# Moving to Germany for a canadian



## Goose60 (Jan 23, 2019)

Hello friends,
I have a question regarding my wish to move and live in Germany. I'm from Canada with few years work experience and MBA educated. I fell in love with this country and I'm ready to move there as soon as I gather all the infos.
Do you guys think I can have a residency permit easily? I'm planning to take a year to practice my German full time.

Any information will be highly appreciated!

Thank you.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Goose60 said:


> Hello friends,
> I have a question regarding my wish to move and live in Germany. I'm from Canada with few years work experience and MBA educated. I fell in love with this country and I'm ready to move there as soon as I gather all the infos.
> Do you guys think I can have a residency permit easily? I'm planning to take a year to practice my German full time.
> 
> ...


How old are you?

If you are under 35 you can start out with a Youth Mobility Visa:

https://canada.diplo.de/ca-en/consular-services/visa/yma

That should give you time to learn the language, see whether you like the place and possibly find an employer to sponsor you.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Moving to Germany as a Canadian is certainly possible, though not without hoops to jump through.

Some questions: how good is your German, and are you young enough to qualify for the YMV program?

If your intention is to spend a year learning German first before working, then you'd be advised to apply for a residence permit as a language student and not "burn" the 12-month work permit by applying for the YMV. You'd need to enroll in a language program that qualifies and prove means of financial support, health insurance etc. That info is easily found on German government web sites. Study for a year then get the YMV and look for a job.

Practicing or "picking up" the language can be a challenge because English is increasingly widespread. Particularly if you landed a job in the digital world, there would be very little opportunity to use German in the workplace (assuming you were at beginner level, it wouldn't get far beyond simple pleasantries) then you'd be too busy/exhausted in the evenings to do much beyond a weekly class. What I did several decades ago was get involved in sports and tell my training partners to only use English in emergencies, plus had a part-time job working in the back of a bike shop with a couple of old East German guys who spoke only German (technically it was Berlinerisch - allet jut). That was being thrown in at the deep end. Similar things might be possible today, but not in the cities, maybe out in rural Brandenburg. Even if you study German for a year, social connections through shared interests (hockey, bird-watching, whatever) are really helpful.

Once you get past language study and/or the YMV, you need a job and an employer willing to sponsor you. With a couple of degrees and a decent salary you are a "professional" so that shouldn't be too difficult. There is a Canada-EU labor mobility agreement that purportedly makes it easier in high-demand occupations. I've also found that being a nice polite respectably dressed German-speaking Canadian means you are generally treated quite well by the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner's office).


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