How we work
How we keep this accurate
Last updated:
Last verified
Re-checked against the official source
Source authority tiers
7-tier model
Every claim cited to a named authority
Freshness guarantee
Flagged after 180 days
Stale sources get an in-app warning
Our stance
Starting in Germany gives practical guidance, not legal advice. Every task in your plan is tied to the official German source it came from, carries a plain-language confidence level, and shows when it was last checked. We tell you how sure we are and where to confirm — so you can act with confidence and double-check anything that matters before you rely on it.
- Cite the official source on every task — with the issuing authority named.
- Grade our own confidence — openly, in plain language, per source.
- Re-verify on a schedule — time-sensitive facts (fees, thresholds, deadlines) are tracked in a verification ledger and re-checked against the official source on a fixed cadence.
Source authority taxonomy
Each source is classified by who publishes it. Higher tiers carry more weight; the lowest tier may never be used on its own to validate a claim.
| Tier (internal key) | Label shown in app | What it means |
|---|---|---|
federal_government | Federal authority | A German federal ministry or agency (e.g. Auswärtiges Amt, BMI, BAMF). |
state_government | State authority | A Land-level authority (e.g. a state interior ministry). |
municipal_government | City authority | A city or municipality (e.g. a Bürgeramt / service.berlin.de). |
official_portal | Official portal | An official government information portal (e.g. Make-it-in-Germany). |
public_institution | Public institution | A public body or statutory institution (e.g. a Krankenkasse, university). |
regulated_provider | Regulated provider | A regulated private provider (e.g. a licensed insurer or bank). |
high_trust_process_source | Trusted source | A consistently reliable non-government source for process detail. |
discovery_only | (not shown as an authority) | Used only to discover a fact; it cannot validate it. Never displayed as a source authority. |
Confidence levels
Each source carries a confidence level describing how well it supports the claim. The app shows these in plain language. A task may not be marked confirmed or mostly confirmed unless it has at least one source above the discovery-only tier — this is enforced in CI.
| Level (internal key) | Label shown in app |
|---|---|
verified | Confirmed against the official source |
mostly_verified | Mostly confirmed against official sources |
partially_verified | Partly confirmed — verify the details |
conflicting | Sources conflict — verify before acting |
unverified | Not yet independently verified |
How we keep it current
Time-sensitive facts live in a verification ledger. Each entry records the claim, its current value, the official source to check it against, when it was last verified, and a re-check cadence.
| Cadence (internal key) | What it means |
|---|---|
annual-jan | Resets every 1 January — statutory contribution thresholds (Rechengrößen). |
annual-jul | Resets every 1 July — some Länder thresholds and fee changes. |
per-semester | Tied to application seasons (Feb / Aug) — university application deadlines. |
event-driven | Polled on a volatility horizon (30 / 90 / 180 days) — fees and rules that change irregularly (e.g. Rundfunkbeitrag). |
static | Not expected to change — excluded from monitoring. |
Freshness in the app
Every source shows its last-checked date. If a reference has not been checked in over 180 days, the task displays a stale-source warning advising you to confirm with the official source before acting.
One or more references have not been checked in over 180 days. Confirm details directly with the official source before acting.
How CI enforces it
A governance check runs on every build. It requires that every confidence and authority level is a known value, that any task marked confirmed or mostly confirmed has at least one non-discovery source, that any task with unverified or conflicting sources is flagged for human review, and that every non-discovery source names its publisher and carries a confidence level and a last-checked date — so the app never shows a half-complete trust signal. A failing check blocks the build.
Found something out of date?
If a fact looks wrong or stale, tell us which task and what you saw — we re-verify against the official source and update the ledger. Email us at hello@starting-in-germany.de.
Practical guidance, not legal advice. Always verify requirements with the relevant authority or a qualified legal professional.