Hi everyone, so here’s a little background about me. I lived in Germany for ten years (1-5 then 10-15), at 16 I returned to my home country after finishing my 9th grade of Gymnasium (Does that classify as a Hauptschulabschluss?) I also hold a Master of Arts degree in English literature and I’ve been working in a global company as localization manager (English to Traditional Chinese) for over a decade. I’ve been thinking about moving to Germany for a while because of the stability it offers. My German used to be ok, but I haven’t used it for a very long time. I plan to go to Goethe institute in my home country first and prepare for a B2 or C1 exam before I make my next move, which is applying for a job seeker visa, and move to Germany to look for work. Is this the best route I can take or are there other options for me? Thank you!
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
6308 posts
What is your home country? I believe that your citizenship would affect the process of moving to Germany, as requirements are probably different. That said, I do think that working on your German and taking the B2 or C1 exams is a good idea, and would probably start that right away.
Does that classify as a Hauptschulabschluss?
Did you receive the certificate? You might want to contact the Gymnasium you attended to see if you did - I know that usually finishing 9th grade does qualify you to receive one. But does it matter? I'm assuming you would not be applying for an Ausbildung or entrance to another school.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10189 posts
Facebook has many private groups you can join for people who want to immigrate to Germany or are already living there. These groups will be able to answer your questions better than a forum devoted to independent travel. Search by key words in FB groups. I just did searches combining these words: Germany, living, immigration, visas, moving, ex-pats.
I got several possibilities. You should join all of them, read their info files, see which are useful, and then drop the others. Some have only seven posts a month, some have a lot of posts that are relevant, others irrelevant. One or two groups might be very useful.
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2333 posts
For a first orientation, look up the respective web site of the Auswaertiges Amt:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/visa-service/buergerservice/faq/-/606852
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8942 posts
Lots of expat sites on FB, so those would be the best place to start looking. Especially as it concerns your language abilities.