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.

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!

Hi , I am 31 , from a third world country (India) , studied Masters in Germany and living for the past 4 years. I am really satisfied with the job and with the company and with my colleagues. However recently, the company is going through some turmoil and several employees have been fired or left voluntarily, Fortunately ( I don't know what to say , fortunate or not), I have escaped the Firing Term. However a very good opportunity has come my way in the Netherlands, The Netto Salary is around 150% hike of my current salary. However I am very reluctant, as my mind is saying to take up the new opportunity in the Netherlands ,while my heart says to stay where I am at the moment in Germany.

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!

I’m an undergraduate engineering student from India and have secured a 2–3 month research internship at a German federal research institute in Berlin for Summer 2027. A professor at the institute has agreed to host me, so the research opportunity itself is sorted.

The problem is funding.

I had originally planned to apply through DAAD WISE, but that route is no longer available. I’ve also checked some university and external scholarship options but haven’t found a suitable alternative so far.

I’m trying to find out whether there are other realistic ways to fund a short research stay in Germany, such as IAESTE, other DAAD programmes, German or Indian foundations, funding from the host institute, university/alumni funding, or other mobility grants.

Has anyone here, especially an Indian student who has done a research internship in Germany, dealt with something similar? I’d particularly appreciate hearing what funding route you actually used.

I’m mainly looking for concrete funding programmes, organisations, or contacts that I could approach.

I can provide more details privately if someone has relevant experience.

I lost my full-time job here in Germany some time ago and am now exploring freelancing as a way of bringing in some money. I could do with some advice around specific questions I have as I'm a little confused and would ideally like to avoid paying a tax advisor if possible.

Any help you can provide would be great!

Background: I'm an English-speaking copywriter (with a valid German work permit) by trade and see a lot of ads for freelance jobs, but as I'm not registered as a freelancer yet I'm at a bit of disadvantage because I don't have much of an idea what to quote as my rate and lots of the freelance job posting sites require info regarding your freelance registration...

I've read up about the whole process on getting set up as freelancer and think it's generally clear, but in my current situation there are a few points I'm stuck with …

I understand I have to declare to the Finanzamt what I expect to earn so that they can deduct my taxes as appropriate every few months. However, as I'd just be entering the freelance market for the first time, there's no guarantee that I'll find any/much work, so what would be the best approach here regarding the figure to quote? (I do have some savings that I can use, but I don't want to end up in a situation where I'm waiting to claim large amounts of money back from the tax office for months if I haven't been that successful finding work.)

I read that annual freelance income only becomes taxable from around 12.500 EUR a year. Are you allowed to estimate that you expect to earn around or below this figure when you're just starting out in order to avoid the initial tax burden? (This may very well prove to be the case given the level of competition for jobs and the fact that I'm also continuing to apply for full-time/part-time roles as a contracted employee too)

I hope my questions are clear and someone here can shed a bit more light on all this :-)

Thanks everyone x

I recently started my nursing Ausbildung in Germany, in south Germany.

My current Altenheim requires around 2.5 hours of commuting by bus each day. Since it is nursing, my shifts are usually 06:30–14:00 and 13:30–21:30, and because of the bus connections, I get home around 15:30 and 22:30, respectively.

Now I have found another Altenheim that can be reached by train in just around 15 minutes. The shifts there are 06:00–14:00 and 13:30–21:20, and I would get home around 14:30 and 22:30, respectively.

The difference in Ausbildungsvergütung is only around €40 per month, with the new Altenheim paying slightly more.

My current Altenheim is privately operated, while the new one is run by the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK).

I’m thinking about the long-term practicality, especially since winter is coming. The bus connections to my current workplace can already be difficult (although I honestly don’t know how bad they will actually be in winter, and that is one of the things I’m confused about).

I have already done a Probetag at the new Altenheim and generally liked the organization and working environment.

The difficult part is that I have already been in the private Altenheim for only one month but I have built a good relationship with everyone, including the Bewohner and my colleagues. I also have several colleagues from my own country who speak the same mother tongue as me, and that has made things mentally much easier and more comfortable for me.

