I lived in Frankfurt for 2 years in the mid-90's on a work transfer. I do recall others moving that had issues trying to get a spouse a job. That said Frankfurt is arguably the most commercialized city there for professional work, and being a lawyer helps. I would advise looking at American firms there that need someone local. Obviously if you're a divorce or personal injury lawyer, you won't be too successful. But contract law, US trade law, etc would be quite useful.

The trick, as with any international move, is getting the work permit. I trust your fiancee's company would handle your residence permit, but the work permit is what counts, and they most likely cannot get you one with hiring you (I'm 99% certain). Similar to the US, you need to prove that you bring skills not obtainable in the local market, either via opening job posting with no qualified response, or claiming "specialist" skills (I imagine the same way your fiancee is getting her position. I was an accountant at the time and was a US GAAP specialist on my work visa application). This is a bit more of a formality than a high hurdle, but it has to be done. US legal expertise would get you that, my gut feel is its finding an employer willing to bring you on. It is a bonus point for your job searching that your fiancee's company bears the burden of the move, so that your potential employer only has to worry about your salary, not ex-pat crap.

Frankfurt is a bit different now then when I was there, when the US base in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, so they didn't particularly like the scheiss Ami's b/c of the number of drunk 18yr old enlistees who tore through the town. I was 24 and had a great time, even if FfM is not Paris/London/Rome, hell, its not even Munich or Berlin. You make the most of the situation i.e. if you sit put, you will hate it. If you travel, join a cycling club, etc, you will have a great time.

If you can do it, go to Frankfurt! A lot of people don't ever get the opportunity to go to Germany or Europe. I grew up there (Dad in the Air Force). We traveled all the time. It's so beautiful! Everything is so clean there and many beautiful walking paths. A lot of the germans speak english very well. The food is so great too. Truly, I cannot say enough wonderful things about Germany. I do hope you all will also get a chance to experience it!

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Steph
Snapple Triathlon Team
Powerbar Team Elite

No offense but american "work-market" seems a lot less competitive than any EU country. Maybe not in absolute terms of competitivity but we, europeans, have a whole different perspective of our work. Ok, most of us and it is a lot less relaxed. German's are known by their restrictive and somehow kinda racist culture. Personally I think you will have a lot of difficulty in getting a job as an attorney unless you have great references.

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So would I need to find an employer willing to bring me on before I could get a work visa?

Thanks for the input. We really don't want to pass up the opportunity to live in Europe for a year but living on one salary there and still paying our mortgage on our place here could be very tight.

Definitely maybe. Its been awhile and the EU now has 15 new babies, so I'm not sure how the employment regs are at this point (Francois, SAC??). I would strongly suggest discussing this with your fiancee's HR department, more importantly their German office counterpart, who hopefully are experienced in ex-pat transfers with partners (My former division head used to say I prefer to call them personnel, because they are never human and rarely a resource). Hopefully they don't say "that's not our job". There is a dearth of international HR experience in small to mid-size employers as they don't regularly transfer people cross-border. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best (can you tell I was thrilled with my HR experiences moving both times?).

Its clearly easier if you go in with a job, but you may be able to find one post move, but again, I moved single and 11 years ago, so I didn't have these issues. I know in France they had restrictions on non-EU members and the type of job you could get, which had to be a > ~US$40k/yr job, leaving the mid to lower level jobs to those on unemployment (friend's wife was in your shoes when he moved to Paris). Social democracy is not your friend as a non-EU employee seeking work.

First thing to do is get HR to do their job and get you in touch personally with German HR/legal help (oftentimes the German HR is a lawyer as they deal with employment law. Its actually refreshing from the dingbats that often inhabit US HR departments. But the US ones are bubbly, so they've got that going for them.) Have a very frank discussion with them to decide. Trust me as someone who had one very successful transfer to Germany, and one very unsuccessful one, its in both your best interests to know all of the facts before deciding. Oddly my unsuccessful one was my second move where I was fluent and had already lived there for 2 years and knew the ropes. My first one I was monolingual, 24 and just started shaving everyday. No guarantees, go figure. Good luck, it really could be a fantastic experience. Properly done, Germany is a wonderful country to live in.

Forget working! I did IM Germany in Frankfurt this past year and had a fantastic race and race experience; the German fans were unbelievable. I went to France to watch Le Tour afterwards - it was so easy to get to and I had the best time. You should broach the subject of being a kept man (woman?) with your fiance. Can you imagine? You could ride the "home" course and to train to your heart's content. Now, if I could just find a guy who would support my IM tri training habit.... Good luck! :)

It's been 13 years since I visited, but the two summers I spent in western Europe we used Frankfurt as home base. We spent almost no time in Frankfurt, but with the airport and train station there you can be anywhere you want overnight. Overnight trainrides are great...buy a sleeper ticket, eat great and I mean great food, drink some great beer/wine/schapps and go to sleep. Voila(sp?)...wake up in Prague, Paris, Vienna. Let the sig. other do the work. We survived...no, had a freakin blast for a month and a half for $1500 bucks or thereabouts.

Beer is cheaper than bottled water in the states. You can eat cheap if you stay out of the tourist trap eateries, and there is so much to see that cost's nothing to look at. Unemployment in Germany is 5-6 times what we have in the US so the job thing probably isn't looking so good. All the more excuse to party it up. Go chase an ambulance and make some dough here before you leave.

Danke, Bitter, Nak ein, Bitter, Enshuldigan(sp?) Vi fil costen. These terms will get you through a long night in a german pub. Unfortunately the only other language I spoke at the time was Spanish.

Go, you'll love it.