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Moving from USA to Germany Questions

Last activity 23 November 2019 by TominStuttgart

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SteveC172

Hello everyone. I have previously lived in Germany from July 2014 - June 2019 as a US Government Contractor. I am now married to a German Citizen while I finish college in California.
A few questions I had is upon completion of college (B.S or Masters), we would like to return back.

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?

Also, if we decided to move to Austria instead of Germany, is it possible for me as an American who is married to a German?

I would like to hear if anybody else has been through a similar process.

Thank you.

beppi

Visa-wise, you will not have problems in either Germany or Austria as spouse of an EU-citizen - but you need A1 German to get a family reunion visa (and that includes full access to the labour market, at least in Germany).
For finding a job, there is no formal requirement of any language certificate or length of stay - you just need to convince an employer that you are the best person to hire. Good German language is usually part of that, especially if the job involves communication with any customer, supplier, partner or colleagiues.

TominStuttgart

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.

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