Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Here you can find a list of all the procedures that you can take care of online using the Point of Single Contact Berlin:

• Our online procedures

The service provided by the Point of Single Contact Berlin is free of charge.

Regular administrative fees are charged for certain administrative services. A business registration, for instance costs EUR 26.

In some cases, costs can be reduced when the request is handled online. For example, a business registration requested online costs only EUR 15.

Yes, the Point of Single Contact will inform you of the competent authority(ies) for your request and will forward your documents directly on request.

The Point of Single Contact coordinates procedures with the competent authorities in the request submitted by you (for instance, in the case of a business registration for a craft with the Public Order Office and the Berlin Chamber of Skilled Trades).

However, the Point of Single Contact has no influence on the content of the decision.

You can use our online portal for certain administrative services online. You no longer have to go to different administrations in person in order to settle formalities relating to your profession or company.

• Our online procedures

You can immediately find out online which forms and documents have to be submitted in your case. In addition, you can fill out forms directly online on the platform and submit them to the administration with one click.

Do you already have a BundID account (for natural persons)? Then log in here:

* Log in with BundID.

To submit a new request, you must click on ‘Start new case’ and then select your request via the wizard.

Do you not yet have a BundID account? Then register under:

Don’t have a BundID account yet? Then register under:

• Create BundID account (Register)

Do you already have My company account (for companies, legal entities or other institutions)? Then log in here:

• Log in with My company account

To submit a new request, you must click on ‘Start new case’ and then select your request via the wizard

Don’t have a company account yet? Then register under:

• Create My company account (Register)

Call up the service description under ServicePortal Berlin again and click on “Complete online now”. Now log in with your access data and you will be redirected to the online application wizard.

You can find detailed information at the following link: https://id.bund.de/de/faq

Alternatively, you can watch the explanatory video on how to use BundID at the following link: “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqZ-2cYPCo(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqZ-2cYPCo):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqZ-2cYPCo

Detailed information can be found under the following link: https://www.elster.de/elsterweb/infoseite/nezo

The processing times vary for the two online procedures:

With a BundID account: The process is simplified, and any queries or requests for further information are handled directly via your BundID inbox. Fees for business registrations and changes of address must be paid by credit card (business deregistration is free of charge). You will receive confirmation in your BundID account once your application has been processed.
Without a BundID account: You will first receive information from the relevant authority regarding the payment of the administrative fee.

If you have any questions about the procedure, you can contact the Single Point of Contact by email at ea@senweb.berlin.de or contact your relevant authority directly.

• Public Order Offices in Berlin

• If you need help or have questions about the BundID (for account creation or your existing account), please address them to the relevant office using the following form.

At present, we only support VISA and Mastercard credit cards.

We secure our payment transactions for our online procedures with 3D Secure. This is a procedure that makes payment transactions on the Internet safer and protects your credit card from unauthorised use by third parties.

You must first sign up to use the procedure with your card-issuing bank.

In the case of Mastercard, this solution was previously called “Mastercard Secure Code” and since 2019 is now called “Mastercard Identity Check”.

Visa calls this solution “Verified by Visa”.

During the payment process, your card-issuing bank checks the payment. In some cases, the bank will ask for further information on the payment process via a separate input page. You will then be asked to check it and (if it matches) confirm the credit card payment with your agreed security feature (PIN; SMS TAN, fingerprint…). After that, please complete your business registration process.

Please note:
Due to changes at Mastercard in April 2019, there may be problems with authentication. In this case, please contact your card-issuing bank.

It is currently not possible to offer payment methods other than credit card payment; for legal reasons, the Giropay payment method had to be discontinued.
By calling up the payment process, you leave the application procedure and switch to the payment service provider. Sometimes this results in a payment being cancelled. Payment cancellations can have many causes.

The reason why you then have to enter the application data again is that this data is not saved when the application data is entered. Only after successful payment is the data you have entered transferred to the specialised procedure together with the payment data record.

To restart the process, it is necessary to actively select “Cancel”, confirm this once again and then re-enter the registration data and complete the payment process using a credit card. Alternatively, the cache must be deleted so that the so-called session in the browser is deleted. Or you can restart the process completely in a different browser.

Alternatively, there is another option for submitting the business registration online via the link below. In this case, a user account (user name/password) must be set up in advance via BundID.

If you use this online service, you will only receive a notification of fees or a request for payment from the responsible public order office once you have submitted your application. You then transfer the ordered fee. You will receive confirmation of your notification once the authority has registered receipt of payment.

• Link to the portal

No, a separate invoice will not be issued.

You will find a +payment confirmation* in your BundID inbox.

Is the request you are interested in not listed here?

• Your request
• Our online procedures

Then please use our contact form and let us know your request.

• Contact form

Only relevant if you have logged in using your BundID account and submitted a case:

Once your case has been closed and the result notified to you via your BundID inbox, it will be deleted from the privacy policy in accordance with the applicable retention period.

The certificate is generated automatically and is valid even without a signature or official stamp.

This is a so-called certificate of receipt. The certificate of receipt pursuant to sec. 15 (1) of the Trade Regulation Act [GewO] has no substantive or legal effect.

If you need to prove to third parties that you are currently operating a business, please use the eAuskunft service (free of charge for simple information).

• eAuskunft – the online business information service

You can get a copy from the Public Order Office where your business is registered (subject to a fee).

• Public Order Offices in Berlin

If you need current proof of your business operations, you can request a self-disclosure.

Trade register extract – written information

After paying the fee of 10 euros (online), you will receive the proof from the responsible public order office directly in your BundID mailbox.

In this case, please contact the office responsible for you directly. E.G: To confirm your business registration, please contact your local Public Order Office.

• Public Order Offices in Berlin

Only relevant if you have registered with the BundID account and submitted a case:

You can only change your personal data via BundID.
You can view or change all other details that you have entered in connection with the online application in our online portal under the menu item “My account”.

Please log in to the online portal of the Point of Single Contact via your BundID account.

• Click here to log in

The case list will then open with the case you have already created. Open it by clicking on it.
You will then find the message from the responsible administrative office under the menu item “Your mailbox for the case”.

Only relevant if you have logged in with your BundID account and submitted a case:

Once your case has been closed and the result notified to you via your BundID inbox, it will be deleted from the data protection declaration in accordance with the applicable retention period.

If you encounter technical problems, you can help us to remedy this situation. Please report any problems in as much detail as possible (for instance, using screenshots) to our technical support service.

• Technical support

Only relevant if you have logged in with the BundID account and submitted a case:

If you have forgotten your user name, you can also enter the e-mail address that you have stored in your account as your user name.
Alternatively, you can use the “Forgot username” or “Forgot password” function when logging in. You can then request your user name by e-mail or reset your password using an e-mail link.

Please note: If you have entered your access data incorrectly 9 times, your “Username & password” access will become temporarily invalid and you will have to reset your password. Alternatively, you can log in with a different account (if you have another one stored in your BundID account).

Adobe Reader verification mechanisms are sometimes not sufficient for verifying qualified electronic signatures. The signature of the administrative office employee is however valid and can be verified using the online verification tools of the respective trust centre.

Try switching off the automatic form filling function of your browser (e.g. Microsoft Edge), then the street search function in the online form should work.