Possible trip to Germany, stay

[MtnMan]

One of my uncles works for the US Army in Germany, after having retired from a career as an Army NCO. He married a German woman, who has also since retired.

I received a message from the German arm of my family recently, inviting me to come over and visit them. They said if I wanted to stay longer, it is easier to find work over there. I have never been to Europe at all. The last time I crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada, you didn't need a passport.

I was never more curious about seeing Europe than I am now. The fact that my hometown's economy is in horrible shape is probably giving me more inspiration. It would be quite a major move, but I am curious.

Has anyone in this forum travelled to Germany in recent years? Has anyone here worked there, or worked for German employers? What is it like to visit or live there?

[daisy]

How exciting! whereabouts in Germany would you be visiting?

We visited Berlin and Dresden (with a daytrip to Leipzig) in May this year... absolutely loved it (we were on holiday).

[Frank II]

It's not that easy.

Germany is part of the Schengen Agreement. That means, as a tourist, you get to stay 90 days within a 180 day period. If you overstay your welcome, you could get fined and banned from entering Schengen for 10 years. Most countries in western Europe, excluding the UK and Ireland, are part of Schengen. (It also means no passport check when crossing from one Schengen country to another. )

To stay longer than 90 days you need a residence permit. To work, you need to get employment approval from the government. You need to have a job to get employment approval. The company has to prove that they couldn't find a German citizen or another resident of the EU to fill that job. (It's usually easier for an American company or the U.S, military in Germany to get approval for an American.)

If you work illegally, and are caught, you could be deported. That would mean possible banning from entering the EU for 10 years or longer.

Here's some basic information but it's best to check with the nearest German consulate to you.

Residence/Work Permit for Germany | United States Diplomatic Mission

Your uncle, being married to a German, and working for the U.S. military would have an easy time getting a work permit.

Unless you have a job already lined up before going, DO NOT say you are visiting Germany to see if you can get a job. They will deny you entry and put you on the next plane back to the USA.

[scribe]

I work for a German organisation, though I'm based at an academic institute in the UK. They pay well, but have stricter regulations than the UK - as Frank II says, you can't just waltz into Germany and get a job. Plus I assume you don't speak the language?

Visiting Germany, enjoying some time with your relatives and seeing a whole different culture will be adventure enough

[Ilkyway]

Well maybe you start with: what line of work do you do? We love engineers and do nearly anything to get thous into the country. If you are a sales-person... well not so much.
And for the language: This too depends on your line of work: in tourism English is great, in academic-environment everybody understands/speaks English to some degree. If you want to farm... well that depends on the region again. In eastern Germany English is not that common (with the persons who went to school through DDR-Time).

As a group we tend to like Americans a lot. Also there is some regret, that we seem to not be able to just import the good stuff but also the bad stuff. And maybe we do disagree on army-matters. But on the howl we love you films, your books, your language, your credo of everybody can make it with hard work and/or good ideas (even so we start to believe, that it might not be so easy ;-))
What I am saying here: if you are from America it tends to be much easier than if you are from say Turkey (I am not voicing my personal opinion here but a general tendency) and the higher your qualification the easyer to get a job and a permit. We tend to be a bit unfair in that regard but maybe it is understandable, because everybody with the permission to stay for good in Germany has axes to our social-system. Which means: Health-insurgence (and I MEAN insurgence here) and unemployment-money (no clue how this is called in English).

So before telling you what to expect here you might want to tell a bit more about yourself?

PS: I am German as some others around here too and some American-Forummembers live here. So you might get some insights if you want to.

Ilkyway

[vivelly]

I agree, though despite being a German Native, I have been away for too long to know the regulations. Its much easier to come here to NZ for your OE (Overseas Experience) get a 1 year work and holiday visa and pick up work as you go (mostly low paid jobs like fruit picking etc)
In Germany its not so easy.
I dont know your profession, but could you apply for american companies or companies dealing with America in Germany? That would maybe higher your chances of getting a good job?
I agree with Frank II that your familiy over there could help finding you something and sort the visa out from there for you.

Germany is beautiful...what I most miss is all the history, the castles, the medieval town centres ...here in NZ something that is 150 Years old is stone age old.
The feeling you get walking through narrow streets that are hundreds of years old is unique, you dont get that here (but of course in America you do but I think its different...I dont know I have never been in the States)
You can travel Europe freely and its just beautiful, France, Spain, Italy...all the lovely places...but everything is very expensive.
North Germany is totally different from the South...The North with its windmills and islands and North Sea beaches and the South with the mountains close by..the Alps. The West is different from the East (at least when I was last there)..the East is very beautiful and original with so many old buildings.

Better go...before I get homesick.

[vivelly]

As Ilkyway said...everyone gets health insurance through the State..half is paid by employer and half by yourself. If you are not employed you get Unemployment Benefit, but that has been cut a lot and its not easy, but without being in the tax system you are not health insured. (correct me if I am wrong Ilkyway)
With your uncle being in the US Army they might have their own system. Best to talk to him and advise you. But dont go uninsured..if something does happen you are in trouble.

