Hi everyone,

My wife, our daughter (born in January) and I are planning to move from Berlin to the UK, and we’re currently trying to work out where would be the best place for us to settle.

We’ve lived in Berlin for around 8–10 years, so we’re very used to city life, but we’re now looking for somewhere that gives us more space and a better environment for raising a family. My wife is British and I’m originally from Turkey. I’m a composer, painter and researcher, while my wife is a senior manager at a start-up in Berlin.

Her parents live near Oxford and most of her friends are in the south of England, so we’d ideally like to be somewhere in the broad area south/west of London.

What we’re looking for

Our rough criteria are:

• Around £1 million budget
• 4-bedroom detached house, ideally with plenty of character
• A large garden is very important
• Somewhere in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire or nearby
• Ideally a town rather than completely rural, as we’re used to having cafés, restaurants, shops etc. nearby
• A good sense of community, but also somewhere relatively liberal, international and multicultural
• We’re very sporty and would love good access to tennis, cycling, walking, gyms/swimming etc.
• Ideally a walkable town centre with cafés, restaurants, pubs, bakeries and everyday shops
• A train station within walking distance would be fantastic, although we’re absolutely happy to drive when necessary
• We expect to commute to London 2–3 days a week, so a reasonable train journey into London is important
• Being reasonably close to Oxford is also a plus because of my wife’s family

Note: we would like to rent for at least 6 month before we buy anywhere.

We’re not completely sure whether we want a village, a town or something semi-rural. At the moment, I think a nice market town would probably suit us best: somewhere with a proper town centre and community, but where you can still have a large garden and feel like you’re surrounded by greenery.

Places we’ve looked at

We’ve been looking at places such as Godalming, Farnham and Beaconsfield, and I particularly like the look of those. My wife grew up around Petersfield, so she knows that area well and likes it, although she doesn’t particularly want to move back there.

The problem is that there are so many towns in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire that it’s becoming quite difficult to understand the differences between them just from looking at Rightmove/Zoopla.

So I’d really appreciate some local knowledge.

If you had around £1m to spend on a 4-bedroom detached family house and wanted to be within reasonable commuting distance of London, where would you choose?

And perhaps more importantly, which towns would you avoid, and why?

We’re particularly interested in places that offer a good balance between:

nice house + large garden + attractive town centre + community + good schools/family environment + access to London + countryside.

We’re also very open to places we haven’t considered at all, so please feel free to suggest anywhere in the wider area.

Thanks very much in advance; I really appreciate any recommendations or local insight!

Hi everyone,

I am looking for people who have been in a similar situation and could share their experience.

My wife is a British citizen and moved to Germany in 2018. She was already living here before Brexit and therefore has an Aufenthaltsdokument-GB according to Article 18(4) of the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement.

She has:

• lived continuously and legally in Germany since 2018,
• been fully employed throughout,
• had her Brexit residence status confirmed,
• applied for permanent residence in october - still full silence from LEA

 

Our daughter was born in Berlin in January 2026.

We are now trying to understand whether our daughter may have acquired German citizenship automatically at birth under 

§4 Abs. 3 StAG.

The relevant requirement seems to be that one parent must:

1. have been legally resident in Germany for 5 years, and
2. have an "unlimited right of residence".

My understanding is that under Article 15(1) of the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement, British citizens covered by the agreement acquire a right of permanent residence after 5 years of legal residence.

However, I am unsure how German authorities treat this in practice:

• Does the permanent residence right under the Withdrawal Agreement count as the "unlimited right of residence" required by §4(3) StAG?
• Did anyone here have a British parent with Aufenthaltsdokument-GB and a child born in Germany after the 5-year point?
• Was citizenship automatically recorded in the birth register, or did you have to request a formal determination from the authorities?

We have contacted/will contact the Standesamt and LEA Berlin, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually gone through this process.

Important note: In October 2025, we also applied for citizenship. I got the German citizenship (I am also a Turkish citizen), and her application is still pending. We have added our daughter's birth certificate to our citizenship application as well, but still total silence.

Thank you!

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping someone can give us some advice because our situation is a bit complicated.

I'm Turkish (now a German citizen), and my wife is British. We both applied for German citizenship in October 2025.

Our daughter was born in January 2026.

In February 2026, my caseworker emailed me asking for additional payslips. I sent them immediately, and I also included our daughter's birth certificate, asking for her to be added to our citizenship application.

My caseworker told me that, because my wife is British, her application is handled by a different department. However, he confirmed that he had added our daughter's birth certificate to our file and specifically told us not to submit a separate citizenship application for our daughter.

About a month later, in April 2026, I was invited to receive my naturalisation certificate, so I have now been a German citizen since the end of April.

The problem is that we've had no updates about our daughter's case. Whenever we contact the department handling my wife's application (S6), we don't receive a response. My former caseworker also no longer replies to my emails.

I'm also aware that there should probably be an application fee for our daughter, but we haven't received any payment request or any confirmation that she is actually being processed.

My questions are:

1. How can we follow up on our daughter's case and make sure she has actually been included in the process?
2. Is there anything else we should be doing, or should we simply continue waiting?
3. At the moment, our only income is Elterngeld and Kindergeld, as both of us will return to work in November. Could this negatively affect my wife's citizenship application?

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the German healthcare system.

My GP gave me a referral (Überweisung) to see a neurologist, but they didn't explain what I should do next.

I usually use Doctolib to find specialists, but when I search for neurologists, I can't seem to find any appointments for patients with public health insurance. I also emailed the neurology department at Charité, but I haven't received a response.

What's the best way to find a neurologist in Berlin? Should I keep looking for a private practice, or is it appropriate to go to a hospital instead?

My situation is somewhat urgent, so I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

Hello French experts,

My wife and I would love some advice on a possible move to the South of France.

We’ve lived in Berlin for almost 10 years and are considering relocating with our daughter, who was born this year, sometime in the next 18 months.

A bit about us: I’m an artist, composer, and researcher/supervisor, and my wife works in a fast-paced startup in educational technology, focused on growth and expansion. She also has quite a bit of experience in the travel sector.

My wife speaks French at a high level and could probably work in business French with a bit more practice. My French is still beginner level, but I’m planning to improve it before any move.

We both have EU citizenship, so visas shouldn’t be an issue.

We’re in our mid-30s and are looking for somewhere relatively liberal, international, and lively. We don’t necessarily need to live in a city center, but we would ideally like a bit more space and access to nature.

We’re planning to spend a month in September researching a few places and getting a feel for different towns and cities. So far our list includes:

• Nice and the surrounding area
• Marseille, or nearby places like Cassis or La Ciotat
• Aix-en-Provence
• Arles / Avignon
• possibly Perpignan and the surrounding area

What we’d love advice on:

• How easy is it to find work, either in English or French?
• Are remote or hybrid jobs common enough to make this realistic?
• Are there any areas we should definitely consider adding to our list?
• Are there any places you’d recommend avoiding?

Any thoughts, personal experiences, or reality checks would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone,

I became a German citizen in April and recently applied for my passport and ID card. At the Bürgeramt, the employee asked me to write my surname "as legibly as possible" on the electronic signature pad. I assumed they just wanted to verify the spelling of my surname, so I wrote it neatly.

I only realized afterward that what I wrote was actually being used as my official signature on both my passport and ID card. The problem is that my real signature looks completely different and has nothing to do with my surname or what I wrote on the pad.

Do you think it's worth applying for a new passport and ID card with my actual signature, or should I just keep them as they are? Has anyone else experienced something similar?