Moving from USA to Germany Questions

SteveC172 wrote:

How hard is it to find a job as an American? (Degree is in Business - MIS)

I understand I need to pass the B-1 exam, and live in Germany for a minimum of 2 years, will my time before I was married be valid?

Beppi provided a concise answer.

But I wonder why you mention a B1 level and 2 year residency? If you are trying to get a family reunion visa, which includes the right to work, you only need A1 and there is no previous residency requirement. How could there be since many people in this position will not have lived in Germany before? Perhaps you are referring to requirements for an unlimited residency permit, settlement permit or eventual citizenship? All of these have advantages over the initial limited residency permit but more requirements including having had residency for a number of years.

I am not sure how many years gap one can have that a previous residency counts. But I do know that the time spent on a student visa for example doesn’t count at all. And US military personnel, their families and government contractors connected with them get to stay in Germany under a special agreement outside of the normal system. Normal residency and visa rules don’t apply and thus their time spent in Germany doesn’t count towards fulfilling any residency requirements.  I suspect that this was likely your situation - but it doesn't matter to  get the family reunion visa.

And to add to Beppi's mention of the work situation. The vast majority of jobs will require pretty fluent German. There seems to be a belief that many opportunities would exist for English speakers without knowing German but these are almost always in certain niche fields like IT, high tech, some areas of engineering and possibly some top academic positons in research or at a University. In management and most business fields it would be rare as far as I know.