There's lots of misleading info out there on how fantastic Germany is - open to immigrants, efficient, high-tech, developed country. I was tricked by the false picture that keeps getting painted about the country, which you can see plenty of around the internet and also with local SEA white-worshipping mentality that "Europe = white people country = superior".
Germany is a shithole (and I say this as a born and raised Malaysian who has been told to GTFO ASAP because there's no place worse than Malaysia LOL) and as a person who lived in Germany for over 5 years, I beg you to do more research, take the praises on how great Germany is with a huge pinch of salt and RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION if you're even thinking of moving to Germany (or Europe in general).
The path from visa to German PR is actually super easy (as little as 2-3 years upon arrival) but there are good reasons not many people are going for Germany but still rush for US/CAN/UK/AUS/NZ
Career and education:
Life and living:
- Europeans claim their education system is so great and teaches everyone English from a young age, therefore everyone is fluent in English. This is partly true in Netherlands, Scandinavia, probably Belgium but completely false for France, Germany, Austria. More people in Malaysia speak english at a better level than the average German. The only places that are guaranteed to speak English are major restaurants and shops, and things that tourists would do. For every day living, forget it - banks, customer support, government office, even the immigration office!!!
- English-speaking jobs exist but are not as common as many people claim they are. The sweet spot is if you're mid 20's or 30's when you have 2-10 years working experience where you can find good jobs that only need English and pay well (50k-90k EUR before tax) in the cities.
- Bachelor's degree is almost free even for non-EU international students (you pay effectively 500-1500 EUR per semester) but assuming you also don't have work experience, the massive hidden cost is time. Majority of entry level jobs for fresh grads that pay well (35k EUR before tax) REQUIRE fluent or native German. Getting to that level is 1.5-2 years alone, so your bachelor's takes closer to 6 years than 4 years.
- Germany has 2 glass ceilings: first it's near impossible for people in general to hit 6 figures (100k EUR) before age 35. It's some archaic ageist thing I think, all the people who are earning 100-150k EUR were at least 40 years old. Second it's impossible to get into senior management/C level as a non-EU non-German foreigner (where you will also breach the 150k EUR salary mark). Those positions are reserved for Germans only (which is funny because the amdk all are brought in to snap up top level positions in Asia, and US still has a number of Indian upper management). At most they might grab one or two non-Germans to show "diversity" but sadly for you, a French or Italian person passes that criteria.
- A lot of MY/SG people will say "wah but Euro wor, convert already a lot of money!" Keep in mind Germany has 40-50% tax for most white collar jobs. 50k EUR a year before taxes is actually 28k (2350 EUR per month after taxes), 60k EUR a year before taxes is actually 36k (29xx EUR per month after taxes).
- Basically Germany is "alright" for gaining work experience and decent savings in your mid 20's, but you should already look to GTFO once you're in your 30's if you haven't already.
- Good work-life balance is misinformation for foreigners. They exist in Germany, and probably at a higher rate than US/SG/etc but it's only largely applicable if you're a local and/or speak the language at a near-native level where you can get a job anywhere. Given the choices of companies that are a good fit for you as the foreigner, the chances of getting a crap company is not much lower in Germany.
- Germans keep boasting about employee rights and bla bla bla BS. It only says so in the law, but companies get away with breaking them all the time.
- Two of the companies I worked for (~300 employees) actually "anyhow fired" their employees at will, including me. Fortunately for me, I knew my rights and I sued them, won both times. Those companies were very much textbook Chinaman companies, founded, run and based in Germany!
Well these are just a few important points, there's lots more but I don't want to make this wall of text overly long.
- Healthcare, education, unemployment money, etc handouts are all not free. They are baked into the huge income taxes mentioned above and also 19% VAT (basically German GST).
- Dating racism if you're a guy. You can forget about finding a girlfriend if you don't already have one. I managed to get a total of 3 people to go on dates with in 5 years in Germany (and 2 of the 3 were Asian girls LOL). Never in my life have I been told in the face "no I don't date Asian guys" this many times (not even in US where I lived for 5 years also and stupidly left thinking Germany was gonna be better). In terms of online apps, I can go for MONTHS, literally months in Germany without a single match (IIRC average is 6 months), while using the exact same profile, pictures, etc I get a match every 3-4 days while in Malaysia/Singapore.
- Shops in the cities close at 7 or 8pm. Everything that's not a restaurant is 100% closed on Sundays. Nightlife means going out drinking and nothing else. If you're the type of person who complains Australia is boring as hell, it's worse in Germany. On top of that, indoor smoking is allowed. I can count the number of nightlife places where smoking is prohibited with literally 1 hand.
- Customer service is unhelpful and rude as hell and this is very common. It's like the people hate their jobs but refuse to leave them, and the culture makes it ok for employees to SCOLD THE CUSTOMER (world's first LOL).
- Scamming is very common around Europe, not just by individuals but by businesses. I've been scammed more times in Germany than in Malaysia (just to compare the level of third-worldness.... and I'm a paranoid guy).
- Trains most certainly ARE NOT punctual all the time (the stereotype is bullshit). In fact, they're late so often that Germans themselves love to complain about Deutsche Bahn and it's the German equivalent of "sorry traffic jam lah" if you're late for a meeting where you needed to travel.
- High-tech is also another bullshit German meme. Most places that are not a major brand restaurant or retail business will NOT accept credit cards. There are many more places that will take the local EC card, but your Visa/Master/Amex won't work. In fact there's lots of places which are CASH ONLY (look at the high taxes and can anyone say TAX EVASION?)
- You cannot do a lot of things online, you have to do it on printed paper and then physically mail it (not joking). Some places (filing income tax - I think they might have recently changed that however, finally in the 21st century), applying for universities) even make you fill up and SUBMIT all the forms online, before showing you a results page of everything you filled in, make you print out the exact same shiz, and then mail it to their office.
The most frustrating thing is it seems many Germans are aware of the shortcomings of their little third world shithole and will complain about them among themselves and to you (verbally) but are too proud and patriotic to come out and put these facts in public and into writing.
Also if you wish, AMA about Germany and I will try my best to answer.
Maybe u can try singapore?
I am sure what Germany lack singapore got better.