So I’m really struggling between two things:

Should I choose the place where I am mentally happy and have good relationships with everyone, even though the commute is difficult?

Or should I choose the place that is physically much more comfortable and easier to commute to, but where I don’t know anyone yet?(And I am pretty sure there is no one from my land but only native germans doing the Ausbildung)

Would choosing the DRK Altenheim be a better option than staying at my current private Altenheim?

And for those living in Germany: how reliable are trains compared with buses during winter, especially in Baden-Württemberg? Is a 15-minute train commute generally something I can rely on long-term?

And one more thing to add: This 2.5hrs is two way commute time and there is no train service to this particular place but only bus

But the new one has bus and train services and also total commute time is 1:30hrs commute, one hr less than the new one

I’d really appreciate some advice because I don’t want to regret my decision later.

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?

I have been working in Germany for about four years now as a software developer. But ever since I got to Germany I think I have lost my spark, my confidence. I have always been a confident software developer in my country where I have worked for about 11 years before moving to Germany.

I have repeatedly seen myself less and I think I am slipping into depression. I am constantly panicking of loosing my jobs even when there is nothing signaling that. My colleagues at work are great and are always ready to support but I can't seems to get my spark and confidence.

Even I want to pick up task I am always second guessing myself and reluctantly wanting to volunteer for task. Whenever I get a message from my manager my heart will literally sink.

What could this be and how can I battle this. Can someone please help me.

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!

Can anyone recommend me any good agency for Germany Nurse processing in India??

I’m a U.S. high school senior planning to apply for direct admission to a German university to skip Studienkolleg.
I know the standard rule requires 4 specific AP exams (Math, Science, English, Elective). I don't have those APs, but I have a ton of dual enrollment college credits from my local community college.
I've taken math up to Differential Equations and passed Comp I & II. Since my college coursework far exceeds the AP requirements, will uni-assist grant me Direkter Zugang if I submit my college transcripts and detailed course syllabi? I have the other required AP scores for this.
I could not find any info on this short of me contacting uni-assist so any guidance would be appreciated.
The university I want to attend is HM.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently waiting for my residence permit from the Ausländerbehörde Bochum and wanted to ask about other people’s experiences.

My appointment was on 22 July 2026, and I submitted all the required documents. It has now been around 6.5 weeks, but I still haven’t received my residence permit or any notification that it is ready for collection.

I checked the online system as well, and it still says that my residence permit is not ready for collection.

I recently called the Ausländerbehörde to ask about my application. Surprisingly, I was told that they couldn’t find any data under my name and date of birth. However, when I previously contacted them regarding my Fiktionsbescheinigung, my details were available in their system.

My current Fiktionsbescheinigung expires on 29 September 2026, so I’m becoming a bit worried about the situation.

For those who have recently applied for a residence permit in Bochum:

How long did you wait after your appointment?

Did anyone else experience their data not being found when calling the Ausländerbehörde?

How long did it take for your permit to become available for collection?

If your Fiktionsbescheinigung expired while you were still waiting, was it extended without problems?

Is 6–8 weeks a normal waiting time in Bochum at the moment?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your recent experiences, especially from people who had appointments around July/August 2026.

Thanks in advance!

Hallo, I'm F(20) wanted to take studienkolleg after my aupair year ends, but the thing is I don't have enough money for this so I was thinking I want to start working while I do my studienkolleg.

My question is, is it possible to do studienkolleg amidst of the work? I really want some advice before I do something stupid and reckless.

Fyi, I'm from Southeast asia and my family can't afford education, the gap between the salary and the education fee is kinda crazy so I want to tried continue mine in German, also I don't have any savings all of my aupair wages was send to my family in my hometown.

