How to move to Germany: a road map
Last updated Nov. 18, 2020.
(Note: Unless you have an urgent business reason to come to Germany (work contract, etc.) or a spouse or partner who is a German resident/EU citizen, German borders are currently closed due to COVID-19. Still, you can start planning your Germany move now, but check the websites of the German Federal Foreign Office and BMI before booking your flight!)
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This article was first published in 2016 just before Donald Trump was elected — and it’s as timely as ever. With a new immigration law in place from March 2020, Germany is a welcoming place for highly-skilled immigrants, offering the kind of social system many Americans can only dream of: universal healthcare, a year of paid parental leave, tuition-free universities and much more!
If you’re thinking ‘Man, I’d love to live in Germany, but I wouldn’t even know how to get started,’ then look no further! Here is your step-by-step road map of how to get here.
I’m an American who left the US after George Bush II was re-elected. I moved to Berlin with no German, no job and no work permit — just savings and determination. In the last 13 years I’ve learned German, been through several dream jobs, started my own company, gotten permanent residency, and finally in 2017 I became a proud German citizen. And if I can do it, you can too.
STEP ONE: Make sure you are ready for a long-term commitment.
Moving to Germany is not easy. The cold, hard reality is that Germany only wants you if you are a certain type of person — for most Americans this probably means being a professional with a university degree and skills the German economy needs (like STEM and healthcare) or a German language or university student. You’re also going to need significant savings, as it’ll take months after moving to get a residency permit, find an apartment and get settled in. Optimism, patience, grit and the love of a good challenge will not hurt.
And an important disclaimer: you won’t have access to some parts of Germany’s fabulous social system without hard work and time. You can’t just move to Germany and get on unemployment, health care is expensive, and if you’re working you can expect to pay a ton of taxes. But, if you contribute into the social system for several years, you’ll be able to reap the full rewards of the German system. And yes, Americans do also have tuition-free access to university education (but don’t forget about living expenses!)
STEP TWO: Do your research and create an action plan
Time to do some serious research — the first step is to determine how you’re going to stay in Germany. This usually means getting a residence permit for working or studying.
WORKING. If you want to work, will you try to get a full-time job as an employee of a company, or will you work freelance/self-employed? Is the job you currently do in demand in Germany? If so, and you have a degree and high salary, you may even qualify for a blue card work permit. If not, which other marketable skills could you use to find work?
What about German language skills? Many companies use English as an official language of the workplace, especially start-ups/tech companies. However, for more traditional industries (banking, insurance) or in smaller cities in Germany, German language skills may be essential. And for some professions (nurse/doctor, etc.) you’ll not only need to learn fluent German but also pass licensing exams and have your degree officially recognized in order to do your job in Germany.
The larger Catch-22 of working here is that in order to get any type of work permit in Germany, you’ll have to show there’s a German-based company willing to hire you (or potential clients wanting to use your freelance/self-employed services) before you can apply for the permit. But on the other hand, many companies may not want to talk to you without a work permit.
(Note: It’s usually not possible to get a work permit to live in Germany and keep doing your US-based job, because Germany only grants permits when it directly benefits the local economy. It’s also usually not possible for US citizens to get a work permit for any type of casual work such as restaurant/café/bar, cleaning, moving, babysitting, etc. because to get a work permit you need to prove you’ve got specialized professional skills.)
It is also next-to-impossible to find a job in Germany while you are still located abroad (unless you are a software engineer!). So, the best advice for this daunting situation is to come here in person to look for a job, so that you can use your networking skills, charm and persistence to help you.
Germany offers a special 6-month ‘job seeker’ permit for university grads that helps you buy yourself quite some time to find something that will get you a work permit. Although you can’t work while on this permit, once you find a job offer you can apply for your work permit directly from Germany, at the local immigration office (search ‘immigration office’ + the city you’ll be living in).
STUDYING. Want to be a student? Excellent — students in Germany get lots of perks like cheaper health insurance and bank accounts, reduced rates for public transportation, etc. You can come for 1 year to learn German, or stay longer as a university student or vocational trainee.
Getting a residence permit as a German language student is relatively straightforward as no educational requirements are in play — the main difficulty for most is having the required proof of funds, which is currently €10,932 ($12,247) in Berlin (the amount may vary by region). This is the minimum amount Germany thinks you need to live here for a year, including costs for rent, health insurance, school fees and living expenses. In Berlin if you don’t have the funds, you can alternatively provide a notarized document that your parents will support you (plus their bank statements + last 6 months of their pay slips), or that a German citizen/Berlin resident will sponsor you (using an official process called the Verpflichtungserklärung).
As a language student you must be (and stay!) enrolled in an intensive language program of 18 hours of German classes per week. One downside is that you cannot work at all on this permit — either locally or doing a US-based job online. But you can use this year of learning German to figure out your game plan of how to stay longer, for example as a university student or on a work permit.
If you come to Germany as a university student, you’ll be able to work a bit on the side (120 days or 240 half-days). Here, one difficulty is in getting accepted to a German university program, as you will need fluent German for most programs. Here’s a good list of English language programs in Germany, along with some helpful tips on applying.
You’ll need precision timing to hit the window for application, acceptance and enrollment at the university, while still having enough time to apply for and get the residency permit in time for the semester to start. And just like the German language student permit, you’ll also need to prove you have enough money in the bank — €9,936 ($11,132) in Berlin— or a parent or sponsor willing to cover your costs.
Did I mention university in Germany is tuition-free? That’s right, also for international students, you will only need to cover a small administrative fee of ca. €150–300 ($168–336) per semester, depending on the university. (You will still need money to cover your rent, food and other living expenses — that is what the €9,936 should cover.)
