Unaccompanied military orders to Landstuhl Germany?

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raven.days

You can live in Germany but and huge but here, you would NOT be covered under any of the military's processes that proctect family members, like the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement). You are NOT allowed to work there unless you get a work visa. You might get a job at the hospital but you would only be hired if there is not a spouse who is there on orders is not hired before you. You would still be his dependant but you can only get medical care on a space available instance. You would not be allowed family housing either, and you might not be given the extra money for living there, like COLA. Germany is very expensive and its very hard to get a job if you are NOT a German or a military dependant on orders. You would be subject to VAT (value added tax) on your income and you would not be eliglble to get it refunded.

My question is why is your husband going unaccompanied? Why didnt he get orders for his family?

My husband worked in the ER at LRMC in 06/07. And I lived there for nearly 5 years. I would suggest you think it over very carefully before you move there. Its a beautiful country and I miss living there, but again, its a very expenisve country to live in.

Good luck. Below is a website about the SOFA. Please read it, this agreement with Germany applies to family members of Actve duty soldiers residing in Germany on orders.

silk

There's a website Military.com which has a discussion board. You might want to post your question there. Find out about housing, whether you're able to use the American medical facilities in case you get ill, etc. for As to you being able to stay in Germany, you might want to contact the German Consulate or Embassy in your area and tell them what you want to do. As non-command sponsored dependent, you won't get any housing allowance, which you might already know. It's not cheap to live in Germany. U.S. Hospitals overseas are deemed American territory. Getting a job there shouldn't be hard. You should verify all of that though before you go. Your husband's travel section on Post/Base should have additional info.

kasey t

I live over by Lanstuhl, military also. There are ways. As one person suggested you can get a job on post so then they would sponsor you to live here. You can go to the cpol website already mentioned or something as simple as aafes. With your dependent ID card you can get on-post, you don't have to be signed in every time. It would just take a trip to the visitor office to get your ID card and picture registered with the systems. But if you get a job then like I said they sponsor you and give you an ID card so you wouldn't have to worry about any of the signing in or registering. And you wouldn't have to have a work visa, just a passport. The jobs at the hospital are hard to get. It's almost like they are putting then out of reach, most GS jobs you need to have at least a 4 year, if you have that then no problem. You'll always be his dependent, no matter where he is stationed at. Just be careful because if it is unaccompanied and you come over here you relinquish any of the separation pay or housing allowance for you. Can he possibly put in for an extension so that you can be added to his orders? My husband was sent over here on a 2 year unaccompanied but once he got here he was able to ammend his orders to a 3 year so me and the kids could be added. Just a thought, but I don't know the circumstance.

As far as getting here, if the military isn't sending you then you have to pay for it yourself. Tell your husband that once he gets here to go to ABC Travel in Ramstien or Kaiserslautern, they have the best rates. I got my mom over here in February for like $500.

Good luck!
If you need anything else email me!

army_wife_europe@yahoo.com

Harley

I am really confused as to why A) he is only coming here for a year and B) why you aren't on his orders.

Is he a reservist and this is a "deployment"? I know that happens, I have seen it myself but its usually a year and a half over here and yes that is unaccompanied.

You can work on post, with or without orders and you don't need a work Visa.

I have seen people over here for 1 1/2 years before bring their wife. They had to pay for off post housing out of pocket, just fyi, so if your husband is authorized to live OFF post then that will really help. Also, his wife did get a job... it just wasn't a really good one as she was only here a year.

Good luck!

mateoslove02

Check out cpol.army.mil and use the career search. There are many jobs posted at LRMC or outlying clinics. Just check with the country set on Germany, don't put Landstuhl, not much will pop up. I worked there for about a year, but my husband has accompanied orders. If you have a medical career (nursing, etc.) already, you could probably get a job easily, but the hiring process takes quite a while. I know there are a lot of civilians that work there with no military sponsor, so it can be done. You should ask at the passport office on post about if you could apply for a visa without working also, since he will be there. Also consider this, if you can't get a visa and do have to leave every three months, you can fly via military aircraft out of Ramstein air base (less than 10 minutes away) for about $15 or $20 each way to the states and back. You may want to also check out jobs from the air force on ramstein.af.mil. Other nearby military posts are Miesau Army Depot, Einsiedlerhof, Sembach Air Base, Vogelweh, Pulaski Barracks, Kapaun Air Base, Kleber Kaserne, Daenner Kaserne, and Panzer Kaserne. The last 3 are about a 30 minute drive from Landstuhl, but all the others are 15 minutes or less.

