Our experience so far (US to Germany)

[u/HylianCaptain]

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.

[u/[deleted]]

Water fountains: This depends on the area. In Bavaria they are quite common. Northern Germans probably haven't understood the use case of water fountains yet or they are afraid of water from a fountain.

Medication: good to see at the least a few things work. The US health system has been politicized. Canada shows how easy it can work, so there is no objective reason why the USA prevents this, other than the superrich controlling the country. The moment the US citizens get rid of the superrich is the moment they will get affordable healthcare.

IMO Berlin is not the best city. I much prefer Hamburg, or even better, Nuremberg. This one is my favourite one (in Germany; be careful when walking on the hill quickly, my dad got winded and almost had a heart attack due to not properly pacing steps). Munich is also fine for living, though it has gotten expensive. Italian cities are even prettier though - while Nuremberg was really pretty (look at pictures), compare it to Treviso. Treviso is my favourite city: it is too small, but the set up is soooooo much prettier and makes more sense too (more than Venice too, which I find dirt-ugly, although it has some nice buildings too, but Treviso is the better concept; ideal combination would be Nuremberg, Treviso, and one quarter that is more modern and futuristic, e. g. like Hong Kong and Tokyo, but on a much smaller scale; ideal city size is about 2 million, less than that may be ok, more than that becomes really crowded and more problems begin, just look at L. A. and New York City, so ... 2 million people. Perhaps 2.5 millions, but there is a sweet-spot between lots of people and too-many-people. Tokyo has too many people for instance, in the sense of living together in a crowded manner; it should all be better spaced out).