Guidance on Moving to Germany

Hello!

I recently returned from a trip to Germany to see my girlfriend who lives there. She and her family are naturally born German citizens and residents. It is my intent to move to Germany to be with her, and she and her parents are prepared to be references for my application as well as offer me a work contract for their business (construction) so I may immediately begin to start contributing.

There is an insane amount of information on the official German embassy websites, as well as the moving guide on this subreddit. Most notably, I have seen it stated a few times that some people don’t have to go to the embassy for an interview, and can apply for a residence permit **in** Germany.

I am from Detroit, so my closest embassy which actually handles visas and permits would be Chicago.

I am waiting on correspondence from Chicago with some of my questions, but I am hoping to get some guidance here as well.

Do I need to travel to Chicago to begin this process? Or can I do so from within Germany and move there straight away?

Should I get a work visa before going? Which one would be the best to apply for? Or is that not needed with a residence permit?

[This is the site](https://www.germany.info/us-en) I have been researching thus far but it’s difficult to answer these questions on my own.

I am totally in love with this German woman and upon my visit to German I have totally fallen in love with the country. It is now the mission of my girlfriend and I to get me there so we can be together, and I want to make sure I get this process done correctly and respectfully.

If anyone is willing to share some guidance with me for this process I would be most grateful.

Thank you for reading!