Joe N Carolin

hi, i live over here in kaiserslautern ... you wouldnt be his dependent in germany, in order to get on base around here he would have to sign you in everytime, even if you have a military ID, just because they have differnet rules, you wouldnt be able to get medical help because you are not on his orders for over here. If he is getting stationed here more than likely he will be living on base, and you wouldnt be able to live there with him.. if you get a work visa, then yes you can move here but it will come out of your pocket and you will be on your own to figure out a place to live and how your going to get around and all these things...
your best bet is to see if he can get orders with dependants....

seppl

what are you trying to do? ruin the man's military carrier?
if the orders are unaccompanied..that's what it means.
if he volonteers for Korea, which is also unaccompanied,I assume you gonna follow too.

John W

If you were a German coming to the US then you can't work unless you have a work visa. Of course, you could still work at the Germany embassy or German agency in the US just fine.

t_maia2000

First, I know almost nothing about all this military stuff.

What I do know though is how to move to Germany as a US citizen from a complete civilian perspective. (I used to work in German immigration.)

It is absolutely no problem for a US citizen to move to Germany if (and that is the killer) the person in question has a sufficient income to live on. This income can be from savings or from a person living in Germany who can provide for you (like your husband).

Under normal circumstances the income cannot come from work, but exceptions can be made if you fall under "highly qualified" or "in demand". If neither a German, an EU citizen or a foreigner with a work permit can be found to do a certain job you might get a work permit to do this job. (A post for a Native-speaker of English for example.) Other exceptions can also be made if you are willing to work freelance or open your own shop. A lot depends upon the qualifications you got. (You can contact me through my profile if you got questions in this regard.)

Since it can be tricky to get a work permit in the German economy jobs on a US army base are in high demand. These (and some within the US embassy) are work-permit free for US citizens.

Most AuslÃ¤nderbehÃ¶rden (Foreigner's Offices) consider an income of roughly 750 EUR per month sufficient. Your income has to cover rent (they'll want a copy of your rental agreement for your flat), medical insurance (if you are young and healthy that should cost you around 120 EUR per month) and you need to have around 350 EUR (which is social welfare level) per month at your disposal for food and other necessities. If you share a flat with your husband these numbers can be a bit lower, but not by much. If your husband can provide that for you on his salary (? is that the word?) don't worry about coming to Germany - you can afford moving over. All you need to do is get your passport, pack up and then apply for a residency permit at the local AuslÃ¤nderbehÃ¶rde (Foreigner's Office) of Landstuhl. (US citizens are privileged and can apply directly in Germany, they do not have to go through the German embassy or consulate in the US.)

Now here comes what I don't know - I don't know whether you as the wife of a US soldier need a residency permit. (Not my field of expertise.) If you were included in his orders you wouldn't. This is what you should ask other people in the same situation as you are.

What I do know:
If you need a residency permit look into enrolling at university, Fachhochschule Kaiserslautern in this instance.

http://www.fh-kl.de/
http://www.daad.de/

There are several advantages to being a student enrolled at a German university if all you want to do is live in Germany for a while, especially if you are still under 30.

Also you cannot fly home every 3 months for a quick visa-run (if you need a residency permit). Visa-free stay is 90 days out of a 180 day period, this means that after 90 days within Germany the authorities ask you to kindly leave the Schengen area and not return for another 90 days. This means 3 months with the hubby in Germany and then 3 months in the US before you can return to Germany. The only way around it is the residency permit.

You can find a lot of information on moving to Germany as a civilian on http://www.toytowngermany.com

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