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Hello Germany :) help requested
Hey all!
I am so excited! On Christmas Day my hubby and I received his orders to Bamberg, Germany. The only thing is this paper work is a NIGHTMARE! My hubby is in AIT at the moment so I'm kinda doing everything on my own and freaking. On top of only being married for a month before he left for basic, not being able to talk to him with the exception of letters and an occasional phone call, and having to buy all the furniture we will need over there in Germany, I have to fill out this paper work that I don't quite understand.
Now I know a lot of yall are probably thinking, "suck it up honey. This is the army way." I get it, I get it. Just really new to all of this 
If you have any advice or any answers to my questions, PLEASE fill me in Thanks so much!
1. Can you travel to other countries (such as France, UK, etc.) on the no-fee passport?
2. My hubby leaves for Germany on the 10th of March but I still dont know when I will arrive. What do we do when I DO arrive if we dont have a house yet?
3. I have an iphone through verizon. What can i do about cell phone service out there?
4. Would it be wise to obtain a German license over there? Or does it matter?
5. The army still has not set up a date to come and determine my weight limit for the furniture or set up a date to actually come pack up the stuff. Should I be concerned? Should I call someone about it?
Thanks again! I'm sure I'll have more questions as the time goes on haha!
Re: Hello Germany :) help requested
1. Your no fee is basically for living in a country under SOFA status. When I travel, I carry both, although that's created some confusion. It's never been a problem, though. Well, except for when a fugitive in NZ had my exact name, but that's another story
2. Why aren't you flying with him? Also, general advice, publicizing dates isn't the best idea.
3. No idea who the best option is locally, but Verizon is cdma so I don't think you can bring your phone and use it, even if it's unlocked. A friend of mine used to work for a German mobile company, but I'm sure her information is too old to be useful.
4. No idea, but it wouldn't hurt to go to AAA and get an int'l license for $15 just in case you do need a German one and have to wait for training (this happened to us in Japan).
5. They come to your place to take an estimate for the packers and to give you a rough idea what your weight is. Your weight limit is pre-determined. We've never come close to ours, except for Japan which at the time had about 5% of the normal limit.
Why are you buying new furniture for a home you've never seen?
You'll be put in temporary lodging while you house hunt. I think your H has to reserve that.
Oh, also, wrt travel. When traveling within Europe, you shouldn't need to go through passport control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement
Thanks for your reply!
Before we got married, we did the old fashioned way and didn't live together beforehand. We knew he would be leaving for basic shortly after we got married so we didnt get our own place after getting married. We stayed with his mother and then when he left, I moved back in with my parents. (We didnt see the point in signing a contract for an apartment if I wouldn't be staying there long enough). So we literally had no furniture of our own. Not a single item. So I had to go out and buy some for a home so we had plates to eat off and a bed to sleep in. Haha. For whatever reason, in the briefing session they had back where he is, they said the spouses were not able to fly with the,
I have NEVER flown before and I'm a little terrified haha.
Hopefully someone with army experience chimes in here since my experience is AF and in Asia.
I feel for you. Overseas moves can be daunting in the best of circumstances, and you sound so young and inexperienced (not meant to be a jab) with no local support. I don't know where to point you to get specific help, though.
FTR, I've no idea why a spouse wouldn't be able to travel concurrently. It's not like he's on a desert bound flight. H and I traveled commercially when moving to Japan. And he traveled commercially on the following 2 overseas tours. I wasn't with him, but that was my own choice.
Hi! I've been lurking on MN, but since I JUST went through the whole moving to Germany thing I thought I'd add my two cents!
1. Get a regular passport for traveling, like the others said. If you're traveling by train they don't usually check passports between borders, but you can get in trouble if they ask to see it and you don't have it. Plus, traveling is half the fun of being stationed over here so exploit the opportunity!
2. Are you command sponsored yet? If so, they may wait to bring you over until housing becomes available to you. And be careful what you buy for furniture! Keep in mind that German apartments/houses are smaller by American standards so big stuff might be a huge pain to get into the house. Plus, the Housing Office has a lot of furniture available for you. We got our bed, couches, tables, dining room and appliances from Housing. The fridge was only one inch away from being too big to fit through our door. It was too big for the kitchen, so now it lives in the spare bedroom. See what I mean about small houses? :P But don't let me scare you, this was only my personal experience.
3. Get your service suspended, make sure you tell them your move is military related. Then you can pick up a German cell phone at your PX when you get to Germany. Most of them are prepaid, but you can get a nice phone if you spring for a contract. The prepaids aren't too bad, they run about $10-20 and you buy credit for them whenever you need it.
