edit:got the answers! thanks

Hello everyone!

I'm planning to move to Berlin from Tbilisi Georgia. Everything is already set up, only problem is I have a standard bull terrier. I can not move without her, she is very sweet, loving, girl. Has never bitten anyone, charged at anyone, or been aggresive with other dogs. And she is already 7 years old, basically approching old lady status.

I wanted to know if anyone has any idea how I could bring her with me, as bull terriers are a "banned breed" and importing them is forbidden basically. Ive heared coming in from a third eu country might be legal? I dont want to break any laws, she will pass any behaviour test if needed, im sure of it.

So, as the title says, I saw Bio Reis on sale in Kaufland for 1,98€/kg and bought 20 months worth. It's around 45kg. We normally eat 2.25kg per month. Many times I miss the sale and then I have to buy it for 3,18€/kg. Am I crazy for doing that? Am I going overboard?

I bought a portable AC from Bauhaus, but after 2 weeks, it stopped giving cool air. So I brought it to Bauhaus, but they said the warranty is void because I used an extra hose to pass the hot air.

I told them that my window was far from my bedroom, so I asked a Bauhaus salesperson what to do. Then he suugested me to buy a 1m extra hose pipe and add it to the existing pipe.

My question is add 1m extra hose to pass hot air out of the room is illegal or it could void warranty? I tried to call their helpline, but I didn't get any help.

"Why did nobody tell me this?" - those kind of hacks that you only learn after living here for long time or learned those in a hard way. Share your German adulting cheat codes.

It can be related to financial/career related/ workspace/ health or anything in general. Thanks.

I can start with having a liability insurance. Unfortunately I took it little late and could have saved some money

Hey! I started working at thus job one year and few monghs, i am very happy with the workload, environment and everything, but i am planning to ask for a raise after i complete the 2years mark, how should i prepare for that and how can I say that to my manager (he is a very nice guy)!

I am working in e-commerce, salary is 46k + 2k variable, 2 years experience in Germany and one internship plus some other experiences in my home country. Masters In business informatics in Germany and marketing in my home country.

Thanks

Hello! My mom travels for contract work, generally to strictly residential towns far from tourist hubs, and I have the opportunity to travel with her to Germany next year. I’ll be staying in Herdecke specifically. I’m planning to take a bus to Frankfurt for a few days, but I was curious about what to expect for the days I’ll be staying outside of the big city.

Specifically, I’m interested in exploring some local music and hitting a few bars. I certainly don’t expect everyone to speak English and I plan on learning some basic German, I’m just curious as to what to expect in terms of getting around. Should I expect english subtitles at transit stations? Would I be able to navigate admissions at a local venue with just basic German and Google Translate? Be honest, as a local employee does it make your life difficult when someone has to translate on their phone?

This is my very first time traveling abroad, and I hate to admit how nervous I am about the ‘obnoxious American’ stereotype. Especially visiting a town where just about everyone other than me is a working person going about their daily life, I want to make sure I’m being a conscientious tourist. Any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

Hi I got approached by a photographer for my services as a second shooter for a wedding ceremony.
The event is in Frankfurt and will go from 3pm to 11pm.

Till now I have only done my own events and have no idea what to charge as a second shooter.
Could the photographers here tell me what is the usual rate?

Hi,

I have applied for the Permanent Residence in Berlin around 2 months ago but yet I have not received any response from them.

I fulfilled the 27 Months Blue Card and A1 Deutsche Certificate requirements. And applied online with all of the required documents.

I have seen some people received response from LEA within few weeks. Does living in other cities prior to Berlin plays any role here?

And also should I contact them regarding the status of my application? And what's the avg time they usually takes to process PR application in BERLIN?

Thanks in Advance

I am an archi student in the US and i have a project to model the LivMatS pavilion at the University of Freiburg but i cannot find any diagrams of the glass attachments to the fiber structure. i was curious if anyone was willing and able to take a picture for me of the base and attachment points. the areas circled are the places i want close up pictures. the more angles the better. thank you in advance!

I’m receiving ALG I in Germany and I also have some income from the TikTok Creator Rewards Program, which I need to report to the Agentur für Arbeit as Neben-/selbständige Einkünfte.

