Ayohbk:
I'll start with Food.

This is one of my worst experience here. Feeding for here na war. Bread, morning and night. I'm not one who really likes too cook. And I know how to cook only few foods sef. Unlike 9ja, whereby you can enter with shikini money buy confirm food chop, it's not so here. I mostly eat bread, concoction rice, fried chicken, salad, when I go to the African store I buy plantain too, their yam is so expensive so I don't buy it. Oh, there's also beans too, It's quite expensive, I love beans so I buy it anyways. If you decide to buy food outside, maybe restaurant or whatever, just go with your seasonings because their foods are always tasteless, it smells nice but doesn't taste good. Except you go to burger King or KFC or McDonald's. For me now, burger don be like dream food for me, before Corona I eat it almost every day. Either I eat it or I eat Doner.

Why not try buffet from other cultures (say Italian, Chinese etc)whenever you eat outside. They taste better compared to German restaurants and some could be as low as €10 and you'll eat till you can eat no more

EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Bro are you a lawyer? If you are kindly recommend some nice Llm courses. I'm an Llb 5 student btw.

willy2000:
I will begin by saying, please forgive my writing skills. I was never a good writer, which is mainly one of the reasons I often write on forums to improve my writing skills. I was lucky not to have written my master thesis in English lol.


* Your visa application experience in Nigeria
My visa application in Nigeria was quite straight forward. I got admitted, used the admission letter to get an interview date, went for the interview, blocked some money in an account, and boom visa granted.

* Travelling experience/ adjustment status experience.
My flight to Germany was my first time flying, I felt this tingle sensation as the play was taxing for take-off, and mid-air I felt a strange pressure inside my eardrums. The feeling was weird, but hey, I did not vomit.
I landed in Frankfurt, and I stood for like 5mins, I was completely awed.
Frankfurt am Main airport is gorgeous, then came this strange feeling, I was virtually the only black man on the flight and at our baggage collection belt. Then came the steers. How did I adjust, I sha adjusted anyhow. I learned how to stir back and return the cheeky smile I got. This is something you will have to learn.

* How you converted your visa to a residence permit (required documents).
To be on the safer side, make sure you come with enough cash, you can not get access to your block account immediately you land, you need an address to unblock it and to rent an apartment, you need money. And without an address, you can not apply for a residence permit.
To convert your visa, you have to book an appointment with the foreigners' office, and you can ask what documents are required. I have learned that the people there do not like to speak English, so maybe try to get anyone who speaks German, or register for a tandem partner at your school, this is very important

* What are the immigration rules to follow?
Do not work above the stipulated number of hrs given.
Once you get your residence permit, it is stated therein.

* Residence permit renewals.
My city gives yearly residence permits. This means you have to return every year with proof of financial sustenance to get another year if you have a job contract that is equivalent to the required money, you are good; otherwise, you have to show a bank statement with the required balance. This, however, is not the norm, depending on your city; each city has its own interpretation of the law.

how much is the required balance for a residence permit

great write up op and others contributors in Germany hope to hear more from you guys and please if you gat photos abeg share with us

Hello house please help me with a honest review between these two choices with respect to career prospect in Germany.

(A)Cologne University of Applied Sciences.....Msc Communication Systems and Networks (with emphasis on a career as a Network Engineer).

(B) FAU Erlangen.....Msc Computational Engineering (with emphasis on a career in digital signal processing, machine/deep learning and computer vision).

My bachelor is in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

frankmoney:
how much is the required balance for a residence permit

This depends on the official attending to you.
The law state you have to show financial proof of sustenance, which is I think about 850 per month(not sure if this amount is correct). So it is either you have that in your account or you have an equivalent job contract. Like I said earlier, it depends on the official attending to you.

solomonbrown64:
...... Nice tips @willy2000...

.... I do have a lot of questions but I want you to land first because from your posts, sooner than later, you will get to what I want to know.

But, I would like to know how much you can save as a worker for a single man after paying tax.


Thanks.

How much you can save as a single man depends on so many factors, I can not drop figures because what I may end up saving my be too little compared to you.
But if you are frugal and decide to live in a small apartment, you will save some money.

Ayohbk:
I'll start with Food.

This is one of my worst experience here. Feeding for here na war. Bread, morning and night. I'm not one who really likes too cook. And I know how to cook only few foods sef. Unlike 9ja, whereby you can enter with shikini money buy confirm food chop, it's not so here. I mostly eat bread, concoction rice, fried chicken, salad, when I go to the African store I buy plantain too, their yam is so expensive so I don't buy it. Oh, there's also beans too, It's quite expensive, I love beans so I buy it anyways. If you decide to buy food outside, maybe restaurant or whatever, just go with your seasonings because their foods are always tasteless, it smells nice but doesn't taste good. Except you go to burger King or KFC or McDonald's. For me now, burger don be like dream food for me, before Corona I eat it almost every day. Either I eat it or I eat Doner.

