Hello r/germany, I’ve been planning on immigrating to Germany for the past few months and am getting a list of everything I’ll need gathered, and as I understand it I need to apply for a study prep permit, then a student visa, then a work visa, then I can apply for citizenship after a few years.
Looking at the requirements on [this page](https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/305156/en/) it says I need a main residence in Berlin, is this a non-negotiable? Because I’d like to attend TUFF in Hamburg once I get my student visa, and don’t fancy moving 3 hours across the country two years after arrival
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This site is from the city of Berlin aimed at people living in Berlin. It is one of the first search results bc it is from an official authority and in English.
The same rules apply for other cities, those cities often just don’t have websites.
The study prep-visa is available all across Germany. Replace where it says “Berlin” with Hamburg and apply in Hamburg and you are ok.
[https://welcome.hamburg.de/hwc/](https://welcome.hamburg.de/hwc/)
https://www.hamburg.com/welcome/newcomers/
This page is from the state of Berlin and as such only gives information about the state of Berlin. If you already know that you want to live in Hamburg, you should look up the [information from the state of Hamburg](https://www.hamburg.com/publicservice/info/11929167/n0/).
The page says so because it lays out the rules for the municipality/federal state of Berlin. You can only get a residence permit from the Berlin foreigner office if you live in Berlin.
Well, you linked to a page of the city of Berlin. Start from here instead: https://serviceportal.hamburg.de/HamburgGateway/Service/Entry?id=AFM_Auf_EN&location=020000000000