# Moving to Germany - Health insurance and Anmeldung questions



## AdventureLlama (5 mo ago)

Hi ExpatForum, nice to meet you all!

I am a Portuguese citizen, currently living in the UK. I am moving to Germany in September, together with my girlfriend (she’s German). I am currently employed in the UK, working remotely, and will continue having this employment contract for the first 1 to 3 months (at most) in Germany, before getting a German contract.

I understand having Health insurance is mandatory in Germany, and I want to do everything legally and well. My current salary, when converted to Euros, is above the 64.350€ threshold to apply for private health insurance.

What I need help to understand:

Is it necessary to have Health Insurance sorted out to do Anmeldung?
Considering I will be unemployed in Germany (albeit with a UK employment contract) for the initial period, should I pursue health insurance as unemployed? If not, what would your suggestion be to do the correct thing?

Thanks in advance for your insights


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

You normally won't be asked for health insurance when you anmelden. 

Unless you've had public health insurance in the EU for at least 2 years within the last 5 years, you would not be eligible for public health insurance in Germany. Furthermore, your income in the UK would be considered when calculating public health insurance and would be over 800€/month. 

Private health insurance is calculated based on your personal risk.


----------



## AdventureLlama (5 mo ago)

*Sunshine* said:


> You normally won't be asked for health insurance when you anmelden.
> 
> Unless you've had public health insurance in the EU for at least 2 years within the last 5 years, you would not be eligible for public health insurance in Germany. Furthermore, your income in the UK would be considered when calculating public health insurance and would be over 800€/month.
> 
> Private health insurance is calculated based on your personal risk.


Thank you!
There will be a period, hopefully very short, during which I will be unemployed both in DE and UK. Does my private insurance rate change during this period?

Thanks,


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

No, private insurance is purely based on your personal risk. You just need to make sure that you purchase compliant German health insurance and not travel insurance.


----------



## lobolobo (2 mo ago)

Any company's that provide cheap health insurance? And how many days does it took to finalise, my termin is 3 days later is that enough to get a health insurance?


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

lobolobo said:


> Any company's that provide cheap health insurance? And how many days does it took to finalise, my termin is 3 days later is that enough to get a health insurance?


What will you be doing in Germany? Did you have public health insurance in the EU in the past 5 years?


----------



## lobolobo (2 mo ago)

*Sunshine* said:


> What will you be doing in Germany? Did you have public health insurance in the EU in the past 5 years?


Sorry for the late reply, i just broke my arm two days prior to my arrival.

I will be a post grad student in berlin, coming from a non-EU country.
ps: I was once been in germany for 5 months, as an erasmus stud. about 5 years ago.


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

lobolobo said:


> I will be a post grad student in berlin, coming from a non-EU country.


Will you be enrolled as a student? Are you under 30? Working at a university?


----------



## lobolobo (2 mo ago)

Yes i am studying IT management and under 30


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

lobolobo said:


> Yes i am studying IT management and under 30


Since your are 30 and a registered student at a German university you are eligible for public health insurance. Health insurance will be about 80 €/month plus Pflegeversicherung. It should be about 120€/month for both is you are over 23 without children.


----------



## lobolobo (2 mo ago)

yes but my school is private, so that won't make any difference right? btw my school is partnered with dak, would you recommend it?


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

lobolobo said:


> yes but my school is private, so that won't make any difference right? btw my school is partnered with dak, would you recommend it?


Public health insurance coverage is more or less standardized with minor differences in bonuses and incentives. There are also differences is service. If you don't speak German, it is easier if you have the school help with filling out the registration docs.

On the other hand, I don't understand why you'd move to Germany to attend a private school.


----------



## lobolobo (2 mo ago)

*Sunshine* said:


> Public health insurance coverage is more or less standardized with minor differences in bonuses and incentives. There are also differences is service. If you don't speak German, it is easier if you have the school help with filling out the registration docs.
> 
> On the other hand, I don't understand why you'd move to Germany to attend a private school.


heyy, I am saving my life here  why does private schools such bad? I think i could secure a job after my graduation.


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

lobolobo said:


> heyy, I am saving my life here  why does private schools such bad? I think i could secure a job after my graduation.


Private schools in Germany are not very selective and will usually take anyone who can afford their fees whereas good German universities are usually more difficult to gain admission and/or to complete. For example, although it is not that difficult to get a place in engineering at a public German university, on average only 1/3 of the 1st year class actually successfully complete the degree. 

Since it is possible to obtain good degrees from public German universities for negligible tuition fees, many German employers are skeptical of grads from private schools.

Furthermore, although about 2/3 of foreign students want to stay in Germany after graduation only 1/3 of them actually manage to find a job.


----------



## Harry Moles (11 mo ago)

lobolobo said:


> Sorry for the late reply, i just broke my arm two days prior to my arrival.


The good news is, German health insurance will accept you despite the broken arm being a pre-existing condition.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

lobolobo said:


> heyy, I am saving my life here  why does private schools such bad? I think i could secure a job after my graduation.


Is your degree programme taught in English or German?

If it´s in English, you might want to invest time and money into intensive language studies alongside your uni schedule. Depending on the type of degree, it can be very hard for foreign grads who studied in English to find a qualified job after uni.


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

ALKB said:


> Is your degree programme taught in English or German?
> 
> If it´s in English, you might want to invest time and money into intensive language studies alongside your uni schedule. Depending on the type of degree, it can be very hard for foreign grads who studied in English to find a qualified job after uni.


Do you really think starting German lessons now will make a difference? Although I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence, I'm not sure whether intermediate German will be sufficient to improve his job prospects.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

*Sunshine* said:


> Do you really think starting German lessons now will make a difference? Although I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence, I'm not sure whether intermediate German will be sufficient to improve his job prospects.


Prospects will not be great, depending on what is area of study is.

Intermediate German will be better than knowing all of five words that he needs for grocery shopping and otherwise studying in English, socializing with his classmates in English, then finding out that nobody in his industry is interested in his job applications.


----------