You could substitute yam for potatoes though, they're much cheaper.

EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Bro, I hope to study there o. Are you in RWTH Aachen?

willy2000:

How much you can save as a single man depends on so many factors, I can not drop figures because what I may end up saving my be too little compared to you.
But if you are frugal and decide to live in a small apartment, you will save some money.

True. I know about the small apartments and stuffs. I saw the tax deducted from the salary of a single man can go as high as 32%. Mehn, that's a lot. One has no other than to be frugal as a single working class dude.

Thanks for the tips.

.

Deltayankeeboi:
OP, if I may add, you can still drop nice pictures of the evergreen environment in Germany. It will capture more minds to always visit your thread
Mehn, I love seeing the pictures of the evergreen environment abroad. It gives me this feeling of closure and longing to be there.

OP, please pictures, very important. Thank you.

Followed already.

Please dey update us frequently as much as you can.
So we can stay glued to the thread.

That was the reason why I particularly loved Danielhouston's thread, his frequent updates.

The other guy that also created a thread living in Germany, I don't know if it's pride or personal reasons, he is active but chooses not to update anymore.

OP, no go do us like that, I go vex

CC willy2000

@Bolded here some images I took from my last hike

willy2000:

@Bolded here some images I took from my last hike

Nice. Germany has a lot of Greenland and vast uninhabited environments.
People live there or those houses have been deserted

How's healthcare like? If one happens to fall ill, as a student and regular immigrant still trying to get work?

Costs, Treatment (behaviour wise), etc. Read on quora it's not easy without insurance, and could take days for an appointment, unless it's a life threatening emergency.

Deltayankeeboi:


Nice. Germany has a lot of Greenland and vast uninhabited environments.

People live there or those houses have been deserted

People live there, this actually how a typical village settlement looks like.

0DDA0:
How's healthcare like? If one happens to fall ill, as a student and regular immigrant still trying to get work?

Costs, Treatment (behaviour wise), etc. Read on quora it's not easy without insurance, and could take days for an appointment, unless it's a life threatening emergency.

Health insurance is an important requirement for enrollment into any University in Germany. You must have Insurance.
As for appointments, it depends on the kind of doctor you want to visit. If you need a general practitioner, an appointment for such doesn't take too long. However, other kind of Doctors like ENT, and co. You may have to wait for weeks if not months before you can get your first appointment.
But the trick here is, once you have visited a Doctor once, getting follow up appointments is easy, even if you have an emergency, you can call and walk-in the same day to see the doctor, but you will have to be patient.

@willy2000 thanks for the reply. Also, I read on the Dan's thread that you can't say you freelance or have an online business as a student(Even though it's legit). But you can call it something else.
Is remote student work acceptable? Also, how do they know your income to tax you when you make above €500? For example with a Payoneer card. You're withdrawing straight with an ATM. Nothing is entering your (German) bank account.

I'm asking because for a programmer, or anything freelance-able, freelance really helps, and can help more when you can legit put your location as a non Nigerian location. It can be more beneficial than menial physical jobs.

@willy2000 you are trying.. Keep the good work going .. Please don't forget to drop pictures too ��

@willy2000 bro please I'm not trying to change the essence of this thread I just want you to help me get contact of any air freight cargo company owned by Nigerians in Germany that can help send goods to Nigeria. A kind request

Asolukah:
@willy2000 bro please I'm not trying to change the essence of this thread I just want you to help me get contact of any air freight cargo company owned by Nigerians in Germany that can help send goods to Nigeria. A kind request

Unfortunately, I don't know any air freight cargo company owned by a Nigerian. You can google it up, and try searching around Hamburg and Bremen.

0DDA0:
@willy2000 thanks for the reply. Also, I read on the Dan's thread that you can't say you freelance or have an online business as a student(Even though it's legit). But you can call it something else.
Is remote student work acceptable? Also, how do they know your income to tax you when you make above €500? For example with a Payoneer card. You're withdrawing straight with an ATM. Nothing is entering your (German) bank account.

I'm asking because for a programmer, or anything freelance-able, freelance really helps, and can help more when you can legit put your location as a non-Nigerian location. It can be more beneficial than menial physical jobs.