[MtnMan]

Thanks for the informative feedback. Much appreciated.

I will post more later this week.

Thanks again.

[Janine]

Germany is beautiful...what I most miss is all the history, the castles, the medieval town centres ...here in NZ something that is 150 Years old is stone age old.
The feeling you get walking through narrow streets that are hundreds of years old is unique, you dont get that here (but of course in America you do but I think its different...I dont know I have never been in the States)

I think very, very few places in America could compete with those centuries-old narrow streets. In fact, that was one of the things that impressed me most about traveling overseas. When you sit down at a pub in England that has a hearth dating back to 1400, it's a humbling moment. When you walk through a plaza in Spain and realize that the stones under your feet were laid in place over 500 years ago, it makes you pause. We have this weird perspective that nothing was good or right or precise or durable before machines could build it. Walking into a church that was designed on parchment with a quill and ink, constructed entirely by hand, and is still in use 1,000 years later makes you question all your assumptions and biases.

But by all means come visit us! We might be a young country, but we have natural beauty and cultural richness of a different kind!

[backpack]

I believe that Washington DC and San Francisco are the most European cities in the U.S.
I haven't visited Boston, so I can't compare.

Montreal, in Canada, also looks very European

There is nothing like the breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of North America, they are our cathedrals and should be protected with the fierceness of mammal mothers defending their offsprings.

[Dandelion]

There is nothing like the breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of North America, they are our cathedrals and should be protected with the fierceness of mammal mothers defending their offsprings.

^^^ +1

[vivelly]

Janine..I agree...I really doubt that people these days have the skills and expertise even with all the high tech to rebuilt what was built to stay 1000 plus years ago.
When we had the earthquake the iconic Christchurch city church fell...its still in the too hard basket to rebuilt it.

I so totally agree on protecting the awe inspiring places on our planet! What makes my heart burst of joy all the time is when I am in the wilderness and look at the beauty of our planet.
Its is sooo heartbreaking what we do with it though...greed for power and money is placed high above protecting what should be most precious to us. But thats another topic...dont really want to go there.

I would love to see America. In my 20ties that I spent living in different countries I had more interest in going East when everyone else went west for their OE or au pair. Now I have a longing to see America.
I am hoping...one day....

[Dandelion]

I so totally agree on protecting the awe inspiring places on our planet! What makes my heart burst of joy all the time is when I am in the wilderness and look at the beauty of our planet.
Its is sooo heartbreaking what we do with it though...greed for power and money is placed high above protecting what should be most precious to us. But thats another topic...dont really want to go there.

I'll go there for a second to pass along what arrived in my inbox. Make your statement. Anbody in here Got Art?

Ok, back on topic.

[richardjack67]

Great planning..

[MtnMan]

Alright, back to the forum…

I've been busy offline this week, so I'll try to catch up…

Some of you were asking about me and my background. I'll try to provide some details, hopefully without derailing my privacy.

I am a dual-role office manager and project manager for a small construction firm in a mostly rural eight-county area. I have a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Public Relations. I work both in-the-office and on-the-road at remote project sites. I climbed the ladder, taken on more responsibilities for this outfit, having started here 30 year ago as an apprentice while I was still in school. My office duties include bookkeeping, providing project estimates to customers, dealing with customers, contractors, and suppliers (as well as occasional human resources work when we hire someone for a project) both on-the-phone and in-person. Since 1984, we've gone from starting out, expanding our territory, until we have reached over an hour's drive to some occasional remote locations. We've enjoyed many repeat customers over the years. We have an impeccable reputation for quality and finishing projects on-time and sticking to our estimates. I am responsible for blueprint reading, project site evaluation (for safety, drainage, setting up for business/avoiding congestion, etc.) and shipping/ordering supplies. I also handle travel arrangements when necessary.

As part of my office duties, I also do public relations and governmental relations for organizations we support. This includes newsletters/desktop publishing, writing policy statements, project budgets, grant writing, project report writing, web pages, writing and delivering presentations, DVD authoring, videography, audio recording/editing and photography. (Our photo library, which I manage, contains over 53,000 photos). I have most of experience on the Mac, but I'm also literate on Windows. I've been using various flavors of Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite and iLife for ten years. I am the firm's I.T. Dept., meaning I am responsible for buying and configuring new computers, printers, scanners, software, networks, etc. I am a past moderator for the local Mac User Group. I attended a class in Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing software during Digital Media Academy at Stanford. I have been published nationally twice, once for a 30-second TV spot and also for a feature article I wrote for a magazine.

I know what it's like to get up at 4 a.m. and travel an hour to work. I also have worked on projects doing seven-days-a-week, sometimes 10 or more hours per day, to keep up with deadlines. (I don't do that all the time, thankfully)

Over the summer, I took a few days to attend some local continuing education classes, picking up some training in basic AutoCAD, as well as blueprint reading/visualization and basic shop measurements using devices like dial calipers and micrometers. I even got to use a CNC metal shop lathe.

This is a very brief summary and I've left quite a bit out.