The best services to use when moving to Germany

Hi there,

when one moves to Germany not only the language but the way Germany works can be quite daunting. Where can I get good local health insurance, which bank shall I open an account with, which insurance policies do I really need, which ones do I not need, what support does the German government offer to people living and working in Germany, what is childsupport like and how does it work, how does the German public health and pension system work, what is offsetable against tax, how much income tax am I liable to pay. What are the differences between being employed and being a feelancer or a contractor? These and many more very relevant questions need to be asked and answered. Getting good advice from a local who preferably speaks English as a mother-tongue can be extremely helpful. Avoid talking to companies who claim to advise expats worldwide as an independant financial advisor. These are usually fly in/fly out advisors who will try and sweet talk you into opening an offshore investment account which they claim is not subject to German income tax. Unfortunately though this turns out to be completely wrong.

S.

I'm lucky in that I'm married to a German woman but for people that don't have that luxury , there is no checklist of important things that must be carried out within a certain amount of time of arrival in Germany. Like registering at your local Rathaus and going to the Auslander Amt and then for people wishing to permanently live and work here you must enrol in a Deutsch Intergrations kurs within 6 weeks of arrival and this costs a bit of coin . All of these processes are in German and if you cannot speak or read german it is very difficult. People need to be made very aware that living costs are very different to Australia. Here you pay water , heating, rubbish and if your bin is full before your cycle then a approved rubbish bag costs over €5 ,Bio (foodscrapes) tv and radio (not pay tv this is an additional cost) , electricity , home phone and internet mobile phone ( sometimes the cheapest provider isn't the best . I've noticed mobile phone coverage is not as good as in Australia) . Have a CV in German and in the German format (includes a pic) . All in all I recommend start learning German before moving and then enrolling in a B1 course when you get here. The integrations kurs is hard going if you are working . I was working 8hrs a day 5 days a week and the course 3 days a week from 6pm to 10 pm and course lasts for a year (660 hrs) , I felt a lot of pressure to pass or it was another 330 hrs of study and by the end I was spent . But it is worth every hour , Australia could take a leaf out of this book.  There is probably plenty I forgot or missed as I said my wife is German and organised everything. I am not aware of a service here in Germany or Australia that helps people migrate , with either information or help with forms , translations cost a lot of money.
I hope I have helped a little. Viel glück.