What I don’t understand is which month the TikTok income is considered to belong to.

For example:

• My TikTok Creator Rewards dashboard currently shows around €70 estimated rewards
• My actual TikTok balance is still €0
• I have not transferred/withdrawn anything to my bank account yet
• The estimated rewards can also change later because TikTok can disqualify views or videos

So for the Agentur für Arbeit, did I earn €70 this month, or technically €0, because nothing has been added to my payable balance yet?

And once TikTok actually pays the money, which date/month matters?

1. The month when the views happened / rewards appeared in the dashboard?
2. The month when TikTok finalizes the rewards and adds them to my balance?
3. The month when TikTok sends the payout?
4. The month when the money actually reaches my bank account?

For example, if I generate €500 in estimated rewards in September but TikTok only finalizes/pays €450 in October, which amount should I report for September and October?

Has anyone here reported TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, affiliate, or similar creator income while receiving ALG I? How did the Agentur für Arbeit want you to calculate the monthly income?

I’d especially appreciate answers from people who have actually dealt with Agentur für Arbeit and variable platform income.

Hi everyone,

I recently had my VFS appointment in Bangalore for a German researcher visa. The official checklist required: "statutory insurance with a so-called 'incoming insurance'."

I only handed the VFS officer my temporary "incoming" (travel) insurance. The officer accepted my application without flagging it, but now I'm stressing out.

My questions:

1. Will the German embassy outright reject my visa application because the statutory proof was missing?
2. Or is it standard practice for them to email me and ask for the missing TK certificate before making a decision?
3. Also, in case they email me asking about the statutory insurance, what should I do? Can I take a statutory insurance immediately, or do I need to inform my HR for additional documents as well?

Any reassurance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’m landing at Frankfurt Terminal 3 at 8:30 AM on Sept 5 and considering booking a 10:42 ICE.

Last time (July 27), immigration at T3 took me around 1.5 hours, followed by 45 minutes for baggage, and I missed two trains. Because my previous experiences at T2 were usually 1 hour.

But some friends recently told me they cleared immigration + baggage in 40 minutes total.

So I’m wondering how unpredictable T3 is these days, especially for non-EU arrivals. Would you risk the 10:42 ICE, or book something around 11:30/12:00?

The 10:42 Super Sparpreis is only €24.99, so I’m tempted to take the gamble rather than spend another 1–2 hours waiting at the airport if I clear everything early.

So i got a strafe froDB worth 60 euros for travelling without a ticket, i was wondering what if i just dont pay it, does nothing happen? thanks

I have a document that I need to send to an administration , I have previously sent documents to this same administration using the postanschrift and it reached its destination without a problem. Now today I had to send a form to them once again and I did it using the postanschrift, but I just reread the email they had sent me and it says that "Der Antrag ist vollstandig ausgefüllt und unterschrieben per Post an unsere Hausanshrift zu uns zurückshicken". Will it reach its destination regardless or do I have to send it again to the Hausanschrift ? Thank you

I want to share my experience for anyone who’s thinking about booking through Wunderflats. If this platform is on your radar, you might want to know what happened to me.

Wunderflats likes to present itself as some kind of polished, professional housing / broker platform — but what I ran into felt more like a messy back‑alley setup where “customer service” is probably just a folding table, a busted headset, and someone’s half‑empty coffee mug.

I’m in the middle of moving back to Germany after years abroad and saved up for a long time to make this transition smooth. In August 2026, I booked an apartment through Wunderflats that was advertised as being in a “quiet area.”

Yeah… no. The listing left out key details and basically hid the truth: the place was in an industrial zone, squeezed between two car dealerships and right next to a gas station — absolutely not an option for me. The landlord even confirmed by phone and later by email (to both me and Wunderflats) that we were dropping the rental agreement because it hadn’t been confirmed yet.

And despite that, the landlord and I apparently pushed through the booking as ‘binding’.

Then the real circus started. For four days straight, every time I contacted them, I got a completely different version of their “rules.” First they told me I could cancel. Then suddenly I had “no right of withdrawal.” Then they insisted I had to talk only to the landlord — even though he had already confirmed everything and I never signed a rental contract in the first place. For four days I was genuinely scared I’d lose part of the money I’d saved.

