Is there anyone out there who has successfully got Berlin residency

Hi and welcome on board Swaney

I have created a new thread as from your post on the Berlin Forum for better visibility and interaction

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team

It's funny but I can't find this post unless I use search with "Berlin Residency".  Couldn't find it among the 46 Berlin Blogs.  Am I missing something?

who were you talking to when you said "I read your post"?

JHowell in "Living Abroad."  Maximilien said he created a new thread on the Berlin Forum.  That's the one I can't find.

he moved your post into the Berlin forum and created a thread from it He's an admin so he has the ability to move posts.

You can also marry any other EU citizen and move to Berlin together with him/her.
Sorry, but without any valid (i.e. accepted by the authorities) reason you won't get residency.

Beppi,

Thanks, that is what I am afraid of.  I could continue working in academia but would rather stay home and do research on my own.  I wonder if they would accept that?  Appreciate your advice.

Swaney

Buerocrats follow rules, and usually have no leeway in their decisions.
Unless you have any of the official grounds for getting residency, I suggest you try in a country with looser rules.

I would suggest trying out the waters here before you choose to retire here.  Berlin is constantly changing and is currently undergoing massive gentrification and rent rises.  Regarding others' advice here:  bureaucrats do not make the rules and they very rarely follow the letter of the law.  Most of the time they are simply getting off on their own personal power trip.  Many of them simply enjoy saying 'no' to foreigners.

Having said that, I ask:  how then are so many unemployed hipsters and jobless 'artists' accepted in Berlin?  It may simply be about trust funds and money.  EU citizens get the fast track; they just show up and Germany can't stop them.  Americans have a tougher slippery slope to climb.  Perhaps you have enough to buy property here?

Don't let bureaucracy be a deterrent to your dreams.  Keep in mind that rich countries have a vested interest in deterring immigrants (Germany and UK have the worst bureaucracies I can think of, having lived in both countries). Come here (you have 3 months without any restrictions), try it out, then decide what you will do next.

Or retire to an island somewhere.  What's wrong with you? 

db