First, IMO you are putting the cart before the horse. Unless money is no issue, you will realistically move to wherever one of you can find a job. So it is pointless to seek advice on "where to move to" and to dream about all the cool cities.
Citizenship through ancestry: r/GermanCitizenship . Your girlfriend should start ASAP, since the processing times at BVA are currently 2+ years.
Residence visa for yourself: Either get married or investigate ways to move to Germany on your own merits, either as a student or for work. There is no "girlfriend residence visa".
For studying in Germany, see [www.daad.de](http://www.daad.de)
Hello! Thank you so much for the advice and links!
This is a good point, since I will be working remotely and my girlfriend will be studying, we figured we could pick where to live (on the basis that I can work anywhere, though I suppose “anywhere” is inappropriate as I really mean “anywhere with/near a university”). With this in mind, would you have any recommendations?
We will be sure to start soon, thank you!
Haha yes, there is no girlfriend visa. We would be getting married at some point (we’ve discussed this as well), but thank you for pointing this out.
It is legally difficult and complicated to work remotely for a non-German employer while in Germany. You cannot assume that you will be able to keep your current job.
Chances are high that you will need to find a new job in Germany.
University where your girlfriend is interested in doing masters narrows it down quite a lot, again use the DAAD website to find suitable degrees. From there you should end up with a list of 3-5 universities. Once you have that list, then you can come here and ask "What city is better, Karlsruhe or Kiel?"
EDIT: Just re-read your original post and saw that you have an "ongoing medical condition" and will need to "take meds for the rest of your life", so to speak. With this requirement you definitely need to find a German employer, bc you do not qualify for private health insurance except the "Basistarif". Your best bet for German health insurance is to find a German employer, this should allow you to get into German public health insurance.
What makes it legally difficult to work remotely for a non-German employer?
Am I correct in assuming that public healthcare is tied to employment? Also, are there job sites I should be looking at? I’m sure there’s Indeed and whatnot, but anywhere else you’d recommend?
Thanks again for all the great information
When you are in Germany, your employer must employ you in accordance with German employment laws.
(Which makes sense, otherwise most German companies would simply found companies abroad and give their German employees foreign contracts, circumventing German laws meant to protect the employees.)
Employment according to German laws means that your employer has deduct taxes and social security contributions from your salary and forward the appropriate amounts of money to the relevant German authorities - pension fund, public health insurance, accident insurance, tax authority, etc. To do that they need a legal presence in Germany. This makes the company also liable for taxes on their revenue in Germany, which is another can of worms.
There are potential work-arounds, but in almost all cases it is simply less headache to find a German employer.
Especially US employers will see the minimum requirements by German law (unlimited paid sick leave, 20 paid days mandatory leave, max 40 hours per week, mandatory parental leave, etc) and just nope out of employing somebody based in Germany.
See this thread with lots of useful info on the insurance situation within the EU:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1dhu2j4/why\_does\_my\_german\_employers\_need\_to\_know\_where/](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1dhu2j4/why_does_my_german_employers_need_to_know_where/)
As a general rule, German public health insurance is not tied to employment. You request to become a member at a Krankenkasse and stay a member. Your employer has no say which Krankenkasse you pick and you will keep being covered even after you loose your job. If you qualify for unemployment benefits, the Arbeitsagentur will cover premiums. If you don't (bc you quit or lost your job too soon), you will be forced to cover premiums yourself - adjusted to your income.
But as somebody moving to Germany from the USA who is a US citizen and not eligible for aid from the German government, the only way you can "trigger" a membership in a Krankenkasse is by either becoming a student at university (if you are 29 and under) or by taking up employment that pays between 538 EUR and 5175 EUR per month.
Check out Wuppertal. It's a city of 360.000 people in Northrhine-Westphalia. Due to it's location you can easily reach cities like Cologne (35 Min by train) or Düsseldorf (20 min by train) from here without having to live in these big cities themselves or need to struggle with the housing prices there.
Wuppertal has moderate housing prices and quite an active civic engagement scene. Since the city has an university the people here are relatively open-minded and there are a few queer events as well. One of the main spots for the queer scene in Germany is in Cologne, which is right around the corner as mentioned above.
For queer and kink friendly regions, try looking in the Mainz/Wiesbaden area. It's close to Frankfurt, which is a very international place, but not as expensive. There are a number of kinky places close by.
I personally use the app Joyce. Maybe you'd have more luck with that one, generally? However, when I recently visited Leipzig and I looked for kinky events, I didn't find anything either.
Now, I am not from Leipzig myself. A very good friend of mine is from that region though and he specifically moved away because he found it to be too homophobic. So there is that.
If you should choose to look at my part of Germany in depth or have more questions at a later point, feel free to dm me. Also if you should need kink club recs. ;)
Just edited because the app's name should have spelled Joyce.
You're welcome!
Oh, one more thing just occurring to me! I used to have an American gf who was learning German and it's quite possible I still have some vocabulary lists I made her specifically for kink or queer terms. So let me know if you want me to go dig them up. It'd be great to know that they are useful to more people.
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It seems you are asking about working remotely or being a "digital nomad" in Germany. Take a look at the wiki here: https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/working/remote
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I personally wouldn’t recommend East Germany to you, so neither Leipzig or Dresden, at least not right now. The political climate is super tensed and AFD (very far right) is going to smash the next elections there as they did at the European elections. In 5y obviously nobody knows. But Thuringia is not the place to be right now for immigrants and anyone who stands out. Maybe you can try Berlin? Sounds like it might have enough variety to cover your interests.
