Hey all! I’m trying to plan ahead for the next 2-3 years: we’re hoping to move to Germany or the Netherlands. I lived near the general Benelux region for about 1.5 years and on the German side of it for 1 year.

I’m currently a Software Engineer in the US at a Fortune 500 company.

I speak German around a B1/B2 level (so pretty confident I could get an Aufenthaltserlaubnis at 21 months on a Blue Card, especially with the help of some Volkshochschule classes).

**Our main concern is with family reunification** – my partner’s mom has no close relatives in the US, so the Netherlands is extra appealing due to the ability to have her come over on a DAFT visa – but that would require more time to get permanent residency (5 years, very limited Dutch knowledge) in the Netherlands. I would love to live in the Netherlands – but the idea of aiming for German PR in 21 months and EU PR in 5 years is pretty appealing, not to mention the fact that I already know German and love Germany.

**So my main question: how difficult is it to bring a parent to Germany if you have an Aufenthaltserlaubnis?** I read [here](https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/en/families/reunification-of-families/) that it’s not impossible, but not easy, and conditional based on how dependent the relative is. In our case, her mother is fairly independent and only mid 50s, but with no relatives and has fairly recently (in the past few years) needed to get a restraining order on her ex – if that makes a difference. We would also have her live with us.

(Mostly asking so that I know whether to focus on Germany or NL – each one has different immigration policies, job search processes, work cultures, etc.)

3 comments

  1. If an official website in Germany exposes itself so far as to state

    >. In these cases, the Alien’s Department has to use their discretion, a margin of judgement, as to whether they agree to the reunification of families, **which they very rarely use** [emphasis mine]

    then that is a rather strong signal. If you can see an actual avenue for her to make it into the Netherlands, and if bringing her over is really important to you, you should probably go for the Netherlands. The duration until permanent residency is not really that relevant if she cannot get into Germany at all.

  2. She would have to apply for a work visa on her own for her to have a realistic chance to live here.

    Family reunification would basically only work if you can prove that she can’t live on her own, can’t be in a nursing home in her home country and you can’t care for her unless she lives with you – in which case you are financially responsible for her, including very expensive health insurance.

  3. Mid-50s is too close to the cut-off age for public health insurance. (IIRC it was 58?) Pension will be another issue, there won’t be enough time to pay into the system for 25 years until she retires.

    Even if she was able to get a job offer and consequently apply for a work permit, immigration officers will be concerned about old-age poverty in a case like hers. She’d have to show that she has enough savings so that the lack of the above does not matter. Based upon what you wrote, I don’t see that happening.

    So yes, move to the Netherlands.

    In regards to speaking German already, you might be a good candidate for living and working close to the German-Dutch border.

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