My daughter and I plan to move to Dresden

@kaiageige5 Julien is the site owner and lives in Mauritius - I doubt he can help you with this!

So please allow me to give my opinion:

• It is NOT a good idea to buy a property when you are new in the country, don't know the market and environment. It is also recommended to buy only if you intend to stay for at least 10 years, due to the transaction cost, tax and length of the purchase process.
• As a foreigner without credit history here, you are perceived as higher risk and will thus pay higher mortgage interest. Check with a suitable bank first whether you can get one at all!
• Opening a bank account is made difficult by your government's onerous rules - many German banks don't want to comply with them and thus won't open accounts for USA citizens. I am sure a USA person will reply to tell you which ones do. If not, just make some phone calls to banks. In any case, you need to register and get a residence permit first!
• Your daughter can be admitted to any public school. If she is not fluent in German, you should choose one with preparatory classes ("Förderklasse") to bring foreign kids up to standard to enter normal German classes. The local "Schulamt" (school authority) can tell you which ones do.
• For violin classes, Google is your friend - keyword "Musikschule".

Hello everyone and welcome on board kaiageige5 !

Please note that I have created a new thread on the Dresden forum from your post and the feedback you received from Germany Expert, Beppi.

All the best

Bhavna

@beppi  Thank you Beppi ! for you reply !!!

It is correct that we might have to pay more interests in terms of mortgage.

Hypofriends actually are the experts in this field. Have you heard of them ?

The key is how to obtain a bank account here as an American citizen.

Or I can just pay for cash, even for that, it requires a bank in EU, or any bank in EU will do?

As for my daughter, who is 14-year-old, she can be admitted to any public school? I would do more research on it.

I have no intention to obtain a job in Germany though, as I am more than content of my career as a chip design engineer at Intel in the US.

It is my daughter, whom I would bring her to a new culture / school / life here in Germany.

@Bhavna  Thank you Bhavna, will join your new thread / post and thanks for your work here!

@kaiageige5 I assume the PM you sent me is obsolete, so I reply here:

• I have never heard of Hypofriend (I assume you mean hypofriend.de). According to their webpage, they are a match-maker between mortgage seeker and lending bank. Since they live off bank's commissions (not your fees), they will neither be impartial, nor on your side - whatever they claim towards the opposite!
• You do surely need a German bank account if you live here, but I don't understand why you think it's required for a property purchase - the seller surely doesn't care where the money is coming from, and would certainly accept an international bank transfer, too.
• I want to say this again: It is a BAD idea for a foreigner without good market knowledge (and long-term residency plans) to buy a property here. Almost all new residents rent at first (as do 50% of the German population) and decide on a purchase after a few years, if at all. In addition, the property market is in turmoil right now and there is a good chance prices will fall - causing a loss if you buy now. I guess this mortgage agent did not tell you this, right?
• If you continue working in the USA, does that mean your daughter will move to Germany alone? Or do you want to work remotely from Germany for a USA company? In the latter case, the matter is VERY complex in terms of visa (allowing freelance work), taxation (your world income is taxed where you live, NOT where it is paid - and this may lead to double taxation if the USA sees this differently!), health insurance (every resident needs a German one!) and potentially business registration, accountancy and other issues. All this will cost you time and money (especially if you are not fluent in buerocratic German and must engage professional help) and in most cases makes remote work from Germany unattractive. Please read related threads that already exist on this forum!
• Your daughter not only can, but MUST join a German school (compulsory schooling). How good is her German? If it isn't at C1 level or better (and she is up to speed in other subjects, too), she will probably lose a year academically to catch up.

@beppi Hi Beppi, you are exactly correct on the topic of opening a bank account: If paying in cash or paying in full, it doesn't really matter that we have the bank account or not .

now, I seem to have only concern which is involving the teen, who is 14-year-old.

As you mentioned earlier, she can be admitted to any public school. And she needs to enroll in special language classes. I am more than happy to learn about that.

but I have one question: does she need her parent to be a registered resident or she doesn't need?  If her parents are in the US, although she has all the accommodations here in Germany, will she still be able to enroll in a public school? Again, she is an American,  but I am trying to establish her life here in Germany as a student and/ or a resident.  Please advise!

lastly, you mentioned , going to Schulamt in Dresden, as they can provide more info for the schools. Can you please provide one of these places examples if possible?

many thanks!

but I have one question: does she need her parent to be a registered resident or she doesn't need?

A minor needs (by law) a legal guardian who can make decisions, organize various issues and sign documents. You cannot fulfill that role from abroad.

Having a teenage daughter myself, I also believe it is wishful thinking that a 14-years-old manages daily life without an adult around her. The dangers are too many and too real.

(And in case of problems that indicate neglect, the relevant authority, called "Jugendamt", can remove your legal guardianship over her and place her in foster care.)

I think you should consider boarding schools (which cover guardianship and other issues as well, but are not cheap), everything else would not work!

lastly, you mentioned , going to Schulamt in Dresden, as they can provide more info for the schools. Can you please provide one of these places examples if possible?

Google can find it for you! (If you contact or visit them, make sure it is in German - or bring a German speaking friend along!)

I agree with Beppi. One can neither just dump a minor here by themselves nor have them register without a legal guardian. Boarding schools are a way around but expensive. Possibly if there were a close relative like an aunt and/or uncle then maybe one might be able to get them to take guardianship but not even sure how easy that would be. And to go to school a pupil has to be registered, even if they are German. One cannot live here without registering and if not living here then as a non-resident they don't get to attend school. And until age 16 they have to go to school. And unlike in the USA, home schooling is not allowed in Germany.

Of course as an adult they can try to study in Germany but that is a whole other process of getting a study visa. And one should be aware that Germans use the word "student" for one at university and not for kids still in school. The proper English term is pupil (Schülerin, in German) - although in common practice Americans interchange the 2 terms. And in this context, information about a "study visa" means for university. For a visa for other kinds of schools or trainings, or being a pupil, it has another name.