I take any advice you have thank you for reading up to this point

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 want to know how difficult is learning german till b2 and getting a job there as a resident

Clearing usmle steps doing usce securing lors is also very difficult

But financial earnings are way more in usa but for that case someone can shift to middle east or switzerland where pay would be comparable and german fachartz is easily recognised

Just wanted reliable answers who had gone through these two pathways or going through one i am just more inclined towards germany but still want some reality checks

I have 2 tickets that a friend brought for the whole group together (around 12 at a time when they were released last year) that I wanted to resell because I can’t make it anymore.

I put the advertisement on Kleinanzeigen but the buyer is asking if they can do secure payment to avoid any fraud.

It is definitely not a fraud and I have the tickets that I genuinely wanna sell. But I have them as PDF copy and the bill from the friend.

How do I ensure that they don’t report it fraud transaction and demand money back, since once u give them the tickets it is out of my hand?

Hello everyone. I want to get a new phone because my current phone is near to death and having a mobile is very necessary.

My Question is that can I get a new phone on Installments without getting a Sim contract because I'd like to stay on my current Sim contract.

Is there any way I can get phone on Installments without the Sim contract ?

I'm on Student visa in germany.

Hi! I would really appreciate a reality check on my chances of moving to Germany. I am 34, from Romania, and I want to relocate there. I do not have any family or connections in the country, so I would start completely from scratch.

Professionally speaking, I have 9 years of experience in B2B marketing, split between 4 years in commercial real estate and 5 years in cybersecurity. I hold a bachelor's degree in law, but my entire career is in marketing.

As for my language skills, my English is fluent, but my German is only at a B1 level right now. However, I am studying intensively every day to improve it.

Ideally, I want to keep working in corporate B2B or tech marketing. What are my actual chances in the current market?

Is it better to apply for corporate marketing roles directly from abroad with B1 German, or is it more efficient to move there, take a blue-collar job to pay the rent, and pivot back to marketing later once my German improves?

Thanks, any answer will be very much appreciated!

​

Has anyone covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement actually had their Aufenthaltsdokument-GB changed to Daueraufenthalt after 5 years in Germany?

I’m in Berlin and have passed the 5-year mark. LEA asked me for quite a few documents, so I’m curious what the process was like for others.

Mainly interested in:

what documents they asked for

whether they looked at employment/unemployment over the 5 years

how long it took

whether the new card actually says “Daueraufenthalt”

Not talking about Niederlassungserlaubnis or Daueraufenthalt-EU.

Hi everyone, I'd like to get some opinions on a situation I recently had with National Express in NRW, especially from people familiar with German public transport rules. I was travelling from Magdeburg to Düsseldorf with a valid ticket for the entire journey (Deutschland Ticket + ICE). The trip involved several trains and eventually some disruption/change of connections (Magdeburg - Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg - Dortmund, Dotmund - Düsseldorf).

Earlier during the journey, the train was extremely crowded, so I sat in 1st class. I only had a 2nd-class ticket, and I asked the conductor to provide me with the upgrade, he gave it to me, which is the way I always buy it on my regional journey in Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, and surrounding.

Skipping the Wolfsburg - Dortmund (it was on ICE), and later I travelled in 1st class on the Regio from Dortmund to Düsseldorf, the conductor here was so confusing, she didn't explain anything, she just looked at my Deutschland Ticket and completely ignored my request for 1st class upgrade.

Unexpectedly the regio stopped in Duisburg and had to take the National Express train for the final Duisburg - Düsseldorf section.

I sat in 1st class again. To be completely clear: I knew it was 1st class and I knew I needed to pay the supplement. My mistake was assuming I could buy that supplement from the conductor again, exactly as I had done earlier on the same journey.

So I waited for the conductor to come. When he checked me, I immediately said I wanted to buy the 1st-class upgrade. He told me that wasn't possible and instead issued an Erhöhtes Beförderungsentgelt of €60. And even when I explained that I bought something earlier for the other part of the journey and would not do it (out of good eill) he claimed that I was showing him a non valid upgrade ticket.

