Moving to Germany

[costom]

I'm a bit confused on what the process of moving to Germany is going to look like. I'd appreciate if someone could help me clear it up.

Background:

I'm American, and my wife is Swedish. We're currently traveling the world, but we've decided to settle a little while in Germany, so we now have a flight about five weeks from now from Bangkok to Berlin. My wife grew up in Berlin, but has since called London home.

Question:

I have seen post after post about "joining my EU spouse in Germany," but I can only do so if she is exercising treaty rights. Sounds simple enough, but we're moving there together, so she doesn't have a job yet.

When we were talking about settling in London, it was more straightforward. I could get an EEA family permit if she was exercising treaty rights OR we were moving there together. I can't find the "OR we were moving there together" part for Germany.

To make matters a little more confusing (maybe), I'm self-employed (American-registered DBA) and my work is all online. I know, legally, I can't work until (also different from UK's EU spouse rules).



Based on the info I have been able to gather, here's what I think the process will look like:

1. Flight to Germany
2. I'll look for an apartment, while my wife looks for a job.
3. Once we an apartment, we'll register with the police
4. I'll have to prove I have basic German skills (not sure if this applies to spouses of non-German EU citizens or ONLY those of German citizens)
5. Once she has a job, I'll register for a residence permit?
6. I'll either register as self-employed or create a German company,
7. Move my bank accounts over and register for VAT - or does anyone know if I can maintain my American company while getting new German clients with the German company?

This just doesn't seem quite right, and certainly isn't the process we were supposed to follow in the UK. Can anyone tell me if this is right or wrong? Or rather, just how right or wrong it is?

[noajthan]

EU law applies across the board, get up to speed on free movement here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

[secret.simon]

EU Laws are much more relaxed than most national laws (as an aside, think how transformed the US would be if EU rules on free movement applied to NAFTA).

First things first. Your wife does not need to be exercising treaty rights for the first three months that she is there. You can join her or move with her during that period without her exercising treaty rights.

Second, exercising treaty rights does not mean just working. It could mean being self-sufficient (such as through your earnings or though savings) while also having Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for herself and all family members residing with her in the EU country (in this case, you).