# considering moving to EU especially Germany



## ggexpat1555 (Jun 23, 2014)

Hi folks I am currently a naturalized usa citizen and left in USA for about 15 years which I am about to call i am done. I have looked around many countries to live and has been interested in moving to Germany. 

I finished my college in engineering (EE) degree in USA, and currently live in Silicon valley with many opportunities here. Generally I will not consider moving to any other parts of USA anymore. So I want to travel around and new living place without also jeopardizing hard earned career. Once I move, I most likely not be moving back to US.

I visited Europe first time about 2 years ago with my EX and liked Germany most. I also like many other countries i.e. Belgium, Netherland, Switzerland and Italy et.c, As far as I am concerned there are several benefits of living in Germany:
- Being part of EU and proximity to many eastern/western Europian countries to explore.
- Good economics and standards of living very comparable to US.
- Opportunity to learn language which I like while still maintaining /without losing/ English language.

I havent started a serious research yet but did not initial groundwork. 

I also see definite daunting challenges ahead in terms of moving to germany, I wonder what is your advices and generic experience if you moved from US to German:
- Lack of German although i heard most people can speak English.
- naturalization takes about 8 years if I wanted to become citizen there and can be somewhat reduce with many ways
- Finding a job in my engineering field is most important, with English speaking and almost no German, how is my prospect? the most reasonable way for me to find job in English speaking company??? and work several years and meantime work on assimilate into culture specially language. 
- Tax treaty with U.S. US government levies tax on expat anywhere in the world where they have to pay residence countries tax as well as U.S. tax. I see some ways to reduce (up to ~90K is exempted etc.,) but generally looks complicated. How do you deal with it? 
- I do sizable amount of time in stock and options investing which I will consider as my supplemental income. Once residing in Germany, can you invest in stock in either U.S. or EU exchange? 

Sure there are many other questions but I think those are most important ones.

Thanks!


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

- Your options for career and social life will be limited without (good) German language skills. But it's not impossible.
- Germany does not really want foreigners to become citizens. It won't be easy - and you'll have to renounce all other citizenships to succeed.
- You'll have to declare and pay tax on all your income, including your sideline in financial trading. Get a good tax advisor for this, as the rules are hideously complicated (and fines stiff). Taxes are very high!


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## markksg (Jun 23, 2014)

I don't have much experience in terms of tax information.

however I can say that ppl I know that have made the move to Germany (Berlin) have had no issues finding work. Employers believe once your qualified and speak the language at a decent level.

IN terms of the working in English speaking companies is not impossible but hard to find. I think you are better off learning the language to a degree that will get you by day 2 day. Most cities in Germany speak German only. I am moving over in the next in the Autumn and already taking lessons.


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## thegypsyinme (Jan 17, 2014)

What sort of area is your engineering degree in? Silicon Valley tells me something but not enough. There are lots of agencies in UK looking for contractors with certain skills including technical authoring through to engineering who put people in work in countries such as Germany, Austria and other EU countries. In the past we've lived along side Americans who have also been contractors in the same companies as my husband. We were both contracting in Germany and other European countries for years.


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## ggexpat1555 (Jun 23, 2014)

thegypsyinme said:


> What sort of area is your engineering degree in? Silicon Valley tells me something but not enough. There are lots of agencies in UK looking for contractors with certain skills including technical authoring through to engineering who put people in work in countries such as Germany, Austria and other EU countries. In the past we've lived along side Americans who have also been contractors in the same companies as my husband. We were both contracting in Germany and other European countries for years.


Thanks, I have a BS in EE degree. Since graduation i started working on a firmware on x86 systems. Sort of low level programming. Therefore it can be quite limited market. However these days I am doing firmware QA engineer in a networking company and on the sideline doing lot of network admin activity and working toward several cisco networking certificates. I am also interested in doing networking related job in the future. I have about total working experience since graduating: about 7 years experience.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

On the tax side of the issue, most US expats can and do deal with the requirements. We have an Expat Tax section here on the forums Expat Tax - Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad which tends to carry lots of information on the US tax requirements.

The exact mechanisms for "coping" depend on your income and asset levels, your sources of income and how familiar you are with preparing your own tax forms at present. (There are US tax preparers overseas, but they tend to be expensive.)

The ultimate response is renouncing your US citizenship, but be aware that carries certain liabilities, too - namely this "expatriation tax" if you fall into the appropriate income and/or asset categories.
Cheers,
Bev


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## thegypsyinme (Jan 17, 2014)

I'm not an engineer myself but my husband was until yesterday. Now retired. Yippee! He thinks with a recognised degree and going forward to achieving your cisco certificates you shouldn't have a problem finding a job in Germany. Austria and Switzerland are also possibilities. Switzerland a has recently voted for not allowing any more foreigners into the country but they still want English speaking engineers there with relevant degrees. My husband contracted there for three years several years ago.


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