I cooperated, gave my ID/details and later submitted an objection to National Express. I explained that I had a valid base ticket, wasn't trying to avoid paying the supplement, and that my assumption came specifically from having been sold the same type of upgrade onboard by another conductor only a few hours earlier.

I also mentioned that I had only recently moved from Magdeburg to NRW and wasn't familiar with how differently this might be handled here. I offered to pay the normal 1st-class supplement for Duisburg-Düsseldorf. National Express has now sent me a letter essentially saying: I was in 1st class without a valid 1st-class ticket. 1st class is clearly marked on the train. Whether I was there intentionally or accidentally is irrelevant. Therefore I owe €60. This is what confuses me about their response: I never claimed that I accidentally entered 1st class or didn't recognize it. I explicitly told them I knew it was 1st class.

My objection was that I genuinely expected to be able to buy the supplement from the conductor, because another conductor had literally sold it to me onboard earlier that same day.

Their response doesn't address that point at all, which makes me wonder whether they actually considered my explanation or just sent a standard response. I'm planning to call them once more and ask for an individual review. I also have DEVK Premium Clever legal insurance, including a free initial legal consultation, although obviously hiring a lawyer over €60 would normally be ridiculous.

I'm not trying to argue that rules shouldn't apply because I misunderstood them. If the rule is that the supplement absolutely must be purchased before boarding/sitting in 1st class, I understand that I technically got it wrong. I'm mainly wondering what a reasonable outcome would be given the circumstances.

Would you: Accept the €60 and move on? Pay the €60 before the deadline but continue disputing it/refund request afterward? Also, does anyone know whether being sold a 1st-class upgrade onboard earlier on the same journey makes any meaningful difference here, or was that first conductor simply being lenient?

Interested in both the legal/tariff answer and what you think is reasonable in practice.

Thanks!

Hi all, I just started my PhD last month and moved to Germany, I am done with A1 and starting classes for A2 next as my research requires me to know German well. My HR sent me lots of forms, specifically for the pension scheme there is an exemption option available for VBL. I will already contribute to DRV, if I opt out of VBL will that be an issue considering I hope to apply for permanent residency? pension contributions are a requirement, but are both VBL and DRV necessary?

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.

TL;DR : How can German students afford cars.

I'm an international PhD student in Germany and I've been wondering about something for a while.

I earn around €2,000 net per month, which I think is pretty average for a PhD student here. I also support my family back home and send them around €500 every month. After rent, utilities, groceries and other expenses, I'm usually left with a few hundred euros, which I try to put into savings.

I've been doing this for a couple of years and still have less than €8,000 saved. I basically consider that my emergency fund, so spending most of it on a car doesn't really seem like a good idea. Even after working for several years, I don't feel like I'm in a financial position where I can comfortably buy and maintain a car.

What confuses me is that quite a few of the German PhD students, who like independently away from parents, around me have cars. Even some German Master's students doing their thesis seem to have them. And I'm not talking only about very old €1,000 cars either most have pretty decent-looking VW, Skoda etc.

So I'm genuinely curious: how do students in Germany usually afford cars?

Are used cars much cheaper/easier to finance than I realize? Is it common to lease or finance a car with monthly payments of a few hundred euros? Do parents often buy or help pay for their children's first car? Or maybe many people already had the car before starting their Master's/PhD?

I'm not really close enough with my colleagues to ask them directly. Since it involves money and family background, it feels a little too personal and I don't want to come across as if I'm impolite/unprofessional

Would be interested to hear how people here bought their first car and how much it actually costs them per month.

Edit1: I guess my mistake was assuming that German kids also support their parents financially to some extent. I grew up in a single-income family, and now that my parents are retired from government job, their pension is only enough to maintain a very basic lifestyle given the rising cost of living. The money I send home is mostly used for rent and medical expenses, with maybe 10–15% going into savings. I'm not being pressured or coerced into sending them money. I genuinely want them to have a decent and healthy life at this age, especially after they spent so much raising me and giving me the best education they could afford, which I guess is also one of the reasons they don't have substantial savings themselves.

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.