​

Facebook groups are filled with posts of expats moving back to their home country. Everyone has their reasons for making the decision.

We collected the reasons why expats are leaving Germany. But to give you a fair picture, we also interviewed expats who have made Germany their home and what they like about this beautiful country.

What do expats love about Germany?

• Work-life balance: Germans respect their and your personal life. They know how to keep professional and personal separate. This cultural aspect has also shaped the German labor laws.
  • 30 days holidays.
  • No one asks, nor must you share your personal number with your colleagues.
  • No one calls you after office hours.
• Job security: You may disagree with this point, considering the current job market and mass layoffs. However, German laws are strong and favor employees. A company in Germany cannot just fire you the next day without giving you a fair severance package.
• Labor associations: Labor associations (Betriebsrat) in Germany are powerful. They protect employees' interests and negotiate on their behalf. Labor associations make it even tougher for companies to fire employees just because the stock took a dive.
• Free education: Not only schools but also universities don't have any tuition fees in Germany.
• Trust: Unless you live in Berlin, the trust level is high in other German cities. Germans trust you and believe what you say. But unfortunately, some people take advantage of this fact.
• Travel: Germany and Europe are beautiful. It's a heaven if you love traveling. Moreover, there is no border control. Cheap trains and buses connect cities and countries.
• Health: Not every country has clean air and water like Germany. Many people like Germany for this reason alone.
• Unlimited sick leaves: If you are sick, you rest and recover. It's normal for people to take a week or two off to recover. You even get a full salary for up to six weeks of sick leave. After that, your health insurance pays you when you are sick.

Things parents love about Germany

• Equal chance: Even if you don't earn well, your children will have an equal opportunity to be successful in Germany. The German government offers many social benefits to families with low income.
• 3 years of maternity leave: Parents get money (Elterngeld) for 14 months after the birth of their child. They can even take paternity leave for up to 3 years. Moreover, your employer can't fire you. It's very common for parents to take 12 to 18 months of leave after childbirth.
• Child allowance: You get a child allowance of 250 € per month per child in Germany.

Love hate relationship

• Rules: Germans follow the rules. Some love this aspect, and some hate it. But I find following rules makes life simpler and easier.
• Say what you mean: Most Germans say what they mean. There is no read between the lines. For some expats, this is a big change, and they may find Germans rude.

Things that are deteriorating

• German health system: Everyone is legally required to have health insurance. The premiums of the state insurance depend on income. You can even insure your non-working family members for free. Furthermore, the services offered in the state healthcare are a lot better than what you find in countries like the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, the German public healthcare system is not doing well and may face financial challenges in the near future.
• Education system: German schools are facing teacher shortages. The quality of education in schools is also deteriorating. Schools don't have money to upgrade the infrastructure, and the education content has not been revised for a long time.
• Pension system: The German pension system relies on young professionals to pay for retired individuals. However, Germany has an aging population. So, by 2050, they won't have enough young professionals to pay for the large number of retirees. This has led the government to reduce the current pension benefits, and experts predict that the government will cut benefits even further.

Things expats hate about Germany

• Bureaucracy: Germany is famous for its tiring bureaucracy. If you want to do anything here, you must fill out tons of forms, submit documents, wait for appointments, and the list goes on.
• Language: Learning German is tougher than you can imagine. This is the biggest challenge expats face in Germany. Moreover, the whole German bureaucracy is in German. So, if you don't know the language, you'll feel like running around like a headless chicken.
• Housing crisis: Finding an affordable place to live in Germany is next to impossible. There is a long line of people looking for an apartment, and rents have increased significantly in the past ten years.
• Integration: Depending on which city you move to, integrating with the locals can be tough. Language barriers and cultural differences are among the biggest reasons for this.
• Expat parents have completely different issues: As you may imagine, German education is in German. So, if you can't speak German, talking to your child's teacher, friends, and parents will be challenging. Moreover, you won't be able to help your child with their studies. Of course, there are ways to overcome these challenges. But, kids' education is a big factor many expats are leaving Germany.
• Can't bring your parents: In many cultures, old parents live with their son's family in the same house. So, it's important for them to bring their parents to Germany. However, German laws prevent that. This leaves expats no choice but to move to a different country or return home.
• Inflation: The price of basic commodities like food, heating, electricity, etc., has doubled after Corona. So, settling in Germany now is expensive and may not be worth it.
• Hand-to-mouth: Many expats move to Germany after getting a job offer. They bring their family and kids with them. However, they are the sole earners in the family. Currently, settling a family in Germany where only one person earns is tough. Add the other challenges on top, and Germany becomes unattractive to many.
• Can't get a doctor's appointment: The first challenge is to find a doctor who accepts you as their patient. The next challenge is to get an appointment. People insured by public insurance get specialist appointments after 3 to 6 months. You must also wait hours in the emergency before a doctor treats you. This is also one of the reasons many people switch to private health insurance in Germany.
• Visa appointments: Your visa has expired, and you need it to sign your emplyoment contract. Many people lost their job offer because they didn't get a visa appointment. The situation is even worse in big cities like Berlin, Stuttgart, etc. Many expats even camp overnight outside the foreign office to be able to get an appointment.

These are the most common things expats love and hate about Germany. However, ultimately, it's all about comparing one country against another based on your preferences.

Send us what you love and hate the most about Germany. :)

New on GermanPedia

Launched a new tool to create rental contracts online 🥳 You can fill and create a German rental contract for free using our tool. Enter the details and download the rental contract PDF. You can even add additional clauses after downloading the contract. Check it out