Getting Started in Saarland, Germany

For Frankfurt to your destination, you can take a train. When your flight lands, get out of the plane, keep following the directions to the Baggage Claim. Once you get your baggage, there should be exits called "Ausgang". Take them. Just ahead, you should see two police officers sitting there (Immigration Check), they will look at your passport, stamp it and let you go. Head towards the train station. You should find it easily. It is in the same building as the airport, in the lowest floor. There are two kinds of trains here in Germany. One is the ICE, which is white and is very fast. The other one is red in color, and is called Regiobahn. For buying the ticket for the train, look for the ticket booking center somewhere near the train station, you will find it without much difficulty. It is called "ReiseZentrum" (Travel Centre). In Frankfurt, many people speak English, so you can ask for help also. Go there and get the ticket for the next DIRECT (without any changes) train to your destination. I would recommend to avoid "ReiseZentrum" since it is crowded mostly and they would charge you 2-3€ more than Ticket machine for the service. It's easy to buy a ticket on ticket machine since it can be operated in many languages. Also if you know anyone in Germany, I would recommend to book your ICE ticket online quite early which is way cheaper and the ticket is printable at home. RegioBahn (RB) ticket is cheaper and the ticket for the ICE is much more expensive. So then take the train and get off at your destination.
You can check the time of the trains on the website of the German Railways (www.bahn.de). It is available in English. There are bus services these days for example: www.meinfernbus.de. For the person who landed in Frankfurt for first time and doesn't speak any German it would to be tough to find the bus stop for Fernbus. So plan at least to land 2-3 hours prior to the departure of your bus. This website below would search for all the available buses in Germany including the prices to book online.
https://www.busliniensuche.de/

Tip : Carry some euros in change, like 1 euros 2 euros coins, 50 cents etc. About 5 euros in change should be good enough.
It is also recommended that you look up the german words for some common words that you would need in your conversation with people; that also helps.

Searching for a house
Looking for a house in Germany can be a bit tricky, so you might want to start early. You can get a single apartment / WG ("Wohngemeinschaft") / shared flat depending on your preference. Consequently, other factors such as room rent etc. will also depend on the type of house you want. Typically, you can start looking online for a house, there are many websites such as:

• www.studentenwerk-saarland.de (University's link)

         -   www.studentenwerk-saarland.de/de/Wohnen/Wohnen-woanders/Private-Wohnungssuche (extern)
         -   www.studentenwerk-saarland.de/Services/Kommunikation/Pinwand (extern)
Finding a private place to stay in Germany.

• without commission:

http://www.fh-weihenstephan.de/studium/kleinanzeigen.html
http://studenten-wohnung.de/
http://www.mitwohnzentrale.de/
http://www.wohnung-jetzt.de/
http://www.wohnpool.de/
http://www.zimmersucher.de/
http://www.wg-gesucht.de/
http://www.wggruendung.de/
http://www.wg-welt.de/index/index.html
http://www.studenten-wg.de/
http://muenchen.kijiji.de/
http://www.easyroommate.com/
http://www.boardinghaus-freising.de/
http://anzeigen.wochenspiegelonline.de/?z=category&group=8
http://www.zwischenmiete.de/angebote_lesen.php

• with commission:

http://www.homecompany.de/
http://www.immobilienscout24.de/de/finden/wohnen/index.jsp;jsessionid=480908BD32C1420E2146AEC940E528F8.worker2
http://www.immowelt.de/Immobilien/Mieten_Inland.aspx
http://www.immopool.de/
http://www.wohnungsmarkt24.de/
http://www.immonet.de/
http://www.wohnungsboerse.net/
http://www.immobilo.de/


Tip : If you are unfamiliar with the German administrative system, then the house rent has two components - the principal house rent and the Nebenkosten (additional costs). The Nebenkosten includes everything else like paying for electricity, water, heating etc. Make sure you know the complete details before signing the contract.

Registration at the Citizens Office (Bürgeramt) - Getting your Meldebestätigung
For staying in Saarbrücken, you will need to register at the local citizens office (Bürgeramt) in Saarbrücken. For this, you will need:

• Passport
• House contract

You can either go to the one in the Town Hall (Rathaus) which is in the centre of the city,or you can go to the one in Dudweiler, whichever is closer to you.
Check up the opening timings online before going such that you are not disappointed.

Getting your Tax Card (Lohnsteuerkarte)
For working in Germany / getting money in your bank account you will need to register at the local tax office. Sometimes the employer registers you automatically, please verify with them.

Managing the Visa stuff

If you are not a German / European Union national, you will need extend your entry visa for staying in Germany for more than 3 months. This can be obtained from the Foreign Office (Ausländerbehörde), in some cases at Rathaus as well. Now that the Visa is not printed on Passports and are issuing Biometric cards. They require 5 weeks to receive them. Hence it is recommended to contact the Visa office 5 to 6 weeks prior to your Visa expiry date. You can either contact them by phone or write an email  with your full name, address and passport number.

For getting the visa, you will need the following documents:
Student:

• Passport
• University Admission Letter / Scholarship letter (if applicable)
• Immatrikulationbescheinigung
• Letter from Bürgeramt (Anmeldungbestätigung)
• Insurance Contract (Having Insurance Card is not enough, one needs to take a seperate letter from the Insurance company)
• Biometric photograph (like on the visa). You can also take one from all Automatic Photo machines either in the City or in the Visa office (6 € cheaper than the regular studios charge)
• Financial Proof: Bank statement with sufficient funds or Blocked Bank account or Scholarship letter
• Take around €130 in cash for the visa fee for the first time. It can vary on the type of visa that you get. For students, it is €80 for an extension.
• For scholarship holders, visa fee will be waived.

