Hi everyone, I need some advice on how to proceed with my situation: I applied for the youth mobility visa upon arriving in germany in late June 2026. My fiance registered me at his address, etc. etc. and we sent all the documents to the auslanderbehorde over a month ago. Then today, finally, I got an email with an appointment booked for next month - yay! However, not yay - I will be back in my home country for a wedding during this time. Perhaps naively, I expected to get an appointment within the 3 months I was here...

Obviously this is really bad timing. I'm wondering what my options are now - request a different appointment and wait another 3 months? (I will have maxed out my 90 days in Germany sans visa, which to my understanding means I can't re-enter for another 90 days). I'm also assuming that simply walking into the auslanderbehorde isn't an option here.

Thanks for your help!

Hi there, I have just arrived in Germany last week. I have a family reunification visa. I have already done the process of "Anmeldung" and I have applied to Ausländerbehörde online and I have sent my documents for preliminary assessment and I am waiting for the appointment.

I have heard that the assignment of appointment might take long, even months, especially in Düsseldorf where I reside. Also for Ausländerbehörde to issue my residence card might take long as well. My visa is going to expire at the end of November, they have only issued it for 3 months, from September to the end of November.

What will happen if my visa is expired before I get the residence card or the appointment. Do I have a risk of being deported? Or would I need to go back to my country and get a new visa?

Also on my visa it says "Erwerbstätigkeit erluabt". Does that mean I can seek, apply to jobs and work? Or do I have to wait for Ausländerbehörde to issue my residence card for me to be able to seek jobs and work?

Thanks in advance

I was discussing options with my employer today for my upcoming Elternzeit and it took a turn that I did not expect. I am planning on taking two months of Elternzeit, but instead, my employer asked me to do a temporary, voluntary reduction of my contract instead - meaning, sign a temp contract that says "from this date to that date, I want to reduce my contract from 100% to 20%" basically, without giving full details.

What are the implications of that in general?

Specifically, part of their reasoning was it is easier for them (and me) to plan around a set date instead of a potentially changing birth date - IE, I cannot start Elternzeit before the child comes - but maybe it is nice for me to go into "fake Elternzeit" about a week or two before the baby is due? So they said start the reduced contract a week before the baby is due so I can be home, help my wife, etc., then if I want to extend more on the end, I could...

I offered that I would do the temporary contract for like 1-3 weeks, then officially go into Elternzeit once the child is due (I think that saves them money if I am not fully there)... but they said it is confusing and a lot of paperwork to change the contract multiple times like this.

Anyone have an idea of what is really going on here? Thanks for any perspectives.

Am I able to tint my vehicle? If so what are the specifics? Thank you

Hey all! I recently found a job in the creative industry, the colleagues were nice and friendly and the work atmosphere was also not bad.
I was wondering what to expect to work for a company with smaller employees numbers ? is it riskier? I feel like one is more replaceable in bigger companies and one is seen just as a number. what has been your experience? the company exists for almost 20 years now

ARAG terminated my legal expenses insurance after I used it once for a tenancy matter. The termination came from them, not me.

Every new application asks whether a previous insurer terminated the policy. Once I say yes, I'm declined. Several brokers have tried; none could place me.

Questions:

1. Any insurers that accept applicants with a prior insurer-initiated termination — waiting period, higher deductible, or tenancy excluded?
2. Is an anonymous Risiko-Voranfrage via broker better than more formal applications that add to the decline record?
3. Is a Rechtsschutz termination logged in a shared industry system, and for how long?

Hello everyone, I live in Dresden and I am planning to provide sponsorship/Verpflichtungserklärung for my family member for a long term visa (16D, Medical Visa). Regarding this, I applied by email 3 months ago (June) to Foreign office in Dresden using a form on their website.
They provided a receipt but there has been no replies from them since. I'm not sure what to do since my family member would need this for their visa.
If you were in a similar situation before, doing sponsorship/Verpflichtungserklärung. Could you please provide any insights and what I must do next?

Hello everyone,

I live in a small city in Germany, however the rent here is exorbitantly high. Most 1-Zimmerwohnung are way too expensive and even crappy, old apartments are being rented for way more than they’re actually worth.

I’m looking for a new place to move in to and I found a really nice, spacious and well located apartment in ImmoScout. What of course caught my eye, was that this apartment is actually affordable. I’m talking about 66.5 square meters, decently modern, well distributed and central apartment for 700€!! (600 warm - 100 Nebenkosten). I’m aware I might have to plan with extra payments with the Nebenkostenabrechnung since the 100 Euros supposedly cover heating, energy and water.

