u/Haunting_County_7129

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on the best approach for my permanent residence (Niederlassungserlaubnis) application.

I currently live in Kühlungsborn (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), where the responsible Ausländerbehörde is Bad Doberan. I'll be moving to Berlin in September for a new job.

My EU Blue Card became valid on 11 March 2025, so I'll become eligible for permanent residence after 21 months, on 11 December 2026. By August, I'll have my B1 certificate and the result of my Einbürgerungstest.

I contacted my current Ausländerbehörde to explain that I'd be moving before I actually become eligible. They replied in writing that they're happy to accept and process my application before I move. They told me to submit the application in August once I have my B1 certificate and Einbürgerungstest result, even though the earliest they could grant the permit would be after I reach the 21-month mark in December.

My question is: would you still submit the application through Bad Doberan, or wait and apply in Berlin after moving?

I'm mainly wondering whether:

• keeping the application with Bad Doberan is likely to be faster since they've already agreed to handle it (the MV service portal estimates 6 to 8 weeks to process application, which I can also ask them verbally/via email to see what the ABH thinks also)? and/or
• moving to Berlin before a decision might potentially require the file to be transferred anyway, making it better to apply directly in Berlin? I've seen another case on Reddit where someone applied in Düsseldorf but then moved to Berlin.

Has anyone had experience with an application continuing to be processed by the original Ausländerbehörde after moving to another city, or with a file transfer during a pending PR application?

tl;dr:

I'm a 26M non-EU citizen in a long-distance relationship with my 27F EU-citizen. I'm close to obtaining permanent residency in Germany and have accepted a job in Berlin, but this means continuing our long-distance relationship rather than moving closer together. I'm looking for experiences from people who have had to balance immigration/career stability against relationship proximity.

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Hi all,

I’m in a situation where a few major life decisions are happening at the same time, and I’d really appreciate some outside perspective.

I’m (26M, non-EU citizen) currently working in Germany and have recently accepted a job offer in Berlin. At the same time, I’m in a long-distance relationship already for 1.5 years with her (we've been long-distance since the beginning), and my partner (27F, EU citizen) is based in Amsterdam.

One factor influencing my thinking is long-term residency stability. I’m months away from being eligible for permanent residency in Germany, which would make my situation more stable and reduce the need to think about visa/work permit constraints. That’s making me consider whether it makes sense to prioritize long-term stability in one country versus prioritizing proximity in the relationship.

Right now, I feel a bit torn between:

• choosing a path that prioritizes long-term career and residency stability
• and trying to prioritize proximity and flexibility for the relationship

Logistically, Berlin–Amsterdam is manageable (train/flight), and we both have some remote work flexibility, so maintaining a long-distance setup is possible. That said, we are currently discussing how sustainable a continued LDR would be long-term after already having been long-distance for a while. I am fully open to it, which of course is biased because moving to the NL would heavily disrupt my residency stability, and she is much more hesitant about the sustainability of the relationship. She's not very open to moving to DE unfortunately, so we're kind of at an impasse.

I’d be interested in how others have navigated situations where career/immigration planning and relationships pulled in different directions.

Has anyone been through something similar? How did it go?

Hi all,

I've received an offer from a startup that I'm genuinely excited about, but I've always heard that you should negotiate salary whenever you get an offer. For context, I'm a software engineer with about 2 years of experience. The company is a tech startup (100-200 employees) that's been around for about half a decade and has multiple commercial customers and a recent large Series A funding round, so it appears relatively well-funded compared to early-stage startups.

Here are the details:

• Berlin-based
• €69k gross annual salary
• Permanent contract
• 31 vacation days
• Hybrid work (3 days in office, 2 days remote)
• €1,500 annual training budget
• Gym membership
• Deutschlandticket discount
• Relocation support (including assistance finding furnished housing)

The company also offers a VSOP (virtual stock option plan) with a nominal value of €20k that vests at 25% per year over 4 years. From my understanding, it would only have value in the event of an acquisition, IPO, or similar liquidity event.

For context, this would be a significant step up from my current position at a research institute.

When I applied, I gave a salary expectation of €65k–75k, so the offer is already within the range I stated.

The thing I'm struggling with is that I'm already very happy with the offer. If I negotiated from €69k to €70k–72k, the increase in monthly net pay wouldn't be huge, so I'm not sure it's worth introducing friction into the process.

At the same time, I often read that people regret not negotiating and that companies generally expect some level of negotiation.

Would you negotiate in this situation, or simply accept the offer?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or experiences.