Employee:-

• Passport
• Job contract
• Letter from Bürgeramt (Anmeldungbestätigung)
• Insurance Contract (Having Insurance Card is not enough, one needs to take a seperate letter from the Insurance company)
• Biometric photograph (like on the visa). You can also take one from all Automatic Photo machines either in the City or in the Visa office (6 € cheaper than the regular studios charge)
• Financial Proof:
• Take around €130 in cash for the visa fee for the first time. It can vary on the type of visa that you get. For students, it is €80 for an extension.
•  It varies for Blue card holders.

Arriving at the Ausländerbehörde (Foreign office)
Address: Lebacherstr. 666113 Saarbrücken Tel.No: 0681- 501-00

1. Reaching the Ausländerbehörde can be a bit tricky if you do not have a car. You can take the following route:
2. From Johanneskirche, take the tram in the direction of Siedlerheim / Hauptbahnhof.
3. Get down at Ludwigstrasse. This should be the 4th stop if you take the tram from johanneskirche (2nd stop if boarding from hauptbahnhof).
4. Walk a little in the direction opposite to the direction in which the tram is going, and take a left. Walk about a 100 meters. You should see a bridge/tunnel.
5. Walk through the tunnel. You should see a Toyota car showroom on the other side of the road. Turn left on the busy road. Walk about 20 meters, and cross the road.
6. Go straight, walk about a 100 meters and you should see the Ausländerbehörde.
7. Take an appointment in advance, you will get the a pin write it down some where because you need it on the visa extension day. There is a small screen to register after entering the visa office in 2nd floor, enter this pin and take a seat in the waiting area your pin number appears in the display. It takes around 5 weeks to get the Residence Permit (Aufenthaltstitel), so its better to contact the Visa office as soon as possible.

Bus ticket

If you are registered with the university as a student, then you can pay the Semester ticket its 186€ / semester (as per Summer semester 2014) and travel all over Saarland in buses and locals train for free. You can get the stamp on your UdS card from the Campus Centre (the big white building in the center of the campus). It is mandatory for all students to registration.
If you are NOT registered as a student yet, you need to buy a Monthly pass (Monatskarte) from the Town Hall (Rathaus). It is around €50 for 1 month, and you can travel all over Saarbrücken on that pass. You can get a discount if you show your student id or admission letter.

*** The fee varies a little based on the University, so plan them accordingly in your first month expenditure***

Bank account

You will need a bank account for transfer of funds etc. There are many banks you can go to like Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, Bank 1 Saar, Targo Bank etc where you can go and get an account. You might want to get a Deutsche Bank account, because they have many ATMs (Geldautomat) and branches all over the world; however, it is always your personal choice where you want an account.
If you decide to go to Deutsche Bank, there are 2 branches in Saarbrücken – One is in the city near the Main train station, and the other one is near the Ilsestrasse bus station. You can take buses 102, 109, 111 or others from the University to reach there. It is always advisable to make an appointment first by phone, such that they know you are coming there and are prepared.
Most of us have a Deutsche bank account here.
p.s. Deutsche Bank offers a "gift" to already registered members if they introduce new members to the bank. So if you would like to say thank you to some body who helped you ;) take him along.. things will go smoother for you (that person can also make an appointment for you at the bank in advance) and in turn he will also get something ;) :D --> motivation to help more people :D

***Now most of the students open their Bank accounts before coming to Germany so this is not applicable to them, but in any case your have to go to the Bank personally and activate your account.***


Transferring money to/from Germany:

For transferring money to/from your bank account in India, you can use services of Transferwise. They give very good rate and completes the transfer mostly on the same day or next day. Its very easy to make a transfer. You can chat with their executive for any difficulty. There are other options like ICICI Bank money2india.
https://transferwise.com/
http://www.money2india.eu/ (oonly for Indians)
https://secure.xendpay.com



Cell phone contract
Cell phone contracts in Germany are usually for 2 years and can be bought from the service provider of your choice – O2, T Mobile, Vodafone etc. Shops for all of these are located in the city on Bahnhofstrasse in the main shopping area. Just go to the shop of your choice and ask for a contract. Most of the Indians  have an O2 connection and you might want to take that too because O2 to O2 calling is Free all over Germany (on postpaid) --> we all stay in touch ;)
Other websites for cheaper contracts from O2 or Vodafone etc
http://www.eteleon.de/
http://www.mobilcom-debitel.de/
http://www.sparhandy.de/tarifsuche.html


In case you dont want to sign a contract or you are here for a short time, you can get a prepaid SIM very easily. Such prepaid connections are offered by Lebara, Lyca etc. and you can get them in any small botiques or internet centres or phone repair shops for ~2 euro or order it online for free. They have special cheap rates for calling to landline or mobiles in India.
http://www.lebara.de/
http://www.lycamobile.de/en/


***** Most IMPORTANT: Don't sign any contract with out knowing what is written in there. Normally the sales person in the shop try to translate you the contracts, but if you don't want to trust them take some one your friends who knows German.*****

****Source Indians in Saarland Community. This was written for Students at Saarland University I didn't write it personally, it was a collective work of many current  students and Alumni of Saarland University. I am just sharing it, so credit goes to all the original contributors.****