ABOUT LIFE IN GERMANY
Hey, I’m Jenna
MEET YOUR HOST
JENNA DAVIS | Founder & Expert Immigrant
I’m no different than you – I’m an international who has been living in Germany since 2014. I moved from Ontario, Canada to Freiburg, Germany with no real understanding of how the process of relocation was going to be.
I was so wrong to underestimate the difficulty of German bureaucracy.
Since then I’ve become an expert in German relocation. Having lived through all the same experiences you will soon go through and having the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the country’s best experts, I’ve been able to build up this entirely unique program which will not only help you settle in seamlessly, but also teach you how to save money where even Germans didn’t know was possible. Want to hear more?
why Life in Germany?
Life in Germany is your one-stop guide to navigating life here in Germany at ease! Throughout the website and on my social
media, you’ll find tons of great tips and tailored advice for expats and immigrants just like you and me. Together, we find solutions to the biggest challenges that life in Germany throws our way (like German bureaucracy or maybe just making a friend or two).
My comprehensive guides, downloadable PDFs, and numerous videos go through it all – cultural nuances, bureaucratic essentials, and recommendations for the best and most affordable service providers in Germany.
With a decade of experience collaborating with experts, extensively researching German services, and encountering firsthand what it’s like to move to and live in Germany, my goal is to help inspire newcomers and seasoned residents alike.
I don’t want you to just feel comfortable living life in Germany, I want you to take it by the reigns and embrace your life here to the fullest! I want you to have full control of your experience without the need of hiring costly relocation support or having to do it entirely on your own.
What Inspired ME?
The background story
Similar to you, I’m an international living in Germany. I moved here in 2014 from Canada, and I’ll be honest… it was hard. No one handed me that one simple solution to relocating painlessly, and I didn’t have the money to spend on a relocation agency that would do it all for me.
To be honest, I kind of thought my German husband would have all the answers.
Turns out… he didn’t. Why? Because he had never needed to learn about the immigration process in Germany before or how hard it may be to set an immigrant up for even just a bank or a phone plan.
So, I made it my mission to document the entire process, meet the experts, figure out workarounds to conquer the bureaucratic system and save a ton of money while doing it (even more than many Germans do).
To simplify things, everyone’s journey is going to be different, but we are all going to take similar steps at one point or another.
This is kind of like what my bureaucratic journey in Germany has looked like so far ⬇️
2012
I fell in love with a German while traveling in South Africa
2013
We tried long distance dating and I’d visit Germany for 3 months at a time on a tourist visa
14
I moved to Freiburg, Germany on an au pair visa to see how life in Germany was like
15
I moved to Düsseldorf, Germany and switched to a freelance visa, becoming self-employed
16
We went through the marriage process, finally got hitched & launched Life in Düsseldorf 🎉
17
We bought our first house in Düsseldorf, Germany
18
19
We took parental leave in Germany
20
Our son started in the German daycare system & I launched Life in Germany 🎉
21
Our son started in the German Kindergarten system
22
I gave birth to our second child, it’s a girl!
23
We bought our first and second investment property
24
Our son starts in the German elementary school system
Although it looks perfect on paper, there were so many bumps along the way that I couldn’t fit it all on one page (but I do share those bumps on my YouTube channel if you’d like to take a look). Needless to say, it’s been a learning process, and that entire process is why I’m here today, and why Life in Germany came to be.
THE BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS
WHAT’S YOUR NEXT STEP?
Like I said, we’re all going to be at different stages of the journey. Some of us may skip a step, some of us may need to take many paths to get where we need to be. That’s okay!
Maybe you’re here because you’re thinking of making a fresh start for yourself, you’d like to learn the German language, you’ve fallen in love, or you’re chasing your dreams.
We all land here in Germany for one reason or another, the question is… Are you ready?
GERMAN BUREAUCRACY ISN’T EASY.
Many internationals struggle with the same issues…
You want to open up a bank account but you find out you need a European address…
You can’t find an apartment because the landlord wants to meet you in person
On top of that, your landlord is asking for your SCHUFA score, and guess what? You don’t have that either
So you decide to register yourself in the city… Sorry! You require a permanent address in the city before you can register
But if you can’t register, how are you going to get your tax ID?
Without your tax ID you can’t get a job (or even work at the job you just received)
And now you’re stuck back at square one…
Ask yourself this:
What’s in a German rental contract?
How do I get a good internet plan?
How do I set up my electricity?
Which residency permit do I need?
Where do I have to register?
How do I get my German tax number?
Which transit options are available?
How do I get my drivers license?
How does the school system work?
How do I save money on expenses?
Am I ready for a culture shock?
TRUST ME, I get it
I’VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE NOW
When I moved here from Germany back in 2014 from a small town in Ontario, Canada, I’ll admit, I was naive. I put all my trust in the hands of my German partner to get me properly settled in. While he helped me with a lot of things – he struggled to understand exactly what I needed because he hadn’t been in these “expat shoes” before.
He didn’t know he needed to warn me not to check off “catholic” on my registration documents otherwise I’d be locked into paying church taxes, he didn’t know which bank was best for me to be able to manage on my own as an English speaker, he didn’t realize my resume needed serious tweaking into “German format”… there were a lot of things that we didn’t consider.
I’ve had to watch new friends and best friends come and go because they just couldn’t settle in as an expat here (that’s normal… in all countries) and it’s been my mission for the last 10+ years to help prevent that from ever happening again. Stay my friends! You will love it, you’ll see.
SO… I MADE A PLAN!
I’ve spent thousands of hours learning from my own bumpy road. I’ve partnered up with the pros and experts involved in helping you relocate easily, I found sneaky ways to save money – even for Germans this has proven helpful, I’ve learned from my mistakes and flipped those into learning experiences for you too.
I made this my passion and my full-time job.
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT
THE WELCOME PROGRAM
The Life in Germany Welcome Program is a powerful step-by-step online relocation program designed with the help of experts to seamlessly guide English-speaking ex-pats & internationals through the difficult process of moving to Germany. It’s the gap filler between struggling to do it all on your own and hiring a relocation agency to do it all for you.