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Forum Question Posted By: Replies:
Berlin
Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 01:53 AM UTC
Thanks fellows for your comments. You three assume that I have to rent an apt., paying hundreds of dollars in rent. I heard about something called "Wohnung Gemeinschaft" and I read somewhere that it's possible to get a room for min. 300 euros. And I can assure you that I can live anywhere with my $900 check. You see, I don't smoke, drink little, don't do drugs, very frugal in my eating(calorie reduction prolongs your life) and rather walk than taking the bus. Unfortunately I have to show the German authorities that I have "tens of thousands of dollars" in the bank to be allowed to become a Berlin resident. Well, I'll see how I can solve my problem using creativity and common sense. I have some experience as a language teacher and I can tutor in English, Spanish and I'm fluent in Swedish and French. Thanks again friends. Hope we meet someday in 'Unter den Linden.'
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Berlin
RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 03:58 AM UTC
The 300 is 300DM or 300 German Marks. That's 555 euros or 720 US dollars. If you spend 720 dollars on rent; you haven't much left for food no matter how frugal you are.

There is a great web site on moving to Berlin that cites your Wohnung Gemeinschaft and gives much advice on how to get residence, find housing and also find employment although as a US citizen the employment would be difficult unless you do it illegally.

Here's the web site. I hope it is useful to you.
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0011/livinginberlin.shtml

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Berlin
RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 05:44 AM UTC
I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment , you need a work permit in germany and you almost certainly won,t get one as unemployment is 11% and they are looking to give any available work to their nationals, , why not just apply for a visitors permit that would be valid for say 6 months and return to the US after that time? You can re-enter Germany again as often as you want and would not be doing anything illegal.
However I still say you won,t be able to live there on such a small income, Germany is much more expensive than the US.

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Berlin
RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 11:30 AM UTC
You can find good 40-50m2 two room apartments to rent in Berlin for LESS than 300 euros. My friend had a nice one in central Friedrichshain for about 300 euros, and there are cheaper areas. Berlin is much cheaper than many cities in Germany, especially compared to western cities like Munich and Frankfurt, and compared to cities like London and New York it is an absolute bargain. You can definitely survive there on $900 a month.

For an idea of rental costs, check out:

http://www.immobilienscout24.de/

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Berlin
RE: RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 12:05 PM UTC
$US900 = 700 Euro so if apartments are available at less that 300 Euro I guess you could be Ok if you can fit your spending into the balance.

The problemm as I see it is that as your seventy years of age and have not contributed anything to the german tax system (assumption this is the case) they may be reluctant to take on someone who on the balance of probabilites might be a drain on the public purse in coming years, ie others might have to go without health wise.

Most people i met had good english language skills so you may have to push the spanish side of things. As already mentioned, there is a high unemployment rate.

Berlin is a wonderful city, hope all goes well for you.



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Berlin
RE: RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 01:25 PM UTC
Quote:
The problemm as I see it is that as your seventy years of age and have not contributed anything to the german tax system
/quote

Well, that won't be a problem, since very few foreigners pay taxes in Germany before moving here ;). And in contrast to what many people believe, we do not have some sort of national healthcare. However, our friend would have to have health insurance. Unless you are either very wealthy, public servant or self-employeed, our government shoves health insurance down your neck.

We can discuss all day and night whether or not $900 are enough. After all LuisRafaelPereira needs to convince the authorities, not us. And yes, it's the same procedure as usual. I was loosely thinking of moving to the U.S. but they told me that I need a fortune on my bank account as well.

From what I know, LuisRafaelPereira would, if all goes well, at first receive a resident permit that is valid for 5 years. If, after five years, he has proven to be a law-abiding citizen not living from social-welfare, his permit will be turned into a permanent resident permit.

Some more information for residents in spe:
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/residence.html

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Berlin
RE: RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 08:53 PM UTC
Once you get around our restrictive bureaucracy you should be fine -- at least as far as housing and daily expenses are concerned. Berlin is not a very expensive city, not even by German standards. However, I'd strongly advise you to come to Berlin for a month or so and see how you like it before you make the decision to move.

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Berlin
RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 09:30 PM UTC
Well, the thing you are looking for is called Wohngemeinschaft and can be found under www.wg-gesucht.de for example (or on the pages of the universities). You can easily live on 900 Dollars a month, I cope with quite bit less... But I aggree, try out a tourist visa for a while, six months should give you enough other options to stay...

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RE: RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 09:35 PM UTC
ok, I didn't see your age, I suppose you could check for Senioren WGs (short for Wohngemeinschaften). But you could even get your own flat for under 300 € if you don't mind some inconveniences (like no daylight or coal heating)... I would say you should be able to cope. Regarding the money, usually they only want to see the receipt once, so you could borrow something for a shorter time...

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Berlin
RE: Thanks to Cachaseiro, Mccalpin and Margsh
Posted: Sat January 20, 2007 11:36 PM UTC
The authorities are careful with resident permits to anybody who may end up in the social welfare system.

"Main" problem is actually the health insurance. If you're a member of a public health insurance in Germany you can live with this amount of money. But this is no option for you. You would have to become a member of one of the private insurance companies. And with an entry age of 70 this will be quite expensive. This will be much more than the rent for an apartment.

Only if you're are already in a health scheme and this company will declare that you're also covered by them in Germany you'll have a chance.

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