If you can get the job contract, it's very easy. There are a couple documents you need (e.g. work contract, local residency registration, flat contract, tax reg

If you can get the job contract, it's very easy. There are a couple documents you need (e.g. work contract, local residency registration, flat contract, tax registration, proof of german health insurance [which is a special letter written from the health insurance company to the Ausländerbehörde]), but basically if you have a contract and you're a skilled worker, they'll grant you residency. The employer may have to prove, as they did with me, that no one else in the EU could fill the job as well as you can. So they'd have to put up a listing for a certain time before you could have the job. If possible, I'd arrive in Germany with a certain job offer as opposed to being sure you can find one within your three month tourist visa period. The more difficult part would be that people who work in foreigner's office and all other government offices (I had to go to at least three different offices), as a rule, don't speak English. And you'll visit the Ausländerbehörde itself at least three times, and they will give you instructions, orally, in German, on what to do/where to go next. Further, just as a rule, you will need to learn German in order to feel comfortable in your day to day life in the country and to integrate. Many tech companies say that you don't need to know German to work in Berlin -- though your workplace may operate in English, the rest of your life won't. Learning the German language is much more difficult than getting residency itself. Let me know if you have any more questions. I moved from the US to Germany for a technical job about 6 months ago so I remember full well the procedure.