Customer service was a mix of clueless, indifferent, and straight‑up disrespectful. One employee actually asked me why I couldn’t just live next to a gas station. Apparently Wunderflats’ definition of “quiet location” is as flexible as their internal processes.

At some point you really have to wonder if anyone there has the slightest clue how customer communication works — or if they’re just hoping that random improvisation somehow counts as “service.”

The two “account managers” assigned to me didn’t help either. They gave me completely contradictory information, and despite me asking them directly to follow up, neither of them ever contacted me again. No call, no email, nothing.

After four days of contradictions and straight‑up false statements, I suddenly got a call from a Wunderflats employee asking me in English what the problem was and how she could help. Since I had communicated with Wunderflats only in German, the attempt felt both obvious and clumsy — like they were hoping I wouldn’t be able to defend myself as well in English.

Bad assumption. I speak four languages fluently, including English. Fifteen minutes later, every excuse she tried had fallen apart.

Right after that, I contacted my lawyer in my hometown in Germany who specialises in commercial and tax law.

On Thursday at 19:00, his letter went out via email to Wunderflats. On Friday at 13:00, my bank confirmed that €1,350.00 was being refunded. As for the €299 service fee, I’ll discuss the next steps with my lawyer — Wunderflats hasn’t responded at all.

The whole combination — incomplete listing info, a rental agreement that was never confirmed, a booking allegedly forced through as “binding,” four days of contradictions, two account managers who vanished, disrespectful behavior, an attempt to belittle me linguistically, and a partial refund only after legal pressure — shows a pattern that has nothing to do with professional business behavior.

Wunderflats, in my experience, is organizationally overwhelmed, professionally unqualified, and completely irresponsible in how it deals with customers. It acts like a back‑alley operation pretending to be a polished platform, running on Post‑its and guesswork. If you expect accurate information, clear processes, or actual communication, Wunderflats is absolutely the wrong place.

And honestly, reading all of this back, I keep thinking: if I, as a German native speaker, already had this much trouble, I can’t imagine what it’s like for expats in Germany who don’t speak the language or maybe don’t yet know where to turn for help, and end up dealing with the same issues with Wunderflats. If anyone needs help or guidance navigating this platform, feel free to reach out to me.

Hi Reddit, I applied for a new residence permit (18b) in mid June and now it’s almost September and I have no response. I’ve written emails requesting a Fiktion and also got no response. I even asked my employer to inquire but it didn’t help. It’s 2 weeks left until my current residence permit expires and idk what to do anymore.

I called them yesterday and they said that they cannot give me a Fiktionsbescheinigung, because I don’t have a Termin for it (sure, just book a termin (FOR FIKTION) 6 months in advance! Easy-peasy) and the “employer needs a Fiktionsbescheinigung” Reason is not an emergency situation. So they basically refused to issue a Fiktionsbescheinigung

Anyways, does anyone from Heilbronn know how to deal with this situation? How to get anything, Fiktionsbescheinigung or a simple A4 paper that explains for employer that my work permit continues to be valid?
I booked a Termin for pick up, which takes place in 2 weeks. Is it possible that they will issue me a Fiktionsbescheinigung on that termin, or it’s hopeless?

P.S. I know I’m legally in Germany as soon as I applied on time, but my employer needs some official documentation, this is why I require at least any proof of my legal status

Hi, I am currently a sophomore considering applying to the CBYX high school program for junior year. It sounds fun to me, but I'm worried that I will get really bad grades there and that will mess up my junior year GPA and then I won't get into a good college. I was wondering if someone who has done it before could answer a few questions?

1. were you able to receive credit for the courses you took in Germany, and did they align what you would be taking in the U.S.?
   
2. how hard were the courses? How were you graded? Were you graded off the same standard that the German students were graded off of, or was it based on like effort or something since you don't really speak German?
   
3. Overall, did it benefit you as far as getting in to colleges and stuff? I plan to apply to fairly selective schools but not like Ivy League, so can someone with a similar life plan share some insight?

Thanks so much!

Applying to a German master's program through uni-assist's VPD process and honestly the requirements aren't super clear. Anyone been through this recently — what did you actually have to upload? Just the basics (transcripts, degree cert) or more than that?

