Relocation to another country always comes with challenges but to make life easier, one can always try to prepare for them. My wife and I recently relocated to Germany from Singapore. Both of us do not speak German, so we try to find options that are English-speaker friendly wherever possible. In this blog, I will share our experience and tips on moving to Germany and I hope you will find it useful. This post is an overview of the main things we needed to deal with before and when we moved to Germany.
Disclaimer: I have tried most of the things listed below, so there are quite a number of referal links but please do not feel obliged to use any of them.
Before I get into it, I want to share a few important notes / tips which hopefully will make you feel less anxious / more prepared.
1) Things are going to be slower in Germany. It will take time to get things done, be it opening bank account or receiving delivery. Expect delays. It is not uncommon.
2) Google Lens will be your best friend if you cannot read German. Get it on your phone. Point your camera at whatever German you do not understand and use the translate function. It helps in a lot of scenarios like translate hard copy official documents and reading labels on items in a supermarket!
3) Shops (including supermarkets!) are not open on Sundays (and public holidays). Plan in advance!
Accommodation
Finding a place to place is probably the most important thing on the to-do list assuming that you have got your visa sorted out. Before you arrive Germany, you can start searching for accommodation online. German platforms tend to have more listings so my suggestion is to go on the 3 platforms below and use the translate function on your browser. (Translate function on your browser is pretty much a must-have if you don't speak any German. I use the Brave browser and my wife uses Chrome, both are good for this purpose.)
I used ImmoScout24 (the first link above), messaged a few landlords, and very luckily found one that speaks English and I was able to confirm with the landlord before I even reached Germany. You can use ChatGPT (or Google translate) to translate your messages with the landlords between English and German.
Bank
The next important thing is probably opening a bank account because you will need to pay for most of the other things in this post from your bank account. The two big categories of banks to choose from are "physical banks" and "digital banks". The main difference is that digital banks do not have physical branches. You will have to be in Germany to open an account for physical banks whereas some digital banks allow you to open an account even before you reach Germany.
My suggestion would be to open an account with a digital bank first. If you happen to need a girocard or EC card (like a debit card), which you may need when you apply for a residence permit, you can go to a physical bank. I personally opened an account with N26 before I moved to Germany, and you can do everything in English with N26. The only tricky thing is that you will need a Germany address to register. If you already secured a place to stay, you can consider opening an account with N26 before you leave for Germany. Else you may want to wait until you secure a place to stay first. Another advantage of N26 is that it has a free version which basic functionality which is enough for me needs. If you do decide to open an account with N26 and would like to give me a little support, you can use my referral code - chunyuec6148 - or use the following link - https://n26.com/r/chunyuec6148.
If you are more into earning interests and saving, you can consider bunq as another option. The sign up process is similar to N26 and everything can be done in English as well. At the time of writing, you get a 1.56% interest with bunq. There is also a free option for a saving account with bunq but the functionality is very limited. Again if you would like to give me a little support (and plant some trees this time!), you can use the following link - https://bunq.app/invite/CHUNYUEMAURICEStrawberryCheetah.
If you are into crypto and you love cashback, you may want to consider opening a Binance account and getting a Binance card which allows you to spend crpyto (and fiat) and earn up to 8% cashback. The caveat is that you will have to hold a certain amount of BNB which is the Binance token. I personally hold between 1-10 BNB which qualify me for 2% cashback with Binance card which is not bad. You will get Visa debit card that you can use to buy things online or in stores that accept Visa. Here is my referal link if you decide to open an account in Binance.
Another crypto cashback option is Crypto.com with its Crypto.com card which offers up to 8% cashback. Again the caveat is that you will need to stake a certain amount of CRO which is the Crypto.com token. Similar to Binance, you can get a Visa debit card for online purchases and in stores that accepts Visa. If you use my referral link - https://crypto.com/app/5z6jp5snx7 to sign up for Crypto.com, we will both get $25 USD.
SIM card
In Germany, even if you want to get a prepaid SIM card, you will have to register with your passport. You can choose to do it online or in person, but they will only mail to your Germany address. My advice is to get a data-only eSIM for the first week / month so that you will have data when you reach Germany. Once you are there, you can go to one of the local stores to buy a SIM card (or order online).
For the data-only eSIM, I recommend Airalo. I used it a few times for my travel and I had zero problem with it. If you happen to not have connection, you may have to restart your phone to fix it though it rarely happens. If you want to get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo, you can use my referral code MAURIC8183 when you sign up or apply it at checkout, or use the following link - https://ref.airalo.com/SK6n.
As for local SIM card with a local number, the big ones would be Telekom, Vodafone, and O2. If you want English support and do not mind buying online, you can try Lebara. If you are the kind of person who wants to do quite a bit of comparisons between plans, Verivox and Check24 are the website for you, not only for mobile plans but also home internet, electricity, and more (though you will need to use your browser's translate function as it is only available in German).
Home internet
Which internet provider you go for depends on where you stay and your building as well since some buildings may have cable installed and some may not. I personally went for Vodafone because it was the best provider for the building I'm staying in. Again, check Verivox and Check24 for the main providers and this time make sure you go on the providers' websites and type in your address to check. If you happen to go for Vodafone, consider using this referral link - http://aklam.io/1KhBbL.
Electricity
I was surprised to find so many electricity providers in Germany. There are so many options as you can see from Verivox and Check24. Most of the electricity providers do not have English support. For me, I ultimately chose Ostrom because the price is not very far from the most competitive price and more importantly it offers full English support from sign up to mobile app to emails. For me it is worth keeping things easy and I do not need to worry about needing to communicate in German if I need any help. If you do decide to go with Ostrom, you can sign up with my referral link - https://join.ostrom.de?referralCode=WENH3VGB3C - and we will both get 35€.
Summary
How ever much you prepare, there will probably be something that surprises you. I hope this post minimises some of those unexpected surprises. There are quite a lot that you can already do before you reach Germany. The more you prepare, the less you stress when you get there. Be prepared that things will be slow. There will be quite a bit of waiting. And you will be surprised how many things can be done purely online these days which applies the most things I listed above.
Hope you have a smooth transition to Germany!
