Seeking guidance from disabled expats who moved to Germany

I am not disabled, so can only give some information from other sources. Please excuse me if this is just an incomplete attempt:

1. Rental housing is costly and difficult to find in most cities. Having special needs makes this even more so. This forum has lots of good advice on all aspects of renting, which you should read. For house requirements like cleaning duties,. you can hire service providers (at your cost). Guide dogs (certified) for the blind are allowed even in otherwise pet-free houses. Apartments reserved for disabled are rare and waiting lists long - do not count on this!
2. No idea, sorry!
3. For the house search, plan for a minimum of three months, realistically four to six months from arrival to move-in. Accessible hotels and short-term places can be booked for this period (at a cost).
4. All services around moving, pick-ups, deliveries, furniture assembly are available (for a price). Finding reliable providers might be a challenge, though.
5. As far as I know, German health insurance (see below) only provides the most basic, non-powered wheelchairs (or subsidises others to the cost of this).
6. Doctors (especially specialists) often have waitlists for new patients. No idea how to get a disability rating and how it helps. Having a private insurer (except Basistarif) helps to be accepted much faster.
7. Whether you must join the public or private health insurance scheme is not your choice, but determined by how you are insured in your home country now (or during your last stint in Germany, if any). Please note that above a certain age and with pre-existing conditions, the cost of private insurers (which are probably the only ones providing what you need) might make your plan to move here unfeasible. The public scheme costs a fixed amount of approx. 300€/month for people without income. The PKV Basistarif around 1000€/month (of which disabled an get half reimbursed under certain circumstances) and covers about as much as the public scheme. Other private tariffs are sure to cost more.
8. Most public buildings and facilities are disabled-friendly in principle, but elevators often break down and are not repaired speedily.

I hope this helps to give you a first orientation.

An American has no given right to live in Germany. If not married to a German or other Schengen citizen then one has to be able to pay their way. The question would be if your income sources will be enough? One will not be allowed to just show up and get social benefits and have the govenment pay for you. Like Beppi mentioned, which insurnce you get into depends on various factors. Above a certain age one can no longer get a public option and the private alternatives are likely expensive. Healthcare coverage usually only covers the minimal standard. So things like electric wheel chairs, if needed, and which models might become an issue. In theory the disabled have many rights and services. In reality disabled access to many things is often limited. Many buildings are hundred of years old and have no elevators. Often the access to U-Bahn or S-Bahn stations is difficult. Some simply have no options. Others have an elevator or maybe just an escalator but they can often be out of order. Germany is animal friendly and one usually has a right to have a dog or cat and certainly if it is a service animal.

@TominStuttgart

To be clear: I did not come here asking for handouts, nor would I expect to get them in Germany. I'm not receiving handouts now in the U.S. either. I have income from SSDI (which is based on my income when I was able to work), some residual royalties, and resources such as retirement accounts and savings.

I have German heritage and have spoken to a German immigration attorney who feels I have a clear case for citizenship by descent, though I recognize that this does not automatically entitle me to any particular insurance or other disability rights. I'm also in the process of learning German.

I don't intend to become a burden on any society that I'm a member of. But I also have no choice in being disabled and have to live SOMEWHERE. The world cannot keep throwing their hands up and saying "You can't live here for free, disabled people!" Which is not what most of us are asking for, anyway.

I have looked into the cost of living and the biggest hurdle is which type of insurance I will qualify for due to my disabilities, and what it will cost. The costs of rent, utilities, food, etc. are all significantly lower than where I live now. I am doing my due diliigence to determine which insurance I am eligible for by reaching out to several companies, and I of course will not move if it isn't feasible. 

I am looking for the experiences of disabled and chronically ill people in moving to and living in Germany. That's all.

@Lune Arin

I didn’t want to suggest you are looking for handouts per se but to clarify the situation about how officials will look at one’s financial situation. Most people come with a work situation. Few foreigners retire to Germany in any circumstances. It’s important to show enough income to even have a chance.

And it is completely legitimate to ask what services are provided for disabled. In theory there is a lot of access say in government buildings or special changing rooms and even lifts at pools. In reality, getting around in a wheel chair for example can be difficult and often means really planning say which buses or U-Bahn/S-Bahns and which stops or stations are going to be manageable at the best of times. And often things are broken or under construction.

I am not disabled myself but helped take care of my father-in-law the last 3 years of his life as he was half paralyzed and in a wheel chair. Plenty of experiences of the struggles of trying to get to use a handicapped parking because non-handicaps take them – or of finding there was no way out of a U-Bahn because the elevators were broken. Sometimes the solution was to go a stop farther and come back and then there would be access on the other side. Also good experiences say at swimming pools here that have great facilities for handicaps and are overjoyed to see someone actually show up and use them.

