We’ve Been in Your Shoes
Moving to Germany is an adventure, but it can also be overwhelming. We know because we’ve been there. When we first arrived, we faced a mountain of confusing paperwork, a seemingly impossible apartment hunt, and the challenge of navigating daily life in a new language. We spent countless hours searching forums and government websites, wishing there was one clear, reliable place that understood what we were going through.
That’s why we created How-to-Germany.com. We wanted to build the resource we wished we had—a trusted guide created by expats, for expats to make your journey in Germany smoother and more successful.
Our Mission: Your Trusted Guide to Life in Germany
Our mission is to empower you with independent, reliable, and experience-based information to navigate your move to and life in Germany confidently. Our three core promises guide every guide we publish to you:
Our advice is unbiased and independent. Our recommendations are based on diligent research and real-world experience, never influenced by third parties.
We focus on the practical realities of expat life. We break down complex topics into simple, step-by-step guides that provide solutions, not just information.
We are expats helping expats. We combine thoroughly researched facts with the invaluable perspective of lived experience to provide guidance you can rely on.
Meet Our Team of Expats
The strength of How-to-Germany.com lies in our team. We are writers, researchers, and creators who share one essential quality: we have all been in your shoes. As current or former expats, immigrants, and global nomads, we have personally navigated the apartment hunts, battled the bureaucracy, and celebrated the small victories that define life in a new country. We combine our firsthand experience with diligent research to provide guidance you can truly trust.
Erkan Boga
With a migration background in Germany and years of experience living as an expat in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Indonesia), Erkan Boga possesses a profound, firsthand understanding of the hurdles newcomers face. As an entrepreneur who has built international teams, he combines his journey with deep financial expertise. For How-to-Germany.com, Erkan breaks down complex topics like German banking, insurance requirements, and investment options, providing practical financial advice specifically tailored to ease the journey for expats and newcomers.
Dr. Janine El-Saghir
Dr. Janine El-Saghir excels at transforming Germany’s most complex systems—from healthcare and taxes to visa regulations—into clear, actionable guides. With a PhD and a background in international research, she applies academic precision to real-world problems. Having lived and worked abroad herself, Janine understands the unique perspective of an expat facing a wall of German bureaucracy. For How-to-Germany.com, she combines meticulous research with an empathetic viewpoint, empowering readers to tackle the most demanding administrative challenges with confidence.
Charlotte Ruzanski
As a former expat, Charlotte Ruzanski has personally navigated the practical challenges that define the first few months in Germany. She understands that settling in is about more than just paperwork—it’s about finding a home, getting connected, and building a life. For How-to-Germany.com, Charlotte focuses on these crucial everyday topics. She creates clear, step-by-step guides on finding accommodation, choosing a mobile phone contract, and navigating the essential first steps with German authorities, making complex processes manageable.
Our Commitment to Transparency
Our relationship with our readers is built on trust. We are committed to maintaining editorial independence and transparency in all our activities. You can learn more about the principles that guide our work here:
How We Make Money
Our primary goal at how-to-germany.com is to provide you with clear, independent, and valid comparisons so that you can make the best possible decision. Our service is entirely free for you, the user.
To finance the operation and editorial work of our platform, we use affiliate marketing. This means that many of the outbound links to providers are so-called affiliate links. If you click on such a link and subsequently order a product or sign a contract with the provider, we receive a commission.
This results in no disadvantages or additional costs for you. The price of the product or plan remains the same for you, regardless of whether you visit the provider’s site via our link or directly.
Our editorial independence is non-negotiable. The existence or amount of a potential commission does not influence the presentation, rating, or ranking of providers in our comparisons. Our analyses and recommendations are based exclusively on careful research, objective criteria, and the expertise of our editorial team.
We strive to provide the broadest possible market overview. Nevertheless, we cannot include every single provider on the market in our comparisons.