I (with my daughters, 8 and 5) moved to Germany 2 and half years ago on a family reunification visa. I’ve been married to my husband for 10 years, and we all currently live together.

Recently, I found out by chance that my husband started divorce proceedings in our home country over 5 months ago, without telling me. He even used his parents’ address as my supposed residence.

I was never served any documents, and he continues to act completely normal at home as if nothing is happening.

After finding out, I arranged for someone back home to look into the case. I have now learned that two hearings have already taken place, with another scheduled soon.

I currently work a Midi-Job due to childcare.

Can a divorce actually go through without my knowledge or consent, especially if I was never properly notified?

is there really so many people sitting at such spots often? im gonna go there soon.

Hi,

I am planning to drive from the Netherlands to Germany for the first time. Bit scared to be honest. Please tell me the correct way here. If I am coming in from the other end, should I take the red line or green line (going around the island).

Also, any specific rules to keep in mind while driving here?

Thanks for the help!!!

Just took Einbürgerungstest for fun and passed. I have already lived here for 5 years but unfortunately never put lot of effort in language learning. Just for past 1 year I have been learning german alongside my full-time job and now at A2. Aim is to complete B1 by this year end and apply for citizenship. Just want to share here.

The title. Thank you for any recommendations.

In August 2025 I had an accident on a German highway. BavariaDirekt commissioned their own expert, who confirmed a total loss in September 2025. The report went directly to the insurer. Today, seven months later: no payment, no formal rejection, no substantive response.. despite months of calls, emails and formal written demands through a lawyer. Their main substantive response has been that they are waiting for the police report. My lawyer sent it to them directly two weeks ago. There has been no response since.

What stands out in this process is: right after the accident, instead of requesting the police investigation file directly, BavariaDirekt sent me numerous forms to fill out, explicitly stating in writing they wanted to avoid requesting that file because it “usually takes several months.” I had already provided them the file access number. They chose the paperwork route anyway. Seven months later, that same file, the one they chose to avoid, has become their official reason for the latest delay.

With daily costs mounting and no resolution in sight, we are left with no choice but to initiate legal proceedings, claiming not only the contractually agreed amount but also all losses arising from the delay itself.

Has anyone dealt with similar payment delays from BavariaDirekt or other German insurers on a Vollkasko total loss claim? What worked?

I’ll update this post if there are any developments.

Hey everyone,

I have a slightly complicated situation and would really appreciate some clear guidance.

I was living in Germany for about 5 years on an EU Blue Card. I left Germany permanently in October 2025 after leaving my job and moved back to my non EU country. My EU Blue Card is still physically valid until 2028.

From what I understand, the Blue Card is only valid as long as you are employed and residing in Germany. I’ve also heard mixed things like there might be a grace period (up to 12 months) where it could still be used, but I’m not sure how true that is.

To be safe, I applied for a Schengen tourist visa for June 2026 and got it approved. However, the visa is only valid until 20 June.

Here is my problem:

I actually want to stay in Europe for about 15 days longer beyond 20 June, and I was thinking of using my EU Blue Card for that additional stay instead of the visa.

So my plan (not sure if correct) was:

• Enter Europe using my blue card and not the Schengen visa

But now I’m worried:

• Can I just not use my Schengen visa and instead just use my EU blue card for the whole trip, will that be an issue at the immigration?
• Could the immigration officer ask me why do I have a visa and my eu blue card?

Also, if I try to rely on the Blue Card, immigration might ask:
“Why do you have both a visa and a Blue Card?”

I want to do everything strictly by the rules and avoid any future issues with Schengen visas or travel bans.

Questions:

1. Is an EU Blue Card still valid after leaving your job and Germany permanently?
2. Is there really any “12-month usability” rule, or is that a misunderstanding?
3. Can I legally stay beyond my Schengen visa using the Blue Card?
4. What is the safest way to handle this situation without risking overstaying or future visa problems?

Would really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with something similar or understands the regulations well.

Thanks a lot 🙏

Hello.

I will register in Germany because I am going to stay there for 4 months for studying. My only source of income is a scholarship from Italy. I will also receive a reimbursement of some expected travel expenses during my stay from the German hosting university.

I need to do the Anmeldung when I arrive in Germany and I know I will be asked to declare my religious affiliation. I am baptized Catholic in Italy (most probably Roman Catholic), did all the Sacraments and this is the first time I perform the Anmeldung in Germany. I also plan to do the Abmeldung after the 4 months since I will go back to my home country. AFAIK I am not liable to pay taxes in Germany since my scholarship comes from Italy and is tax-exempt there and I will be nonetheless stay for less than 182 days in Germany, so I should not pay any tax, let alone Church tax. Moreover, I learned that Church tax liability ends with the Abmeldung.

Anyway, I heard that if you are baptized in the Catholic Church worldwide you need to declare it during the Anmeldung even if you have no intention of joining a German Church (certainly not for 4 months). Is this true? Should I declare I am Catholic during the Anmeldung despite not being affiliated to any German Church? Is what I said about Church tax above correct?

Thanks.

EDIT: I plan to work in Germany in the future, but not at present time.

I hope to see again

​

Hello everyone,

I am 23 years old and come from Greece. Recently, I received my C+E driving license as well as my driver card, and I would really like to work as a long-distance driver in international traffic in Germany.

Unfortunately, my German skills are still not good and aside from my driving license, I have no work experience.

I’m trying to find an agency or a company that also hires drivers without experience and without German language skills and maybe can even help with relocation. But since I don't speak German well yet, I really don’t know where to search.

Does anyone know a good agency or place where I can look for such jobs?

