Application advice for a successful move to Germany

@sooozn Julien is the international site owner, lives in Mauritius and will probably not help with Germany-specific topics. But I can try:

• If you do not work, what will you base your visa on? Do you have close relatives here? There is no visa type for retirees or non-working people!
• You could enroll in (full-time) studies, at university or a language school, to get a student visa. Or, as a more complicated and costly alternative, register a business and get a visa as self-employed. Both are not long-term options (unless you really run a successful business).
• Health insurance can be settled after arrival. You have three months for this, but will be charged retroactively. Try to enter the public insurance scheme: If you aren't employed, the premium there would be 180 - 800 €/month, depending on your world income. Private insurance will cost you much more, especially if you are old and/or have pre-existing conditions.
• You will also be income-taxed here, with your world income. USA citizens apparently get taxed again in their country, so enquire about this first!
• Europe is not cheap: If you have less than 2000 €/month available, you will be poor. It is not possible to earn this with part-time work, so do you have ample savings?

Hello everyone and welcome on board soooozn !

Please note that I have created a thread from your post and useful feedback you've been given by @beppi on the Germany forum so that you may better communicate with members.

All the best

Bhavna

@beppi

Thank you.  I do have some savings and receive some monthly benefits.  Based on your response, I should be looking for additional income.  Thank you.

@sooozn "Looking for additional income" would be difficult for an elderly foreigner with little German language skills: You won't get a work visa without having a (full-time) job lined up, and you'll face problems finding a job without a work visa (unless you have demanded niche skills and certificates to prove it).

I rather question the overall wisdom (and feasibility) of your plan.

One should first realize that an American as a non-EU person has no given right to live or work in Germany.  Like Beppi suggested, you might need to find a normal job. Usually one needs to do this beforehand and get a work visa. This means having highly demanded skills and for most jobs having a high level of German. It is more complicated than you seem to assume.

As a writer of books, one might qualify as a “Freiberufler” or freelancer in the arts. They usually want to know that such a person has a chance to survive from their endeavors; in this case having assets to tide one over and to show that they have a successful track record that their writing will bring them a reasonable income. So proof that one is a published author would likely be the standard. If you have income from sales of already written books this would be a start.

The thing is that if you reside in Germany you will be taxed on your world-wide income. This is standard the world over. The US also makes US person expats file US federal income taxes. For most people having a foreign income they can reduce their US tax obligation to little or nothing through the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or Foreign paid tax credits. Problem is that future income coming from books sold by US based publishers will not be foreign earned and might be doubled taxed in the end.

If you have income from financial instruments, (unearned income) from the States, then it will even more likely be doubled taxed. And the rates can depend on if it is interest or dividends, either long term or short term. Gets complicated for proper compliance.

@TominStuttgart

Thank you for the information.  I am a published author, and I have learned (through the shares and other conversations) that being a freelance writer would be the best route, and I do have enough to live on for a while.  What you shared is new - the taxing of any or all my interest  - thank you.  That is needed information. Yes, life is complicated, and an adventure. I do not know where I will end up, but then none of us do.

Onward, and thank you for your reply.

@beppi 

Thank you for your reply.  Life is an adventure, and it would be unwise to count on any outcome based on my plans and thinking, thus I appreciate all information and feedback.

It is a work in progress, as is all of life.  As a covid refugee in Germany in March 2020, I learned a great way to live:  Breathe, smile and move slowly, along with the knowledge that the future is none of my business.  The only wisdom I have is to live one day at a time.  Onward.

Found this in the US-Germany tax treaty - Could apply, if I will be affiliated with a German project:

SPECIAL RULES FOR EDUCATIONAL PROFESSIONALS

A professor, teacher, or other scholar who is a resident of one country may work for, or research in, the other county for up to 2 years without having to pay taxes on their income from such activities to the host country.

Note this exception only applies to individuals affiliated with an accredited educational institutional or other organization that conducts “public benefit” research.