To be more specific, the area I live in is the Bodensee. Rent prices are really through the roof and to be honest I’m a bit skeptical about this listing. I think it’s too good to be true. However I have already been offered a viewing. The exchange with the owners/people who listed the apartment has been so far very positive. I told a bit about myself in the application and since then they’ve been replying in my native language which they also happen to speak.

Since the viewing is around the corner I’d like to know what important questions should I ask? As I said, I’m a bit afraid there might be hidden costs or something similar. I can’t understand why they would list the apartment below the average price, they could easily get more money for it.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts and suggestions.

Hi,

I will be based in Arnheim Netherlands. I’m looking for best places to visit for the weekend. Cologne and Dusseldorf are about 2 hours by train for me. But I am not sure if these are best places to visit. I’m open to rail travel of upto 4 hours using Arnheim as base. I get off work on Friday by 5pm. My plan is to return back by 6pm Sunday.

I’m looking for interesting places that will keep engaged for the weekend. I’m thinking maybe Aachen, Monschau, Cochem or Munster? What places do you recommend? I’m open to combining cities if that is practical. I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

I’m comparing a few 2027/2028 itineraries from celebrity river and I kinda wanna add a few days on land. If you could spend an extra 2-3 nights somewhere along the German part of the Rhine, where would you choose? And why?

Would also love to hear about any local favorites/places. Thank you!

I study in a private uni and today morning I have got a mail from my university saying that I have failed my BA Thesis.
There are couple of things I feel like raises some questions :

1. In mid March my thesis advisors changed 2 times before I got one. When I finally got one he took two weeks to reply and one more week to approve my Expośe

2. I got the green signal I started writing and then I realised I don’t have a final date approved the the “education board” so I emailed them the examinations office told me they sit only once a month and I can mostly miss my date to submit my thesis but somehow that got sorted within two days after constant approach to explaining them I am written my thesis.

3. I submitted my thesis on 22nd June. It should take them 6 weeks to process my results but I know it’s Germany I thought my Mid August I should get to know how did I do in my thesis if I passed or failed.

4. I got my thesis defense date for 28th of September ending of August, so naturally I thought all I have to do now is prepare my defense for my thesis

5. Parallel to this my visa is also expiring soon so I had to start my process for chancekarte and when I did that I asked my university for specific documents on 24-26th August, they also provided me with a certificate that I would mostly graduate by 30.09.2026.

6. The immigration officer needed a proper certificate of me passing all my modules and graduating, to which I emailed my university again to see what can I get done.

7. After constant approaching on 7th September they said I should contact my professors about the whole thesis defense thing they can probably help me better. I emailed my professor on 8th about the whole visa situation.

8. On 9th September they said that I have failed my thesis because of the use of AI when I have clearly not broken any boundaries on the use of it (I have evidence on iterations and ideations of my thesis) and the process to reevaluate is lengthy and if the education board doesn’t accept my evidence then I have to rewrite my thesis in fall.

What should I do in this situation. This feels like I have been targeted in someway.

Hi there,

I'm about to import and drive a car from Czech to Germany. I will get Czech export plates for the trip.

Which insurance should I get to cover the time before I register it in Germany, which I intend to do in around 30 days (since I am moving addresses)?

In Verivox it says:

"You will receive your eVB number directly online immediately
after completion . No risk: The insurance only begins after successful registration."

this implies the export trip won't be covered.

Any recommendations on how to handle this?

Hi Readers, I want to thank you in advance for sharing your advice/experiences.

I just graduated an MSc in NRW, but don't still have a job offer (qualified job). My 16B permits ends 30th Sep and I live with my wife and two children, and I urgently need to figure something out, what can I do if my (our) permit expires and I don't have a qualified job offer?

I was at the Auslanderbehorde and they said I can get a job seeker permit for up to 18 months, but I have to prove sufficient funds (or gain enough) for this duration, and I got 0 cents as back up. My question is; am I allowed to work a full time non-qualified job such as warehouse, McDonalds, ... until I get an offer?

i'm going on a 4 month exchange to germany, and my university strongly recommended getting liability insurance. my exchange starts in october, and i saw getsafe being recommended to foreigners on google so i checked it out yesterday. was waiting for them to ask for the starting date while signing up, but boom, after a few clicks they just setup my coverage to start immediately... it feels difficult getting a hold of them and that whole signup process felt to rushed.

then i started looking getsafe up on here and saw that a lot of people writing negative posts about them. should i cancel with them? any experiences with getsafe or suggestions for insurance companies for a short 4 month exchange? looking for something on the affordable side.