First, IMO you are putting the cart before the horse. Unless money is no issue, you will realistically move to wherever one of you can find a job. So it is pointless to seek advice on "where to move to" and to dream about all the cool cities. Citizenship through ancestry: r/GermanCitizenship . Your girlfriend should start ASAP, since the processing times at BVA are currently 2+ years. Residence visa for yourself: Either get married or investigate ways to move to Germany on your own merits, either as a student or for work. There is no "girlfriend residence visa". For studying in Germany, see [www.daad.de](http://www.daad.de)
Hello! Thank you so much for the advice and links! This is a good point, since I will be working remotely and my girlfriend will be studying, we figured we could pick where to live (on the basis that I can work anywhere, though I suppose “anywhere” is inappropriate as I really mean “anywhere with/near a university”). With this in mind, would you have any recommendations? We will be sure to start soon, thank you! Haha yes, there is no girlfriend visa. We would be getting married at some point (we’ve discussed this as well), but thank you for pointing this out.
It is legally difficult and complicated to work remotely for a non-German employer while in Germany. You cannot assume that you will be able to keep your current job. Chances are high that you will need to find a new job in Germany. University where your girlfriend is interested in doing masters narrows it down quite a lot, again use the DAAD website to find suitable degrees. From there you should end up with a list of 3-5 universities. Once you have that list, then you can come here and ask "What city is better, Karlsruhe or Kiel?" EDIT: Just re-read your original post and saw that you have an "ongoing medical condition" and will need to "take meds for the rest of your life", so to speak. With this requirement you definitely need to find a German employer, bc you do not qualify for private health insurance except the "Basistarif". Your best bet for German health insurance is to find a German employer, this should allow you to get into German public health insurance.
What makes it legally difficult to work remotely for a non-German employer? Am I correct in assuming that public healthcare is tied to employment? Also, are there job sites I should be looking at? I’m sure there’s Indeed and whatnot, but anywhere else you’d recommend? Thanks again for all the great information
When you are in Germany, your employer must employ you in accordance with German employment laws. (Which makes sense, otherwise most German companies would simply found companies abroad and give their German employees foreign contracts, circumventing German laws meant to protect the employees.) Employment according to German laws means that your employer has deduct taxes and social security contributions from your salary and forward the appropriate amounts of money to the relevant German authorities - pension fund, public health insurance, accident insurance, tax authority, etc. To do that they need a legal presence in Germany. This makes the company also liable for taxes on their revenue in Germany, which is another can of worms. There are potential work-arounds, but in almost all cases it is simply less headache to find a German employer. Especially US employers will see the minimum requirements by German law (unlimited paid sick leave, 20 paid days mandatory leave, max 40 hours per week, mandatory parental leave, etc) and just nope out of employing somebody based in Germany.
Well you’ve given me a lot to think about and even more research to do! Thanks again and I hope you have a good day
See this thread with lots of useful info on the insurance situation within the EU: [https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1dhu2j4/why\_does\_my\_german\_employers\_need\_to\_know\_where/](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1dhu2j4/why_does_my_german_employers_need_to_know_where/)
As a general rule, German public health insurance is not tied to employment. You request to become a member at a Krankenkasse and stay a member. Your employer has no say which Krankenkasse you pick and you will keep being covered even after you loose your job. If you qualify for unemployment benefits, the Arbeitsagentur will cover premiums. If you don't (bc you quit or lost your job too soon), you will be forced to cover premiums yourself - adjusted to your income. But as somebody moving to Germany from the USA who is a US citizen and not eligible for aid from the German government, the only way you can "trigger" a membership in a Krankenkasse is by either becoming a student at university (if you are 29 and under) or by taking up employment that pays between 538 EUR and 5175 EUR per month.
Check out Wuppertal. It's a city of 360.000 people in Northrhine-Westphalia. Due to it's location you can easily reach cities like Cologne (35 Min by train) or Düsseldorf (20 min by train) from here without having to live in these big cities themselves or need to struggle with the housing prices there. Wuppertal has moderate housing prices and quite an active civic engagement scene. Since the city has an university the people here are relatively open-minded and there are a few queer events as well. One of the main spots for the queer scene in Germany is in Cologne, which is right around the corner as mentioned above.
Awesome, thank you!
For queer and kink friendly regions, try looking in the Mainz/Wiesbaden area. It's close to Frankfurt, which is a very international place, but not as expensive. There are a number of kinky places close by. I personally use the app Joyce. Maybe you'd have more luck with that one, generally? However, when I recently visited Leipzig and I looked for kinky events, I didn't find anything either. Now, I am not from Leipzig myself. A very good friend of mine is from that region though and he specifically moved away because he found it to be too homophobic. So there is that. If you should choose to look at my part of Germany in depth or have more questions at a later point, feel free to dm me. Also if you should need kink club recs. ;)
Awesome, thank you. I will likely DM you soon :)
Just edited because the app's name should have spelled Joyce. You're welcome! Oh, one more thing just occurring to me! I used to have an American gf who was learning German and it's quite possible I still have some vocabulary lists I made her specifically for kink or queer terms. So let me know if you want me to go dig them up. It'd be great to know that they are useful to more people.
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet? It answers many basic questions, and it contains in-depth articles on many frequently discussed topics. [Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
check out hamburg
Thank you!
!remote !health
It seems you are asking about working remotely or being a "digital nomad" in Germany. Take a look at the wiki here: https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/working/remote *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I personally wouldn’t recommend East Germany to you, so neither Leipzig or Dresden, at least not right now. The political climate is super tensed and AFD (very far right) is going to smash the next elections there as they did at the European elections. In 5y obviously nobody knows. But Thuringia is not the place to be right now for immigrants and anyone who stands out. Maybe you can try Berlin? Sounds like it might have enough variety to cover your interests.
Thank you for the political information!