The subject of citizenship through ancestry is complicated. Hopefully your lawyer knows the subject well. Many falsely assume their German ancestry will lead to citizenship but the general rule is one of your parents has to have been German at the time of your birth. Not even Grandparents or other relatives count. Theoretically, and it seems a recent post to this site mentioned this working for them, is that they had a German grandfather who immigrated to the States. They had a child in the US before naturalizing there, after which until a couple of years ago usually resulted in automatic loss of German citizenship. Thus the parent of the poster was born in the US but both a US and German citizen by birth. And this was maintained and then passed to the next generation. Decades ago, if a female German had given birth abroad, the citizenship would not have been passed on. Now it can be retroactively claimed, that the right to citizenship should not depend on gender alone.

The most common exception though is that German citizens that left due to prosecution by the Nazis will have their citizenship restored and to all direct decendents. Jewish people are assumed to have been under duress but others, if they have adequate proof, can also get this exemption. This could apply to say Romas or homosexuals or known communists – all targeted by the Nazi regime. Not necessarily easy to prove though.

@TominStuttgart

The same issues occur here, both regarding one's financial situation, as well as the obstacles of being a wheelchair user. I am well-aware of the income requirements for the Visas; it's something I've looked into extensively both alone and with expert assistance. I'm more than used having to investigate something down to minute details to ensure I have all the facts straight.

I lived for three years in an apartment building that had an elevator, but I was on the third floor, and the fire alarms went off constantly. During this time the elevators are locked down, but we're expected to evacuate. They had no emergency plan for this and many of us were trapped on each floor, calling emergency services to find out if there was a real fire and which apartment to find us in, while the alarms are shrieking in our ears. I've had a restaurant have to rearrange their furniture so that I could get to their handicap restroom, and when I was in a manual chair, people would grab the handles and decide to redirect me without my permission, thinking they were "helping."

I have to do extra work, and struggle to live in the world regardless of where I go. To me, the only question is whether I can afford to live there and access the necessary healthcare, and rest assured I'm researching this heavily, along with my potential citizenship application.

I actually have consulted with two German immigration lawyers who specialize in citizenship by descent, and while what you said is partially accurate, it's more nuanced than that. Both have said that they have worked with cases like mine and feel that if I am able to procure records to validate what I've said, that I should have a good chance. It is of course, not a guarantee, but it's reassuring that people who handle these cases every day believe it has merit.

Thank you for adding your experiences with your father in-law. It's unfortunate but unsurprising that things like this happen. Is there no way to contact a station ahead of time and ask whether their elevators are functional?

Is there no way to contact a station ahead of time and ask whether their elevators are functional?

Smaller stations are not manned - so there is nobody to contact.

And for very big stations, which might have many elevators, I doubt that the phone hotline has an overview of the situation.

Last not least, sudden changes are always possible: Nobody can foresee when an elevator breaks down (which they frequently do) or whether your train will be re-routed to another platform (which is even more common).

Is there no way to contact a station ahead of time and ask whether their elevators are functional?
Smaller stations are not manned - so there is nobody to contact.
And for very big stations, which might have many elevators, I doubt that the phone hotline has an overview of the situation.
Last not least, sudden changes are always possible: Nobody can foresee when an elevator breaks down (which they frequently do) or whether your train will be re-routed to another platform (which is even more common). - @beppi

Its seems to be common practice these days, that only major stations have phyical ticket counters. They are increasingly going towards electronic ticket machines.

As for elevators, passengers check live status updates via apps like the Deutsche Bahn Navigator or local transit operator sites to see if a lift is working before traveling.

There is an app from the Deutschebahn that includes local system information as well as local tranportation system ones. They do give warnings of closed stops, elevators or esculators but how complete or up to date they might be is questionable. Something taken out of service for an extended period of time might get listed but problems that arise short term often not. One might need time to suss out their local system; which places are reliable and which not.

As the subject of citizenship by ancestry is is a common topic here; maybe the grounds for the claim can be mentioned. Other than from a parent or victim of the Nazi regime, what would be the basis? That one has ancestry going back further would make about half of the citizens of the Americas eligible - and not how it generally works. What exception are the lawyers going on?

@TominStuttgart

The basis of the claim is gender discrimination. Prior to a certain year, the law stated that women did not retain their German citizenship if they married someone who was not German. Basically, women were property and transferred from their fathers to husbands and had no rights of their own to citizenship, to owning or inheriting property. I'm far from an expert in this but anyone interested can look on the reddit threads about this for some basic details, and of course speaking to a legal expert is best.

This does actually exist:

https://www.bva.bund.de/DE/Services/Bue … _node.html

But knowing German officialdom, I wouldn't expect this to be easy, quick (or cheap). Please come back here and report how it goes, so we can learn from your experience.

