military

[niksinif]

if i am stationed in germany for 5yrs+ am i allowed to apply for permanent residency?

[John]

Please explain more. Your nationality? What armed forces are you serving in? And what permanent residence are you hoping to get? German? Or the country in whose armed forces you are serving?

[niksinif]

i am a u.s. citizen with the u.s. military. i am inquiring about getting german citizenship

[John]

Personally I don't know the answer to your question, but hopefully someone who knows something about German citizenship law will post.

I continue to be amazed that the US and indeed the UK continue to station troops in Germany. That used to be justifiable, but now? Even if there is some threat, surely to place to station troops is near the new Eastern border of Nato, and not in Germany.

The point I am making is this. At some time in the future the politicians will wake up to the new reality, and then withdraw their troops from Germany.

[Dawie]

I'm not 100% sure what the correct answer is, BUT the practise in most countries seems to be that foreign military personnel stationed in another country are not subject to the same immigration laws as ordinary foreigners are. Whether or not this is the case in Germany is something you will have to find out.

[JAJ]

I'm not 100% sure what the correct answer is, BUT the practise in most countries seems to be that foreign military personnel stationed in another country are not subject to the same immigration laws as ordinary foreigners are.

And they are generally not eligible for local citizenship.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

In Germany there are many people who were originally posted to Germany with the US military and have decided to stay. If there is not an official program to allow it, the number of people who have stayed makes me think there are some straight forward ways to arrange it.

[RobinLondon]

The US and Germany have some sort of "Friendship Agreement" whereby Americans are allowed to rather easily get residence permits in Germany. When I moved there in 1998 and 2001, that's what I was informed by the caseworkers both in Freiburg and Berlin. I told them that I had both Canadian and US passports, but they only were interested in the US one, again citing the ease of processing under this so-called Friendship Agreement. Strangely enough, I've never been able to find any documentation on this provision. Moreover, it seems like all this friendship only goes one way. The Americans aren't doing Hans Mustermann any favours when he wishes to move to the US.

That's just my anecdotal 2 cents...