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Well done on the guide. I'm used to being the crotchety Berlin emigration pedant on HN, and this actually gets almost everything right. The process you descri

by wheels 10y ago

Well done on the guide. I'm used to being the crotchety Berlin emigration pedant on HN, and this actually gets almost everything right. The process you described is still probably the most common (and the one that I took around 15 years ago). Worth adding, however, is the new-ish Blue Card system, which allows folks with relevant education to get a visa for 6 months to look for a job, in theory, simplifies the visa application process a bit, and gives you a faster track to permanent residence. My wife is a more recent immigrant (from Eastern Europe) and was able to get permanent residence much faster than I did because she went the Blue Card route.

dvdhnt 10y ago
Not to be too prying, but you don't happen to have children do you? I do, very young, single digits, and would love to immigrate out of the US but healthcare, daycare, and schools for my children are priorities. Any thoughts on those there? I'd rather find out from the horse's mouth...
- wheels 10y ago
  I do, but having spent virtually all of my adult life in Germany (36 now, moved here at 21), my sense of what's normal is the way that things are here. My son was born here and is a German citizen (which isn't automatic just by being born in Germany). He's 16 months old now. Healthcare and daycare aren't particularly difficult issues. The healthcare systems in developed countries are almost universally good. Health insurance is based on your income, rather than any pre-existing conditions or your job, and is universal. Day care is heavily subsidized. We pay €400/month because we're in the highest income bracket, but even that is being phased out next year (and up to now was only applied to kids from 1 to 3). Finding a day care spot can be annoying, but it's more of a chore than an impossibility. At our son's (public) day care, 55% of the kids have at least one non-German parent. We're not far enough for me to have anything more than a theoretical view on schools. Private schools are very rare here. Public schools are probably better than median US public schools. They're naturally in German, with the exception of (in Berlin) the JFK and Nelson Mandela schools, which are bi-lingual English and German. JFK specifically reserves spots for American kids. If the kids are young enough though, they'd probably pick up the language in an amazingly short span of time. (We don't have any special plans to send our kid to one of the bi-lingual schools. I'm fluent in German and my wife speaks it reasonably well, and we're both permanent residents here.)
mlent 10y ago
Thanks wheels! If you have any corrections for the guide, I'd love to get them -- I wrote it about 2 years after the process so it's possible I missed something for sure. I have seen the Blue Card website, but never knew how it works! I just did what the university told me to do -- and knowing german bureaucracy, it's no wonder they led me towards "the traditional route". In any case, the blue card sounds like a really cool scheme, the process as it stands is so complicated and involves so much freaking MAIL!
- wheels 10y ago
  The Blue Card doesn't require more paperwork via mail. My wife switched to it from an academic visa (postdoc) directly at the Ausländerbehörde. It does have two very useful features though: - It allows you to switch jobs without an additional trip to the foreigner's office (Ausländerbehörde), assuming it was granted for long enough in the first place. - It allows you to get permanent residence after 33 months of employment, rather than 60, and forgoes the German language requirement of such. The visa for searching for work is particularly useful for folks that aren't from visa-waiver countries. Most people that aren't from the EU or North America require a visa to visit Germany, and the permit to look for work is a relatively straightforward one to get for those with a relevant degree.
  - SyneRyder 10y ago
    Also, if you can prove German language skills at B1 level, you can apply for permanent residence at 21 months instead of 33 months with the Blue Card.

by wheels 10y ago

dvdhnt 10y ago

Not to be too prying, but you don't happen to have children do you? I do, very young, single digits, and would love to immigrate out of the US but healthcare, daycare, and schools for my children are priorities. Any thoughts on those there? I'd rather find out from the horse's mouth...

wheels 10y ago
I do, but having spent virtually all of my adult life in Germany (36 now, moved here at 21), my sense of what's normal is the way that things are here. My son was born here and is a German citizen (which isn't automatic just by being born in Germany). He's 16 months old now. Healthcare and daycare aren't particularly difficult issues. The healthcare systems in developed countries are almost universally good. Health insurance is based on your income, rather than any pre-existing conditions or your job, and is universal. Day care is heavily subsidized. We pay €400/month because we're in the highest income bracket, but even that is being phased out next year (and up to now was only applied to kids from 1 to 3). Finding a day care spot can be annoying, but it's more of a chore than an impossibility. At our son's (public) day care, 55% of the kids have at least one non-German parent. We're not far enough for me to have anything more than a theoretical view on schools. Private schools are very rare here. Public schools are probably better than median US public schools. They're naturally in German, with the exception of (in Berlin) the JFK and Nelson Mandela schools, which are bi-lingual English and German. JFK specifically reserves spots for American kids. If the kids are young enough though, they'd probably pick up the language in an amazingly short span of time. (We don't have any special plans to send our kid to one of the bi-lingual schools. I'm fluent in German and my wife speaks it reasonably well, and we're both permanent residents here.)

mlent 10y ago

Thanks wheels! If you have any corrections for the guide, I'd love to get them -- I wrote it about 2 years after the process so it's possible I missed something for sure. I have seen the Blue Card website, but never knew how it works! I just did what the university told me to do -- and knowing german bureaucracy, it's no wonder they led me towards "the traditional route". In any case, the blue card sounds like a really cool scheme, the process as it stands is so complicated and involves so much freaking MAIL!

wheels 10y ago
The Blue Card doesn't require more paperwork via mail. My wife switched to it from an academic visa (postdoc) directly at the Ausländerbehörde. It does have two very useful features though: - It allows you to switch jobs without an additional trip to the foreigner's office (Ausländerbehörde), assuming it was granted for long enough in the first place. - It allows you to get permanent residence after 33 months of employment, rather than 60, and forgoes the German language requirement of such. The visa for searching for work is particularly useful for folks that aren't from visa-waiver countries. Most people that aren't from the EU or North America require a visa to visit Germany, and the permit to look for work is a relatively straightforward one to get for those with a relevant degree.
- SyneRyder 10y ago
  Also, if you can prove German language skills at B1 level, you can apply for permanent residence at 21 months instead of 33 months with the Blue Card.