@beppi

Yes, this is what they were referring to (and I had already read this web page prior to contacting them). They have advised me which documents I need to try to track down, and I know it won't be quick or easy for sure. I have an ace in the hole, however tenuous, that my great-grandfather was a consulate employee at the time it happened, so I was hoping there would be better documentation, but so far it's been a struggle. It's a lot of reaching out to various places and asking them if they have what I need, then waiting weeks or months for an answer. I requested a copy of great-grandfather's death record for Hamburg through their online system in February and never heard a peep from them. Then suddenly in the mail a few days ago, the certified copies appeared, along with an invoice which I happily paid. The main problem is finding records on my grandmother, as she was born abroad while he was stationed at a consulate, as well as proof that my great-grandfather was who he said he was as far as his employment for the government. This seems to have been lost or damaged during world war(s), or is not something that has been digitized thus far.

@Lune Arin I wish you good luck, lots of patience and a high frustration tolerance in dealing with the buerocrats!

But I really wonder if this is all worth it. Citizenship will help you in being able to move to Germany, for sure. But then, in a foreign (and often unforgiving) environment, many people find themselves unhappier than in familiar terrain (i.e. at home). Do you at least speak German well? (I would consider that an absolute necessity when moving in your circumstances!)

About the citizenship by ancestry issue I would point out that some citizenship laws were gendered biased and it is to Germany’s credit that they try to reverse past rules that were unfair. The thing is that going back prior to parents is tricky. There has to be an unbroken chain of German citizenship being passed down. Many conditions for Germans that left nullified the citizenship and thus the chain was broken. It would have to be shown tht the citizenehsip would have validly passed on if only the gender issue didn’t stop it. Can mean that citizenship restored due to gender would be lost in the next generation anyway due to other factors. And one also has to know that many relevent laws changed over the years and decades and one has to know which ones applied at the time. One also has the burden of proof; but many records might be lost over time, German government achieves easily lost during wars.

@beppi

As I mentioned previously, I am already in the process of learning German. I knew some German since childhood (along with other languages). German will be my fourth language. I'm not at all worried about learning it as not only am I using formal education but I have several friends and relatives who are native speakers. I would not be traveling to a place where I know nobody and don't understand the language or culture.

I am not really interested in fully sharing all my reasons for doing this. It's a long story and it's very personal. But for me it's worth it.

@TominStuttgart

This is all correct and already things I was aware of. Which is why I'm working with an attorney and genealogy experts before I submit anything. I have until 2031 to submit an application under the current laws. I have already found many supporting documents. Germany in particular is excellent about preserving historical documents, and providing reasonable access to people who request them. I, and others in a group I belong to, have found records dating back to prior to the year 1900 in Germany and have already received those documents, while the U.S. is still spinning its wheels on producing certified copies of documents, even when I send them the unofficial digital copy of what is needed.

This process is not going to be easy but I never thought it would be. But my background is in research so I'm not intimidated.

@Lune Arin

Wow....

All I see here, is that we are going around in circle's.

Both beppi (German national) & Tom (Americaan naturalised german citizen) giving you expertise and advise. All you seem to do is be critical on their advice. Well good luck to you you- You are going to need it, if you treat everyone that spends time helping you.

Oh If you you have people to help you in Germany, why are you asking complete strangers?

@SimCityAT

I don't see the responses as criticism but as clarification. Seems like a respectful dialog to me. And some of the things I've mentioned could be seen as failing to directly answer the OPs questions per se but this is a forum rather than direct messaging - so hopefully others might find something pertinant. I would add to her writing that Germany is good at keeping records.... Yes, they are very well known for that, the question being if they survived the war(s). 

@SimCityAT

Firstly, I came to thi website to see if I could find disabled people in Germany for their experiences. I asked specific questions. Even though no disabled people have responded, I have continued the discussions exactly because I am here to learn what I can. And I appreciate the information. I have not negated any of their expertise. I have clarified my situation, which I would not expect them to know. None of us are mind readers, so they don't know what I know or don't.

As for why I came here instead of asking my friends or family--none of them are disabled and even the ones who know disabled people living in Germany don't know all the answers. I have asked them. But also, none of them have moved from a different country to Germany. That's why I came to an expat forum.

@TominStuttgart

Thank you. I don't expect all the answers, I only tried to be as specific as possible to ensure that if an answer is known, that it could be provided. It's very hard to find information about navigating places when one has a mobility issue. This is true for any country, but especially areas that have a lot of historic buildings. I can't just take exploratory trips and hope it will all work out; I have to ask many questions beforehand.

And I agree. These are old records and wars damaged them or the buildings, some that survived were seized by the Allies and never returned. I coud technically file with what I have right now, but I would prefer to provide more evidence, so I will continue searching.