It is also possible to get a residence permit for vocational training/apprenticeship, although B1+ German language skills are required. If you’re interested in this route, I recommend coming first as a German language student to get your German skills up to speed — you can then use that year to find, apply for, and be accepted to a vocational training program, and stay longer.
Of course, these are just the most likely routes Americans can take to gain residency in Germany — dig around a bit and see if any other options match you. Once you know what you want to do here, you can put together a concrete action plan to make your move a reality.
STEP THREE: Start saving money
Next, you are going to need savings — how much depends on your lifestyle and what you want to be doing in Germany. If you plan to work, it can take months to find a job and get a work permit, so you’ll need savings to live off of. It took me about 6 months to find work, get a work permit, and get my first paycheck. And if you’re a language or university student, you’ll need roughly €9,000–11,000 Euros set aside as proof you can afford to live here for a year.
As an example, a totally made-up but realistic budget for 1 month in Berlin as a freelancer might look something like this:
Note that when you first move here, you’ll generally also likely need 2–3 months’ rent as a deposit on your apartment. That means the freelancer above should arrive with ca. €13,000€ (ca. $14,500) for the first 6 months (assuming it takes that long to start earning much income).
STEP FOUR: Start learning German
Of course you can live and work in Berlin without German, but you will be stuck in the expat bubble and unable to solve a lot of your own everyday problems if you don’t speak the language. In other cities, speaking German can be even more crucial.
It takes years to learn a language fluently, no matter what some people claim on the interwebs. Start while you’re still abroad with a live online German class to make sure you’re ready to hit the ground speaking! Or if you’re not ready for live class, try a language learning app like Duolingo, Babbel or Busuu — even a few key words and phrases will come in handy once you arrive.
STEP FIVE: Plan a date to leave
It’s best to start planning 6–12 months before you want to move abroad, and time of year can matter. Many people (i.e. hiring managers) are away on vacation in July, August and December, so arriving then to apply for jobs may not be a great move. We’ve generally heard that January-May and September-October are the best months for getting hired. If you are a university student, you need time to apply and be accepted into a program, and you’ll want to arrive at least a few weeks before the start of a semester.
As an American you have 90 days to stay in Germany visa-free as a tourist (the whole Schengen Zone actually — so careful if you were visiting other countries before going to Germany). In other words, you have 90 days to find a job/school/etc. and apply for a residency permit before you have to leave the country, so count your days carefully using a Schengen calculator, and use them wisely.
STEP SIX: Find a short-term place to stay where you can register
Book a short-term place for the first 1–2 months (or longer) as it sucks to stay in a hotel or hostel, where you’ll feel pressure to move out and find something ‘real’ asap. It can take a lot of time and money to find a good apartment in Germany, so help ease the pressure on yourself by ensuring you have a comfortable place lined up now. There are many furnished apartment rental websites out there, and booking for a month or longer often gets you a discounted price.
Definitely make sure before booking that you will be able to officially register your address at this location (called ‘Anmeldung’), because that is the very important first bureaucratic step you’ll have to complete.
STEP SEVEN: Pack up and move!
Now it’s time to finalize your checklist of the steps you’ll need to do in your first months in Germany. Roughly in order, this may include:
- Register your address as a resident of Germany, using your temporary furnished apartment
- Find a job or register for school
- Get health insurance
- Open a bank account
- Get a German SIM card
- Apply for a work or student residency permit
- Find a long-term place to stay
- Figure out taxes
Time to give away your stuff and say goodbye to Trumpland! Don’t forget to bring your original university degrees (yes, the originals), transcripts, certificates for computer or language courses, letters of reference from past jobs, your birth and marriage certificates, and a passport that’s valid for at least 6 months. Hop on that plane and…
Holy shit! You are in Germany!
Day 1: Have a beer and a bratwurst, and take a deep breath. You made it!
Day 2: Time to start working through that checklist you made.
STEP 8: Make friends and a support network
Having people and places where you can ask your questions and get advice is essential to help you make it through the toughest times. Networking is also an excellent way to find out about companies that are hiring, hear about a newly-available apartment, and meet potential business partners, roommate, best friends and spouses. For a start, try expat groups on facebook, Meetup events, or a group like Internations.
Try to interact with non-expats as much as you can — volunteering is a great way to meet some Germans, practice the language, and make ties to your local community. Give Something Back to Berlin is a great local group for Berlin expats — for other cities try searching ‘Ehrenamt + city.’
STEP 9: Stick around and make long-term plans
In your first six months in Germany you may bounce between giddy exhilaration and frustrated homesickness— try to stick it out at least this long before you vow, ‘I hate this, I’m leaving!’ If you’re feeling like giving up, set a deadline for yourself — ‘I’m going to give it one more month and I’ll decide on day X.’
Once you’ve decided you do want to stay, it’s time to think long-term — taxes, pension planning, etc. One reason why this matters is that you may need to prove a certain number of years of German public pension payments to one day obtain permanent residency.
One last tip — keep insanely organized. It’s Germany. You need to keep all your important paperwork (bank statements, tax documents, your company’s invoices, etc.) for 10 years. It’s best to just save every shred of paper that could possibly be important, as you never know when someone will ask for proof of something from 5 years ago. Write down deadlines carefully and set yourself a reminder for a month or two beforehand — for example, you’ll want to start collecting paperwork and schedule an appointment for your residency permit renewal several months before the expiration date is up.
Finally, don’t worry. You will mess up — maybe a lot — but Germans are usually forgiving if it was an honest mistake and you attempt to fix the problem asap. Remember — there are well over 100,000 Americans living in Germany. If they figured it out, you can too!
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Need help moving to Germany? Expath exists to help you figure it all out. Founded by two Americans, we can help you make a realistic and concrete game plan of exactly what you need to do to get here. See more at www.expath.de or contact us at coaching@expath.de. See you soon in Germany!