Working as a freelancer and earning above a certain threshold is taxable. Note, as long as you receive payments into your German accounts, your dealings are known. However, if your clients decide to pay into your Nigerian account, then lucky you, but just hope they do not declare it on their tax returns. Because your name will definitely appear on the receipt, and if the account officer digs deeper, then you know what will happen.

willy2000:
Kind of strange to see people comparing this thread with the previous one.
I have gone through the travel section and found threads for US, UK Immigrant, but none for German Immigrant. Looking closely, you will see I copied the UK thread format, in other to make it generic. This thread is not about me.
I read the UK version, and wow you get diverse information from people, who are willing to share.

I will finish the remaining points I listed later this evening and answer any questions people may have based on what they want to know, that can not be found on this forum. If you are a prospective student, there is a thread for that, seeking a family reunion, there is a thread for that. There is also a thread for job seekers, applying for a job in Germany from Nigeria.

But if you live in Germany and you are having challenges or there are things that are confusing. That is why I created this thread, the experiences we all have had and are going to have in Germany are different. But it will do a lot well sharing some of these experiences or giving tips on how to circumvent the challenge at hand.

I will also create a thread for IT prospects in the programming section(@dolpaz). Since I have access to loads of learning materials, I am willing to share videos and ebooks with people who are ready to aspire, this I will do once I set up a secure server.

Please drop the thread for job seekers from Nigeria

Good Job brother.

Keep the thread moving

So, How can I come in

dolpaz:
Good Job brother.

Keep the thread moving

So, How can I come in

You can start by commenting on any of the following:

* Your visa application experience in Nigeria

* Travelling experience/ adjustment status experience.

* How you converted your visa to a residence permit (required documents).

* What are the immigration rules to follow?

* Residence permit renewals.

* If you are a Student.
How do you find German universities
How difficult/ easy are your courses
What are the avoidable pitfalls for incoming students
How can one balance work and study
How can one make friends
Fun things as a Student

* How can one go about job applications/internships?

* Using a credit card( things to avoid)

* Tips on how to cloth and cope with the cold weather

* Where you live and why you like it or don't you like it? Tips on choosing the right neighborhood. (Internet plans, phone plans)

* Public Transportation Vs Driving in Germany.

* Driving in Germany? How long can you use your Naija driving license before you get a license?

* Tricks and tips to get successfully get a license

* Childcare for children below 5

* What culture shock have you experienced?

* How to locate Nigerian restaurants and market in your location

* How much do you or your family survive on in a month?

* Fun things to do

Ayohbk:
I'll start with Food.

This is one of my worst experience here. Feeding for here na war. Bread, morning and night. I'm not one who really likes too cook. And I know how to cook only few foods sef. Unlike 9ja, whereby you can enter with shikini money buy confirm food chop, it's not so here. I mostly eat bread, concoction rice, fried chicken, salad, when I go to the African store I buy plantain too, their yam is so expensive so I don't buy it. Oh, there's also beans too, It's quite expensive, I love beans so I buy it anyways. If you decide to buy food outside, maybe restaurant or whatever, just go with your seasonings because their foods are always tasteless, it smells nice but doesn't taste good. Except you go to burger King or KFC or McDonald's. For me now, burger don be like dream food for me, before Corona I eat it almost every day. Either I eat it or I eat Doner.

hahaha... make person carry seasoning go restaurant. Lols you are serious

Hello folks, nice posts and reviews so far.
Please does anybody have an idea about RWTH Aachen university? Its my dream uni for MSC and possibly PHD( USA is first choice though).

I plan to write the GRE with a threshold of 320+. Please for residents aboard in Germany and more specifically Aachen, please do throw light on this.

Hannania:
Hello folks, nice posts and reviews so far.
Please does anybody have an idea about RWTH Aachen university? Its my dream uni for MSC and possibly PHD( USA is first choice though).

I plan to write the GRE with a threshold of 320+. Please for residents aboard in Germany and more specifically Aachen, please do throw light on this.

Same with me. Is your course of study a joint master's program?

Hannania:
Hello folks, nice posts and reviews so far.
Please does anybody have an idea about RWTH Aachen university? Its my dream uni for MSC and possibly PHD( USA is first choice though).

I plan to write the GRE with a threshold of 320+. Please for residents aboard in Germany and more specifically Aachen, please do throw light on this.

Do German schools now generally ask for GRE?

BelieverDE:


Same with me. Is your course of study a joint master's program?

nop. Am planning to enroll for MSC in electrical and information engineering, with concentration in either computer or communication engineering. The university has interesting research teams in my field of interest. Its also a top school in Europe and the world.

Admitwithschola:


Do German schools now generally ask for GRE?

just a few, mostly top schools. RWTH asks for it in mostly its English taught PhD and MSC.

EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Can you make a post about student life in Aachen and job opportunities for students there.

And how is the employment opportunities there for IT developers like front end developers.

dolpaz:
Good Job brother.

Keep the thread moving

So, How can I come in

Just start from anywhere na