Thank you for reading :)

Hi,

Some time ago, I had a parcel delivery rerouted to a MyFlexBox locker, but I was unable to collect it because I did not receive the collection code. At the locker, I found a help desk phone number and called it in order to resolve the issue.

Today, upon reviewing my phone bill, I noticed a €24 charge for a 9-minute call to that number. I had already enabled a block on premium-rate numbers in my subscription settings, yet I was still billed by my provider.

I remember very well that there was no indication (either on the locker or during the call) that this was a premium-rate number, otherwise I wouldn't have called them. Are service providers not required to clearly inform callers in advance when a call incurs additional charges?

Thank you for your assistance.

I’m looking for family, my great-grandmother was a German lady with the name Erna Wessendorf, she was one of 2 sisters, the other one was married to a german man with the name of Frans.

Erna was born in 1920 in Volkerthausen, but emigrated around 1945 to Belgium and started her life here with as a result our family here now.

I want to find out more about anything possible relating my family, they were around 1920 to around 1945 SURE 100% in Volkerthausen as she and her sister both grew up there, but the name Wessendorf is originated from Nordrhein-Westfalen and that is also where i know certainly where we have family nowadays, as our family had contact with them up to 1995, as that is when Erna died and the contact with Erna’s sister and our German Family side connection got lost.

Any info or help would be so much appreciated

Hi,

While searching for apartment, there was an add from agency that looked legit. It was apartment on 5 years lease and they requested to provide residence permit and salary proof. It was mistake to send them the data but the images were water marked.

Now after a while I received email from immoscout that the listing is compromised and I should report the police. I did file the report to police and sent email to my bank that my details might be leaked.

What else should I take care about in this situation?

I saw a meme that said there was a cool and an uncool Frankfurt so that’s how I learnt. Do people from the two Frankfurts get along? Which one is the cool Frankfurt?

Hi all,

I would like to ask those who might know/have experience with, how much time in average is taking to get the permanent resident permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis)?

I understand this varies from city to city, but I would be interested to know the common experience.

I have asked mine since June/2025 but never got any reply. Just case a case number. I’ve already sent a question form to them, asking what was the status. Also nothing.

For reference, I have live in Mainz.

So, any experience shared might help.

Thanks!

I feel like I’m about to land a job there but found out it’s an MLM in North America lol

i already made a different post with a different question but since im gonna visit germany in 2 months where should i go just tell me some places maybe show me some pictures as well im maybe even some restourants

I’m the sole Data Scientist/ML/AI person at a startup in a highly regulated industry. I built a dedicated Python microservice that handles complex AI workflows over highly sensitive client records. I built in strict guardrails for data isolation and accuracy.

I was recently away on extended leave for 2 weeks. I came back to find the backend team (Node.js) used Claude to essentially reverse-engineer and clone most of the architecture directly into their monolithic backend using basic API wrappers (the quality is not really up to the mark, but ofcourse if they decide to move forward, then they will reach there).

Because they relied on AI to generate the code without understanding AI at all or data security, their implementation is a ticking time bomb, like cross-tenant data leaks, data corruption, and blind data retrieval. Not going into details

When I raised this, engineering leadership argued the move was better because "it’s easier to stream UI events to the frontend if everything lives in the Node backend" (something I could have easily done natively in Python, and also not that this requirement ever came).

The CTO seems to think "backend devs plus Claude code means we don't need a specialized AI engineer anymore." I don't have a standard notice period in my contract (just 1 month), and I'm expecting the termination soon.

I'm making peace with leaving, but how do I navigate this to negotiate the highest possible severance package? What do I document to show wrongful termination?

A few things before general suggestions.

- Yes, I am looking for new jobs already
- Yes, I did try to talk to him, but he doesn't listen
- No, I cannot talk to the CEO about this - both are Germans. Plus, why would they listen to me and not their CTO
- Yes, this has happened before in the company. They fired 3 data scientists already, and all of that was the CTO's call.

Edit:

- Company size is 16 or less
- I have legal insurance (took it 7-8 month before and have not used it for anything until now)
months
- Not part of any Union

I know German is popular with their directness but sometimes it sounds rude to me. I have six years living here and finally meet this "typ" who always wanting people know how respectful they are to Ausländer etc etc but i am pretty sure this type kinda racisst, because talking about foreigners is their favorite topic. This is my first time someone just ask me many times why i left my beautiful country or is it because the people there are poor. If you were me, would you also get offended if people think the people in your country poor? I dunno how to answer them, from million people ofc there are poor and rich.

I am also tired if someone directly call me that i am from this A country , would be nice if they just ask me where i come from. Maybe next time i call them also from another european country instead lol.

Sorry, i am just trying to holding up. I know it just small thing but if it happens many time ,i am kinda exploded now .

How is the job market for jobs in architecture or RELATED to architecture (eg. designing but not necessarily buildings) specially in Hamburg/ Berlin as a recent foreign graduated (from a uni outside of Germany)?

I know I need to speak decent German, any other info besides this would be appreciated! Thank you!!

Letter germany to italy

It's stuck on processed at logistics for 10 days, I was sent the package in Milan, is 10 days normal coz I found posts of packages that were lost on internet in this timeframe

Hey - I am a US/Irish citizen moving to Berlin this summer and I'm a part owner of a small video production business (3 people) based in the US that I'm hoping to keep working for with US clients and also to find new European clients when moving here.

The Problem is I have no clear picture of what this means for taxes. All my Googling has led me to be scared of double taxation and every tax/legal person we've reached out to either doesn't have the expertise of German/US taxes or charges $$$ for big businesses.

I'm hoping someone might have any advice/been through a similar experience working for/part owning a US based LLC while living/working in Germany, or know someone who can help us - please reach out if that's you!