Anyone who wants to work legally as a sex worker in Saxony-Anhalt cannot avoid two appointments – and the order of these appointments determines whether your document is valid in the end. The federal Prostitutes’ Protection Act (ProstSchG) requires personal registration and prior health counseling. How these requirements are implemented locally is regulated by each federal state itself. In Saxony-Anhalt, responsibility is widely distributed: not one central state office, but eleven districts and three independent cities carry out the procedure.
This article explains registration under ProstSchG in Saxony-Anhalt as it actually works in 2026 – from your first appointment request through the document checklist to the renewal deadlines you need to know so your certificate doesn’t expire silently.
Two Steps, a Fixed Order
The most important rule first, because this is where most delays occur: Health counseling comes before registration, not after. The ProstSchG requires that you already present proof of health counseling when you actually register. Without this document, the registration authority will not accept your application as complete.
This results in a two-step procedure:
- Health counseling (§ 10 ProstSchG) at the health department of your district or city. Result: a counseling certificate.
- Registration (§§ 3–4 ProstSchG) with the competent authority of your district or independent city. Result: the registration certificate – colloquially called a „sex worker’s permit".
Both appointments must be attended in person. Registration by mail, by proxy, or online is not provided; personal attendance is required by law precisely because the counseling conversation is also intended as a protective measure. Plan realistically for two separate appointments – depending on how busy the offices are, there may be several days between counseling and registration.
Who Is Responsible in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt implemented the ProstSchG with its own implementing law (ProstSchG-AG LSA), which came into force on March 23, 2019. The core of this state regulation: the tasks under the ProstSchG were transferred to the municipal level.
Districts and Independent Cities
For your registration, the district or independent city where you have your habitual residence is responsible – or, if you have no residence in Germany, the place where you mainly intend to work. Concretely, this means: there are fourteen possible contact points in Saxony-Anhalt – the eleven districts plus the three independent cities of Halle (Saale), Magdeburg, and Dessau-Roßlau.
This decentralization has a practical consequence worth knowing about: procedures, appointment scheduling, required additional documents, and fees can differ from district to district. The basic structure is uniform nationwide, but the details at the counter are not. Which office is responsible for your location and how to get an appointment can be found in the Citizens and Business Service of the state (buerger.sachsen-anhalt.de) or directly at your municipality’s order office.
The State Administrative Office in the Background
Above the municipal level is the State Administrative Office (LVwA) in Halle. It is the supervisory authority for some ProstSchG tasks – particularly for the commercial sector, meaning licenses for prostitution venues. For your personal registration as a working person, however, you are not contacting the LVwA; your contact remains the district or city. The LVwA is rather the address when it comes to overseeing businesses and overarching procedural matters.
Step 1: Health Counseling Under § 10
Health counseling is provided by the competent health department. Important – and surprising to many: this is a conversation, not an examination. There is no mandatory examination, no swab, no blood test. No one issues a „health certificate" in the sense of a medical attestation. This is a deliberate departure from the former system of mandatory examinations.
Content-wise, it covers topics such as:
- sexually transmitted infections and their prevention, including the nationwide condom requirement,
- contraception and pregnancy,
- risks from alcohol and other substances,
- your rights and obligations as well as help and counseling services in emergencies.
The conversation is confidential and free of charge. Upon request, it can be conducted anonymously or under a pseudonym – this is particularly relevant if you later want to conduct your registration under an alias as well (more on that below). At the end, you receive a certificate confirming that counseling took place. This document is your entry ticket for step 2.
One detail about the deadline that is important already here: counseling must be repeated regularly. For persons aged 21 and over, the schedule is every twelve months; for young adults between 18 and 21, the schedule is every six months. The counseling certificate you bring to your registration accordingly must not be older than that.
Step 2: Registration Under §§ 3 and 4
With the counseling certificate in hand, you register with the competent authority of your district or city. This too is a personal meeting; the authority collects the data provided for in the law and reviews your documents.
What Documents You Bring
The information and documentation provided for in § 4 ProstSchG amounts in practice to the following documents. Because the offices in Saxony-Anhalt maintain their own information sheets, the rule is: Ask the competent office in advance for the exact list. As a basic set, you should bring:
- a valid identity document (ID card or passport),
- the counseling certificate from the health department (step 1),
- current passport photos, if the authority requires them for the certificate,
- depending on the district, a registration certificate or other proof of your place of residence.
During registration, information such as name, date of birth, nationality, and intended area of activity is recorded. The authority also uses the appointment to inform you once more about counseling and support services.
Registration Certificate and Alias Certificate (§ 5)
After successful registration, you receive the registration certificate. It is generally valid nationwide – so you can work in another federal state with a certificate issued in Halle or Magdeburg, provided no different rules apply to the territorial scope there.
If you do not want your real name on the document, you can apply for an alias certificate. It is issued under a self-chosen alias and thus protects your identity from third parties – for example during a workplace inspection – while the authority keeps your real information internally. The alias certificate has the same validity period as the regular registration certificate.