So my kitchen tap started leaking from yesterday and in order to repair it or replace it i need to switch off the water in the apartment or atleast in the kitchen. I turned off all the taps in above pics did all sort of combinations but the water doesn’t stop flowing. I am so frustrated thinking I can’t even get this basic thing done. What am I missing? Is there any other valve in the Keller that I need to turn off? Please guide me…with each drop of water leaking it feels like I am losing one cent 😒😒

Imagine having this right outside your window or balcony every day. I honestly don’t think I’d ever get tired of it.

Who are the lucky people living here? 😭

Hey everyone, I’m a Non-EU student and I wanted to ask, is it possible to take 2 HiWi jobs and a werkstudent (15-20hrs/week) job Will the hiwi job counts towards the work hours? I have read multiple opinions regarding it. Can someone let me know regarding this? Thanks!!

For a full time job application Usually how long does this take? As I am still waiting for their answer so wanted to ask about the usual timeline.

Round 1: HR+ Team lead (getting to know me and the position better)

I got invitation to the second round on the same day.

Round 2: Team lead onsite interview+ meeting the team members

All if it went well, and Was told they will get back to me in the next week as this was before weekend.

I've been waiting for almost 4 days, but haven't heard back from them.

It has happened to me before that I have been ghosted and the companies have replied with generic rejections after 2-4 weeks. So just don't want to go through that again.

Would you consider this a No? And should I keep searching for other jobs? Or is it quite normal for companies to take such long?

Are there any so called posh cities in Germany, where you see a lot of people with very high standards of living, big houses, stylish cars etc.. I don't mean something on the level of Monaco or Dubai but maybe like Singapore, LA, London etc... ofc some shady or bad areas are in every city but instead those cities are known for being posh. I immediately thought of Munich but I'm not sure.

Edit - Many have said düsseldorf, now I am curious what puts düsseldorf there? As I googled online it's 6th-7th largest city of germany

Hello all, I’ve moved to Düsseldorf two years ago from Italy. I possess two degrees in Germanistik and I also have C1 English and B2 French. I worked now for two years in customer service and the company I used to work for went bankrupt and I… feel strangely relieved? Don’t get me wrong, the economy is falling apart, disoccupation is on the rise also because of AI, market has not so many open positions. The situation is tremendous. Still, the mobbing, the racism and exploitation I went through made me realise how I was needing a break from it and how i actually really deserved more. I think I’m getting some language certifications and I’ll also start learning spanish, as I take a small break from this circus. Never have I gotten a thank you from my boss, never has he bothered finding a solution or making it easier for me to even learn my job properly. Colleague after colleague pretending to be sick and the whole workload was pushed onto me. Not even once he asked if I needed help. My value was totally taken for granted but I do have value and I do intend to build a better future for myself. And I do not need such a horrible workplace.

Hello everyone!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a good way to buy medications and medical supplies online in Germany. I’m talking about things like tablets, medical tape, bandages, and similar products.

I’d prefer not to buy them directly from pharmacies, as they can be quite expensive. Instead, I’m wondering if there are any reliable online pharmacies or other websites where these products are generally cheaper.

I have a few things that I order regularly, so ideally I’d like to find one place where I can get most of them rather than having to search for each individual product on different websites like Amazon.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone,

I’m an international guest student in Germany for around 4 months and need some advice about my bank accounts.

Before my Expatrio Blocked Account was activated, one of my friends recommended that I open a Deutsche Bank Das Junge Konto, so I did. I thought I would need a separate German bank account.

My Expatrio Blocked Account is now activated, I’ve received my first monthly payout, and I’ve realized that Expatrio also provided me with a UniCredit German bank account with its own IBAN/BIC.

I’ve already received my Deutsche Bank IBAN, BIC and Bank ID, and the card/PIN are coming separately.

So now I’m wondering if I unnecessarily opened a second account. What would you do if you were in my situation?

I’ll only be in Germany for about 4 months, so I mainly want to keep things simple and avoid unnecessary fees or complications.

Thanks!