Return flight to US needed before entering Germany?

cvailmedina, there are a couple of open points which affect this.
What is your and your husband's nationality?
If he and you are EU citizens, no issue as you are allowed to be in Germany as long as you want.
If you are not EU citizens, then your husband needs a work permit (visa) to work in Germany, otherwise he will be an illegal immigrant. A tourist is not allowed to work. Does he have one? If he does, he is legal as long for as long as his work permit says, then no issue for him with a one way flight.

Then about you. Does his work permit allow you to accompany him as a dependent?
If yes, OK, you are legal.
If not, you are entering Germany as a tourist. If you are not an EU citizen then you can only stay for 90 days in any 180, a few days less than 3 months. In this case if your husband stays the full 3 months, or longer, you may need to leave early.

As long as you have enough funds to finance your stay and pay for a ticket back to wherever your home country is (i.e. a credit card). They do not insist on a a physical ticket.

And, it is not customs that checks you and decides whether to let you in, it is immigration. Customs is the check on goods, if you are importing things.

To give your question a different take...

I assume since you are arriving from the US, you are a US resident. Also assuming that even if your husband has a work visa or other arranged authorization (works for a US company, going over to work with a customer or subsidiary), it does not include you.

As Chris mentioned, you are entering as a tourist essentially. You have the limit of 90 days that he referred to, provided you stay in the Schengen zone the entire time.

At entry, much is up to the Immigration Officer. Almost always they ask the length of your stay, if you say "I don't know" that will raise flags. You know (now) that you cannot stay more than 90 days, so you could pick a date 80 days out and give that. They may accept it (your husband will be giving information at the same time) or they may ask to see a return ticket. If you have none, then that may again raise flags. I guess I have to ask, does your husband have a return ticket?

They can also ask about your financial resources, Health Insurance, where you are staying, and probably a couple other items. They may also take a look at you, stamp your passport and wave you through.

Since you are tagging along, your bigger issue may be your husband. He will be doing most of the talking, does he have a visa, is his work actually allowed or authorized, or is his Company winging it, doing it on the QT. I know with my Company, I can go to one of our European sites and do my job for a period of time with no Visa or Authorization, but the nature of the work matters. After a point I need authorization.

My advice, if your husband has some evidence of what he is doing and that the time is variable, but less than 90 days, then just ride along with him, if they accept him, they will accept you, unless he is staying more than 90 days and has a visa, and you do not.

We always fly to Europe on one-way tickets because we use miles. We do have a return ticket, but in Europe we have never been asked to show it. That includes arrival in Germany ( we have flown into Berlin, Munich multiple times, and Stuttgart.). The immigration officer asks how long we are staying, we answer, and that is it.

Only when boarding a one-way flight from Australia to New Zealand on ?Emirates were we asked for proof of departure. I knew to have a copy of the flight out of New Zealand ( on a different airline) that we had booked.

But if your husband is working for an indefinite time, that raises other concerns you should be prepared to address with the immigration officer. Presumably he will have some kind of work visa. You, as a tourist accompanying him, can stay up to 90 days without a visa. Make sure your passport has validity for sufficient time.

My husband has a 6 month work visa. He will already be there when I arrive so I will be traveling solo. I will only stay 2-3 months.

More info to supplement the correct and useful info posted above:

Upon arrival, you will hand over your passport. The immigration officer may (and often does) ask how long you plan to stay, and the purpose of your trip. Expect this, and have a reasonable sounding answer to each question ready (answers that won't raise any red flags). They will "size you up" (make an instant judgement based on your appearance and demeanor) and based on that instant evaluation they may ask further questions or simply stamp your passport and wave you through. Usually, that'll be all the formalities. For most people who fit the "obviously a tourist" (but one with some money) profile, they don't bother probing any further. If you appear destitute, dangerous, freaked-out or otherwise outside the standard profile there's a good chance they will ask a few more probing questions, most likely they'll just wave you though. You should be prepared for a few questions (like where you plan to go on your visit, where are you staying, have you ever been to Germany/the EU before, are you bringing any guns or weapons with you, etc.).

As long as you appear to just be a typical tourist, your interaction won't take more than 30 seconds and you'll be on your way.

Just as when you speak with any police officer, a lawyer, or anyone with potential power over you, always follow the golden rule for talking to cops: answer the question(s) they ask, clearly, simply, be brief and to the point. Do not add any other "color", do not explain, do not go on and on, do not try to answer questions they did not ask. Jack Webb/Dragnet style, deadpan: "Just the facts, ma'am."

All that said, they can ask to see some proof that you have a ticket home. That's unlikely, but you should be prepared.

There are several ways to easily satisfy this, if you are asked. You could buy a round-trip ticket (and show proof). You could buy a second, one-way ticket home (and show proof). "Proof" could be a screenshot showing you have completed the purchase, could be an email or other item showing you bought the ticket; printed or in electronic form that you can pull up on a phone or tablet is OK (I always have an iPad with all the documents for my trip loaded so I can access anything in a few seconds). You could buy a return ticket that's refundable (many tickets are 100% refundable within the first 24 hours after purchase), take a screenshot of that confirmation or wait until you have received the ticket confirmation via email - save that as a PDF/bring that/print it out so you have something you can show them.

Ironically, about 2 weeks ago, I was asked to show proof of a return ticket at check-in by airline staff in Bangkok before checking in to a flight to the Maldives, to my great surprise (it had been many years since I was asked something like that - I REALLY look like a tourist) - I did have a confirmation email for the return flight ready to show, which quickly satisfied them. Doesn't happen much, but it can happen.

Be ready, and it will be a 100% non-event. Enjoy your time in Germany.

You can't stay 3 months, you can only stay a maximum of 90 days, which includes your arrival and departure days, and not a minute longer. This is important to remember.

As far as what you will be asked? I have made close to 60 trips to Europe and the UK over the past 15 years. The only place I have ever been asked anything other than how long I was staying is in London (asked have I been there before and whether I was there for business). I have never been asked for insurance, finances, return tickets, or anything else. In fact, arriving in Germany, I have never been asked anything. The immigration officer paged through my passport and stamped it without a word every time.

Does this mean you will not be asked anything? No guarantee. To cover the return ticket requirement, you can do as others suggested: purchase a fully refundable one way ticket back to the US for some date close to when you think you might be returning and then after getting through immigration you can cancel it for a refund and purchase your actual ticket when you know when you are coming back. But don't provide anything to any immigration official unless specifically asked for it. Remember that providing only the minimum information requested is always the best approach.

Just as a reminder, it’s not only Germany’s immigration officials who may ask you about how long you plan to stay, but also employees of your airline on which you are departing the States. They have an interest in ensuring you are going to Germany legally (I.e. not planning to stay longer than the 90 days allowed to a tourist without a visa), because if they transport you there and the Germans refuse you entry, the airline has to pay the costs of getting you back to the States.

So they will be the first ones to check/ask. I ran into this when departing on a one-way ticket to France to join my husband (we had gotten married a few months before and I finished up some work stuff before joining him here). Luckily I had a letter from the French consulate that explained that I would be allowed to enter France even though I didn’t have a visa and was flying on a one-way ticket. It convinced the check-in agent.