One obligation often underestimated in everyday practice: both the registration certificate (or alias certificate) and proof of health counseling must be carried at all times during work and presented upon request.
Deadlines at a Glance
The two most important clocks running in parallel:
- Registration certificate: valid for two years for persons aged 21 and over, one year for ages 18–21. After that, renewal is required.
- Health counseling: to be repeated every twelve months (age 21+) or every six months (18–21).
This leads to an often overlooked consequence: even if your registration certificate is valid for another two years, health counseling becomes due again after twelve months. Both deadlines are not identical, and neither authority will reliably remind you on its own. Record the dates yourself – renewal of registration in Saxony-Anhalt goes through the same municipal office where you originally registered, and again requires a current counseling certificate.
Where You Can Work: Restricted Areas in Saxony-Anhalt
Registration permits your activity – but it says nothing about where it may take place. This is governed by restricted area ordinances issued on the basis of Article 297 of the Introductory Act to the Criminal Code (EGStGB). The state level is responsible here and may exercise this power; the specific design – which streets, which zones, which times – differs from municipality to municipality.
For Saxony-Anhalt, it breaks down as follows: in the state capital Magdeburg, there is, according to available information, no restricted area; street prostitution is not comprehensively prohibited there by such an ordinance. For Halle (Saale) and the remaining cities and districts: whether and where restrictions exist depends on the respective local ordinance. Because each municipality has its own rules here and these can change, the only reliable information is from the competent order office. For your specific location – especially for street prostitution – do not rely on general rules of thumb, but obtain the current ordinance from your municipality.
That enforcement of these boundaries is taken seriously is shown by ongoing inspections: in early March 2026, there were raids in Halle in connection with illegal prostitution and human trafficking. If you are registered, health-counseled, and working in a permitted location, you are on the safe side in such controls – that is exactly what the paper trail is for.
What Does Registration Cost?
Health counseling is free of charge. For registration itself, districts and independent cities may charge administrative fees; there is no nationwide uniform figure, and the amount varies by municipality. Ask your registration authority directly what the specific fee is – and whether there is one at all – before your appointment. This saves you surprises and means you can bring the appropriate amount if needed.
Who Helps You for Free: the Magdalena Counseling Center
No one has to go through this procedure alone. Saxony-Anhalt funds a dedicated mobile specialist counseling center called „Magdalena“, operated by the AWO State Association Saxony-Anhalt and anchored in the implementing law to the ProstSchG. Magdalena operates statewide – in all eleven districts as well as in Dessau-Roßlau, Halle (Saale), and Magdeburg – and regularly visits work locations.
The services cover exactly the points where people get stuck in the registration process: guidance through registration under ProstSchG, questions about residency status and social benefits, career reorientation, exit assistance, and support in personal crises. Counseling is anonymous, free, partisan, and low-threshold. The team is divided into a north and south area; the headquarters is located at Seepark 7, 39116 Magdeburg (telephone 0391 99977 860). Especially if language is a barrier or you are unsure about documents, it is worth making contact before your appointment with the authority.
The Situation in Numbers – and Why It Can Work to Your Advantage
A look at current figures puts the procedure in perspective. At the end of 2024, 377 persons were validly registered under the ProstSchG in Saxony-Anhalt – a slight decline from 387 in 2023. What is remarkable is the direction: nationwide, the number of registered sex workers rose by around 5.3 percent in the same period to 32,254. Saxony-Anhalt thus moved against the nationwide trend.Within the state, Halle (Saale) leads with 132 registrations, followed by Magdeburg with 110. When it comes to licensed establishments for prostitution, the picture shifts: Of 62 permits statewide, around half — 31 — fall to Magdeburg. Most registered individuals came from Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria — an indication that multilingual, migration-sensitive counseling like Magdalena’s is not a niche issue, but a core need.
For you as an active person, the manageable size of the procedure has a practical advantage: The offices in Saxony-Anhalt handle comparatively few cases, distances are short, and with Magdalena, there is a well-established structure throughout the state that knows exactly what you need. The low number of cases also means, however, that not every small district office offers a weekly counseling appointment — it’s worth requesting an appointment early.
Conclusion: Registration in Brief
Registration under the ProstSchG in Saxony-Anhalt is manageable if you keep the sequence and deadlines in mind:
- First, schedule an appointment with the health department for counseling under § 10 – free of charge, a conversation, no examination.
- Then register with the district or independent city with your ID, counseling certificate, and the documents requested by the office.
- Remember the deadlines: Renew registration every two years (from age 21), counseling annually – for those aged 18 to 21, half as long each time.
- Check your location: Restricted areas are regulated locally; the binding information comes from your local administrative office.
- Get help: Magdalena accompanies you free of charge and anonymously through the entire procedure.
Ultimately, the binding information always comes from the responsible authority in your district or city. Use it — and the free expert counseling — before you go to your appointment. Then the „sex worker pass“ is not an obstacle, but what it should be: documentation that protects you.