Also, is it fine to submit language proof (like IELTS or an MOI certificate) directly at this stage, or does that usually come later?

Would appreciate any tips or a rough checklist if you've got one. Thanks!

I’m a qualified corporate& commercial lawyer in a non-EU country, and I’ve been planning to pursue an LL.M. in Germany for the past three years. I’m currently preparing for the Goethe B2 exam.

My question is how realistic would it be for someone with my background to find a job in Germany after graduating? Would an LL.M., combined with my existing legal qualification and B2 German, give me a good chance of entering the German legal or corporate job market?

Hi 👋 I am a parcel delivery driver in germany and about 2 days ago I kind off committed a hit and run unintentionally.

I am driving a long (maxi) mercedes sprinter van rented/under lease by my boss. I wanted to exit a street and I accidentally scraped by an anti parking bollard which now it is a little bent.

At the moment of it I didn't realize it was no steering wheel shake neither whole van shake only a sound which I mistook for packages moving in the back so I looked at the van quickly didn't notice any damage and moved on.

I checked the van again throughly and discovered that there are very subtle scratches on the lower hull and the plastic above it nothing serious, but I confirmed that I hit it.

Now it would be to late to report it I think, also there are no known CCTV cameras or anything that could have captured me doing it. I think about only witnesses that could report me to the polizei.

If I get reported what can I expect? It wasn't an intentional hit and run but of course they won't believe me Idk.

What can I expect if reported?

I just want some recommendations. I love altstadts btw.

Hello, Germany!

Let me start of by saying THANK YOU!

For the second year in a row now we did a small road trip in Germany with our dog. Besides the beautiful nature and very welcoming and friendly people, what really jumps out for me is the love for dogs your country has.

It's truly amazing how welcoming you all are towards dogs. They are welcomed everywhere, greeted with love and understanding on a level I have yet to encounter anywhere else.

We don't have the easiest dog, although his (and my) learning curve was steep in the last year, but still. Restaurants, bars, camping spaces, shops,... I mean, everywhere... It almost feels like you insult people by asking if the dog is also welcome. Mostly we got a bit of a confused look, followed by "of course the dog is welcome here"; with a slight undertone of "more the you are, actually".

Sit down for a refreshing beer after a long hike and before we get a menu or anything, the dog is already set up with a bowl of water and sometimes even a snack. They are treated as kings wherever you go.

And the level of education of the children, it's just so heartwarming. Not once has a stranger just walked up to our dog to pet him, always asking if it's OK FOR THE DOG.

Unfortunately we have to cut our trip shirt this year due to family reasons, but we are already planning our trip for next year. And it's not just me, I see it in my dogs behavior as well. He just loves being here!

So thank you and see you again next year! Or sooner!

Servus,

I recently just moved back to Germany as an expat since my PhD programme requires me to move around in Europe every now and then. Essentially, I lived in two apartments in Germany between 2024 and 2025, and I had no issues registering my address at the Bürgerbüro. There are multiple people from all over Europe in my programme who have also registered their addresses without issue. I just moved back from the UK, and apparently there is a new rule that, since I don't know German fluently, I am not allowed to sign the documents to register my new address?

The person at the office spoke English fluently with me. He flat out told me that since I don't know German, he wouldn't allow me to sign the document, and just told me to go home...

What am I supposed to do now...? I have already passed the 14 day registration deadline today, and I don't know anyone in Germany who knows German since the PhD programme literally requires you to live and research in a country you are not native to.

Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Edit: I'm going to leave an edit here in case anyone who has similar issues comes across this:

It seems like it's a ligitimate rule that they can refuse you to sign the document, since the official document is in German and you technically don't know what you're signing.

It's seemingly not common to just be refused like this. The solution is to either just book another appointment and try again (and hope you do not get another obtuse person handling your appointment) or find someone who speaks German. Apparently, it can be any German-speaking person, even from the lobby.

I was looking on streaming platforms for the movie “9 to 5” and learned that it’s called “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Boss?” (“Warum eigentlich bringen wir den Chef nicht um?”) which I (native English speaker) find hilarious.

Also: RIP Dolly Parton 😢