Expadu — The AI companion for your new life in Germany

Your situation is the starting point

Landing in Cologne as a…

Different situation, different paperwork, different deadlines. Expadu builds your path — not a generic checklist.

Your first three tasks

01 Anmeldung — register your addressBürgeramt · bring the landlord form within 14 days

02 Health insurance — student rateabout €145/mo all-in (2026) before enrolment

03 Residence permit — studentenrolment proof + blocked account before your visa ends

SemesterTicket, blocked account, enrolment — your checklist knows student life. …and it keeps adapting — 20+ situations covered.

The part everyone dreads

German bureaucracy, decoded — in English, with sources.

Exact documents, real fees, actual deadlines. Every claim links to the official page, dated when we last checked it.

82 step-by-step guides — from Anmeldung to permanent residency
Document checklists you tick off, task by task
Appointment tracking — with a leave-by time on the day
Life events — new baby, graduation, new job? Your path updates itself

Anmeldung — register your address✓ source-checked

Within 14 days of moving in · free of charge

Passport

Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (landlord form)

Anmeldeformular — we link the exact PDF

Source: stadt-koeln.de · checked Jul 2026

stadt-koeln.deBAMFELSTERAusländerbehörde Köln

Expadu bureaucracy checklist with settlement phases

your settlement path · phases from “before you fly” to “permanent”

Expadu live departures board in dark mode

live departures · the board knows where you are

Getting around

Transit that speaks newcomer.

Journeys, departures and disruptions on live KVB/VRS data — explained in English, priced for the ticket you actually hold.

What newcomers need	Expadu	Typical transit apps
Everything in English — including disruptions	✓	partly
Fares that know your ticket (Deutschlandticket, SemesterTicket — 2026 tariff)	✓	—
Plans around your appointments, with leave-by times	✓	—
Delays shown with a way around them	✓	partly
Suggestions that fit your situation	✓	—
Cologne + region · live KVB/VRS data

The day composer

A local friend with a plan.

Say what kind of day you want. Get a day with a shape — and reasons — not a list of pins.

1 · Say it

Plain words in, plain words out

“Saturday afternoon around Ehrenfeld, for family time — from Home.”

It reads your sentence — and every word stays editable. Tap any part to change it.

2 · Get a shaped day

Time bands + a why for every pick

Afternoon

Blücherpark playground

sunny window until 17:00

🚶 6 min · same area

Late afternoon

Gelato on Körnerstraße

open till 19:00 · kid-approved

3 · Make it yours

Lock it, swap it, go

Evening

Herbrand’s beer garden 📌 lock↻ swap✕

leave by 21:40 for the last direct tram

Every stop has a take me there → with live legs, platform and fare.

AI plans your day — it never invents the facts.
Opening hours, fares and deadlines come from verified data. Always.

Proactive, not another map

It watches the boring stuff, so you don’t have to.

Anmeldung due in 6 days booked yet? Here’s the office and what to bring.

Rain at 17:00 your plan quietly swaps the park for somewhere indoors.

Line 3 is disrupted you get the alert in English — with a way around it.

Tomorrow’s a holiday shops close — better do the groceries tonight.

Useful before you even sign up

Free tools — no account needed.

free · no signup

Deutschlandticket break-even

Is the D-Ticket worth it for how you actually move? Two inputs, honest verdict, 2026 Cologne tariff.

Check your break-even →

free · no signup

Permanent-residency timeline

Your earliest Niederlassungserlaubnis date — and what legally speeds it up.

See your timeline →

free · no signup

Citizenship quiz

Are you on track for a German passport? Five questions against the current rules, with sources.

Take the quiz →

official-source guides

8,072

Cologne places

763

local events tracked

Built in Cologne by an expat who did all of this the hard way — so you don’t have to.

sources: stadt-koeln.de · BAMF · ELSTER live KVB/VRS data EU-hosted · Germany

Before you ask

Questions, answered.

Is Expadu free?

Free during the Cologne launch. No card, no trial timer.

Which cities does it cover?

Cologne, properly — every place, office and tram line. The free tools work Germany-wide. Somewhere else? Leave your city in the footer and you’ll know the day we arrive.

Do I need to speak German?

No. The interface and every guide are in English. Germany will still send you letters in German — we tell you what each step means before you’re standing at the counter.

Is the advice official?

Every fee, deadline and document list links to its official source — Stadt Köln, BAMF, ELSTER — with the date we last verified it. If something changes, you can flag it with one tap.

Where does my data live?

On EU servers in Germany. GDPR isn’t a checkbox for us — it’s home turf.

Is there an app?

Expadu is a web app you can install in two taps — iPhone and Android, straight from the browser. No app store detour.

The AI companion for your new life in Germany.

Landing in Cologne as a…

German bureaucracy, decoded — in English, with sources.

Transit that speaks newcomer.

A local friend with a plan.

Plain words in, plain words out

Time bands + a why for every pick

Lock it, swap it, go

It watches the boring stuff, so you don’t have to.

Free tools — no account needed.

Deutschlandticket break-even

Permanent-residency timeline

Citizenship quiz

Questions, answered.

Your first years in Germany, handled.