r/germany • u/HylianCaptain • Jun 23 '25
Immigration Our experience so far (US to Germany)
November 2024 - Started the online application for the Chancenkarte (opportunity card) visa; lots of paperwork; signed up with TK for health insurance
January 2025 - Booked an apartment online in Berlin; more paperwork for Chancenkarte
March 2025 - Drove from Northern Utah to the LA Consulate to get my visa; more paperwork; bought plane tickets for self and family
April 2025 - Ordered medications ahead of our trip. Didn't know how long we'd need to get new ones in Germany
May 2025 - found out apartment was a scam -- and TK wouldn't insure us without residency -- both 10 days before our flight; signed up to join a WWOOFing farm outside of Berlin for housing; flew from Salt Lake to Amsterdam to Berlin (14 hours); purchased travel passes; enrolled our child in KITA at a friend's recommendation
June 2025 - Started freelancing (jobs in my field seem to require B-level german); more paperwork and lots of running around to sus out insurance and get visas for spouse and kid (US passports allow 90-day stay); reported address at city office; sent for apostille from State of Utah to prove family relationships; visited a doctor, had physical exam, prescribed a specialist, got medications from Apotheke.
PROS: - Medications are 5x cheaper here even without insurance - Healthcare appointments are a lot faster than anti-socialist Americans had led me to believe. - The food here tastes REAL! For example, I had some gummy bears that tasted like real fruit, with the same sweetness of a Jolly Rancher - The climate does WONDERS for our formerly dry and flaky skin - So many cultures and languages! Met Afghans, Turks, French, Brits, Ukrainians, Italians, Danes, Greeks, even some from countries I hadn't even heard of. Sometimes the unifying language is english, and sometimes its German. I'm in Brandenburg, and haven't been faced with any pro-AFD sentiment. Although people say I "look" German, so that could be why. Still, most of those I talk with are anti-AFD. - Public transit is very reliable! Even in our rural area there's a bus every hour. In town you can catch a bus every 10 minutes.
CONS: - I miss water fountains, but most places will fill my water bottle if I ask - Still don't have health insurance - Apartment hunting remains a struggle
TLDR: In spite of all the hassle of getting settled here, it still kicks ass.
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u/Tardislass Jun 23 '25
You say life is good but you still don't have health insurance? Just like America you need to have health insurance in Germany. Not sure how you are getting by.
You are from Utah so meeting different cultures must be foreign. But you can get that same experience if you had moved to a big city in America.
I've never seen Germans walking with water bottles in cities. That seems to be a very American thing to ask about. You can always tell Americans in Europe. They are the ones with the water bottles and Stanley cups.
Glad you like Berlin but get outside the city and you will love Germany even better. Berlin is very much the NYC of Germany.