postal carrier at the destination has to be contacted. With our service we take this communication off your plate.

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Mail forwarding for businesses

If you keep a Gewerbe, GmbH or freelancer activity running while living abroad, mail forwarding alone is not enough. You need:

• A ladungsfähige business address (for authorities, tax office, courts)
• An imprint-compliant address for your website (Impressumspflicht in Germany)
• A reliable channel for invoices, reminders, contracts
• For Gewerbe operators: a registered agent (Empfangsbevollmächtigter) that the Finanzamt accepts

CS Reloc covers all of that, and pairs well with the business deregistration guide. For purely private mail, the basic forwarding order is enough.

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Video: forward your mail abroad — nothing gets left behind

Frequently asked questions

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Bottom line: mail after deregistration is not a sideshow

Sorting your mail after deregistering from Germany is not optional — it is one of the most important steps. Missed deadlines, lost documents and undelivered authority mail can chase you for months after the move.

Whether Nachsendeauftrag, digital mailbox, or both: deal with it in time. We are happy to help — with more than 11 years of experience and 40,000+ successful deregistrations we know what matters.

Book mail forwarding | Set up a digital mailbox (CS Reloc) | Start the full deregistration

Related guides

• Digitize Your Mail — deep dive on providers, costs and the setup playbook
• Cancel German Contracts — what to cancel before the move
• Leaving Germany Checklist — umbrella with every step
• Leaving Germany in Retirement — Lebensbescheinigung handling
• Business Deregistration — digital mailbox for companies
• Expat Health Insurance — correspondence address for the policy
• Deregistration Confirmation — the key document tied to mail

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This article was last updated on 26 May 2026. We do our best to keep the information current and correct. It does not constitute legal advice under the German Legal Services Act (RDG).