# How to retire in Germany from a non-EU country?



## Jay-HT (Jul 13, 2016)

Hello everyone. 

I am turning 54 years old in December and so I am planning early retirement. I would really LOVE to retire in Germany. Currently, I am renting my home for 2,600 Euros a month and my savings account gets me around 2,800 euros a month - which is around 5,400 euros a month. So, financially it would be very possible to retire in Germany. However the struggle comes with obtaining a visa. I tried searching the web for this however the official websites do not show one straightforward path to a retirement visa. But several threads show the retirement visa process as a more "backdoor" way I suppose? I am not sure, I would LOVE to hear from those who successfully retired in Germany on how they did it and what was the visa process like??

NOTE: I do not speak any German, so maybe that is why obtaining legal info is difficult? I am not so sure but I would love to learn German once I (hopefully) retire there.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

What is your citizenship - presumably not Saudi?

Germany doesn't offer a retirement visa as such, but yes, there are ways. You could come for a year as a language student, for example, and attempt to extend your stay.

I'm assuming from the fact that you don't speak German that you've not lived for extended periods of time in Germany. You might want to try it first before committing to a prolonged stay.

Be aware that you'd need to carry private health insurance, which by mid-50s could be quite expensive, but it sounds like you have a decent amount of income.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Jay-HT said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I am turning 54 years old in December and so I am planning early retirement. I would really LOVE to retire in Germany. Currently, I am renting my home for 2,600 Euros a month and my savings account gets me around 2,800 euros a month - which is around 5,400 euros a month. So, financially it would be very possible to retire in Germany. However the struggle comes with obtaining a visa. I tried searching the web for this however the official websites do not show one straightforward path to a retirement visa. But several threads show the retirement visa process as a more "backdoor" way I suppose? I am not sure, I would LOVE to hear from those who successfully retired in Germany on how they did it and what was the visa process like??
> 
> NOTE: I do not speak any German, so maybe that is why obtaining legal info is difficult? I am not so sure but I would love to learn German once I (hopefully) retire there.



There is no retirement visa for Germany.

Any application would be made outside the rules and be completely at the discretion of the local immigration/alien department.


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## Jay-HT (Jul 13, 2016)

Nononymous said:


> What is your citizenship - presumably not Saudi?
> 
> Germany doesn't offer a retirement visa as such, but yes, there are ways. You could come for a year as a language student, for example, and attempt to extend your stay.
> 
> ...


No, I am a Saudi citizen - living in the UAE. 

I've never lived in Germany but I attended school in Switzerland so I've taken multiple trips to Germany. Well, if I decided to take the language student path and stayed on a student visa for a year, how would I extend my stay afterwards despite finishing the course? As I mentioned before, I am looking for a legal way to stay for a prolonged period, you know?

I am fully aware of the health insurance requirement which I can cover with some savings anyway. 

Thank you very much for your help!


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## Jay-HT (Jul 13, 2016)

ALKB said:


> There is no retirement visa for Germany.
> 
> Any application would be made outside the rules and be completely at the discretion of the local immigration/alien department.


Oh, that is very unfortunate for me. Thank you for your honest and straightforward reply though. Do you suggest any other visa option for me then?


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Jay-HT said:


> Oh, that is very unfortunate for me. Thank you for your honest and straightforward reply though. Do you suggest any other visa option for me then?


Nothing long term unless you take the retirement bit out of the equation.

Maybe look into Switzerland's retirement visa (if they still have it) and live near the German border, in Basel, for instance? Travelling to Germany would then be a matter of crossing a street.


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

Marrying a German (or other EU nationality) citizen and moving with him/her would be an option - maybe the only one?


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