Even if you don't have an EU passport or a degree it's not hard. There are programs that target entrepreneurs especially and at least one HN'er made it into Germany for several years running now working on his start-up. The start-up even got some German government funding.

Learning German is useful on many levels, it will make it easier to get through everyday life (though Germans in general will speak English quite well official stuff tends to be in German only), it will also allow you better access to the German market.

hi, I'm one of those :P, I'm argentinian, founded a company in Germany, except because of my grandparent I have the italian citizenship.

Could you point me to the programs for entrepreneurs? I run a meetup for international entrepreneurs in Germany and that question comes a lot.

Mail me and I'll put you in touch with my friend who did this.

There is the Blue card, seems easy to get compared to the U.S. "green card".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Card_(European_Union)

In addition, the Blue Card (in Germany at least) can fast-track you towards permanent residency. If you can prove German language skills at B1 level, then you can apply for permanent residency after just 21 months (see the section on "level of language skills):

http://www.bamf.de/EN/Infothek/FragenAntworten/BlaueKarteEU/...

AFAIK it's only a work permit if you apply for a job. You have 6 months to find one and then go with the work contract and get the extension, renewable almost forever (or you get a permanent residency permit). I works great if you are looking for a job in the areas they consider strategic.

The thing is that it doesn't cover people wanting to come here to found their own startups.

Also if I understand it correctly the "high skilled" part means having a degree in Germany, that's why I mentioned the "have an Engineering degree" in my other comment.

would love to get more experiences from others, all my friends that used the blue card were for Engineer jobs and they had degrees.

How is ageism in Germany? Despite being illegal in the U.S. it is blatant in the startup scene.

From my point of view not bad, I'm over forty and took me 2 weeks to get a job here, also it's really hard to find good seniors I guess due to salaries being lower than other start ups hubs.

Are you in Berlin now? I'd like to ask you more info if you are. [email address removed]

A 52yo friend just got hired by a famous fintech startup 1 year ago. He's quite a granpa but there's no problem with that. Age hasn't been an issue. Just one example, I know, but ageism is generally a non issue. Being female, on the other hand...

I have an engineering degree, but no EU passport