4. A German license is expensive and a huge headache to get (i feel sorry for the Germans!). Luckily you can get a USAREUR license on post. I just got mine last month. It was pretty simple, you take a class on German driving rules and signs, watch a video, take a test (you can pick up the study guide before hand) and voila, you get a temporary license til the real one comes in the mail.
5. This one...I got nothing. Sorry!
Don't worry about flying. It's really not the scary and you'll do just fine. If you're in a German airport everything will be written in English and the staff are very used to English speakers, so you won't have any problems.
Good luck! You're going to love Germany. I hope this helped!
1. If you don't have a tourist passport, it would be best to get one. Better safe than sorry.
2. Are you on your DH's orders? My DS and I are command sponsored, on DH's orders and are authorized for concurrent travel. We fly out together on the same military flight next month. Are you registered in DEERS and have you completed the EFMP screening? (This was a complete PITA for us, and held up my DH's actual orders for about three weeks, but the Army needs to make certain that the facilities available for dependents are sufficient for any special needs that family members might have.). If you are not on his orders, he needs to go talk to somebody ASAP.
3. As others have said, you'll need to cancel your Verizon contract. Take a copy of your DH's orders with you and there shouldn't be any penalty. 4. There is a USAREUR driving test that you will have to pass to get your USAREUR license. Your current license must be valid when you arrive and take the test. I'm sure you can find the manual on Google. I've heard it's difficult, so it's wise to start studying before hand.
5. What does your DH's order say? Seem to recall my DH's orders stating who to call. I could be wrong. If nothing else, I'd google information for the transportation office at the post he's at for training. Because of current differences, we are not taking any small appliances (except our Keurig), nor are we taking any lamps. I'd buy the basics, a bed, a dresser (or two), a small kitchen table and chairs, a couch, TV and entertainment console for the TV. I wouldn't spend a ton of money, but I would look for items that are as sturdy as possible. Frequent moves are rough on furniture. Oh, I'd look for two or three area rugs. Most homes/apartments in Germany have hard surface floors. My understanding is that it is less expensive to buy furniture in the States.
Good luck with the move. Double check your DH's orders. They are reducing the number of Army brigades in Europe from four to two and folks with orders to Germany have had them changed to stateside assignments. My DH's orders have not changed, but that is because, I think, they are deploying soon and they want/need him for that. Oh, one last thing--troops deploy out of Germany. Be prepared for your DH to get deployment orders while there. If it doesn't happen, that makes it easier for you, but better to have iton your radar screen and not be completely surprised. I don't know that I have too many hard and fast answers, but I'm happy to share what I've learned as we prepare to move overseas. Best of luck!
Couple points. You ARE required to have an international license to drive outside of Germany, the USERRA is only valid in Germany and the US one is only valid for people on short travel trips. The fees for not having an International License are pretty high (? and all that). There are Belgian and French cops who wait for American cars to do something slightly wrong just to catch you without your proper paperwork.
However, you don't have to take a test for the international license, you just take your US license, the SOFA license (which DOES require a really hard test) and new picture down to your local Krankenhaus. Do not forget Euro.
Second, your NO FEE passport is JUST FOR GERMANY. Yeah, you can drive places withing the EU on it, but it will not be accepted if you fly, or are staying over in other countries. I mistakenly grabbed the wrong passport for a day trip to London (back when Ryan Air was still doing their 5? flights) and had a huge ass kerflaffle trying to get through customs in Stanstead. It took a supervisor to intervene.
Passporst take much longer to process over here. It can take 2-4 months for new babies to get their passports unless there are extenuating circumstances, like a PCS. So get yours done over there in the States.
Finally, one yo are settled, get a German bank account. Many places do not take American credit cards. Europe (not so bad in rural Germany, but all over France and Holland) has moved to a "chip-n-pin" system (you need to enter a pin to use). Not to mention you won't get killed by the fees (even USAA has limits to overseas usage) and the exchange is always better.
Plus, if you live off base, most rent and utilities can be directly taken out of a German bank account. Having the money in that account saves time and exchange rate.
Land given you will have to go to the bank to get your garbage stickers, you will be there every couple of mo ths anyway.
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Hahaha! So sorry
Thanks all who replied! You have helped so much..After reading that article, it made me so sad
My hubby left after only one month of being married for basic and I still haven't been able to be with him. (with the exception of HBL of 12 days) And now there's a possibility of him deploying right from Germany? Ugh 
Stinks. I know this is the military lifestyle, but nothing prepares you for this unfortunately..
It's stressful and a lot of work, but it's part of being a military couple/family. It is really important to make friends of your own, build a support network (remember that the best way to have a good support network is to be there for others and provide support when they need it). I hope you are able to join your DH before long.