Moving overseas

[tk3000 7]

 

Hello Folks,

 

After a horrible experience with crime I am considering leaving this country for good. I want to emigrate to Germany at some point. Living overseas creates a whole new set of potential issues regarding VA in terms of medications (would the VA ship them overseas?), appointment follow ups, and even potential C&P exams (even though in my last C&P the examiner stated that there would no likely probability of improvements for my conditions). The VA is known for its discrepancies, irregularities, errors, and for not follow its own rules and regulations; so even though I am may be entitled to some medical care overseas that would probably introduce a whole new can of worms in terms potential mistakes, errors, and wrongdoings on the VA side of things.

 

When the VA commits errors, mistakes, and wrongdoings the burden of dealing with them often fall on the veteran which then is translated into years of processing appeals,etc. Unfortunately we do not living hundred of years, and life is short; and the whole prospect of dealing with the VA administration again (after having had all my issues settled down by the BVA) is truly a nightmare. I, for example, have a BVA appeal which is going on for over 5 years and there is no prospect of any resolution any time soon. So it is all more worrisome if I am not living in the US.

 

So, I was wondering what insights, inputs, and opinions your guys would have about it. Maybe some of you may have experience living overseas whilst receiving compensation and benefits from the VA

[GBArmy 1,436]

tk3000 If you think you might be moving to Germany, do you know if you could be treated for conditions at a military hospital? If they can't ship meds to you, could you get them at a military facility? International banking not a problem receiving your disability comp?Those are three questions I would want answers to. You didn't ask for the following advise, but I will give it anyway. Moving to another country will very rarely solve your problems. Moving to another location in the states would ultimately be the better solution to whatever problems you are trying to get away from 99 times out of 100. I am fairly certain that there is crime in Germany as well. I would expect moving to another country would end up being a regretable solution the vast majority of time. IMO. Whatever your decision, I wish you best of luck.

[Al329 16]

American Military hospital in Germany will not support you.

Germany does not allow meds to be mailed...even if you had an APO box.. thats a no.

For a C&P.. I have seen people get sent to docs up near Landsthul. But also to some local docs too .. so guess it all depends on where you would plan to re locate to.

Yes there is crime here in Germany .. I would say its not as bad or as violent. But I dont live in a big city .. so....

Do you plan on working on base here? a 20 hour a week job on base would give you access to more services for sure.

Also VFW over here if you live near a post .. they can provide VA assistance. 

 

[Miken2c74 38]

I am also in Germany and have been here for 20 years. I can tell you it is a PITA dealing with VA or even trying to be seen for your service connected disabilities. Although there are some facilities off post that deal with US civilians as a whole there is no specific VA facility. Filing claims and fighting them is another set of problems, however it can be done. I honestly had to weigh the facts of piece of mind (my family which #1 to me) and the  aforementioned to see the course of action I needed to take. My decision has gave me fruit and for the most I am happy with my decision. I am purchasing a house and I have "stable" employment and  through DAV Pittsburgh even though I had my problems with dealing with them on some scale or another, we always find a way to right the ship. So it is a process but if you stay on it, the processes can be done.

[tk3000 7]

7 hours ago, GBArmy said:

tk3000 If you think you might be moving to Germany, do you know if you could be treated for conditions at a military hospital? If they can't ship meds to you, could you get them at a military facility? International banking not a problem receiving your disability comp?Those are three questions I would want answers to. You didn't ask for the following advise, but I will give it anyway. Moving to another country will very rarely solve your problems. Moving to another location in the states would ultimately be the better solution to whatever problems you are trying to get away from 99 times out of 100. I am fairly certain that there is crime in Germany as well. I would expect moving to another country would end up being a regretable solution the vast majority of time. IMO. Whatever your decision, I wish you best of luck.

GBArmy,

 

Thanks for your input and advice.

 

I realize that the US is a great country. And that I probably had a house in a less than ideal area (not a bad area though) and to make things worse the house seated in almost an acre of land and it was located in secluded spot. So... Circa 4 months... I was absent from my house for 5 weeks and a gang of low life form criminals and animals broke into my house and garage and stole every conceivable that I had (my riding mower, my high end appliances, electronics, all my belongs, my car in my garage), and what they did not only steal they also ruined, ransacked and destroyed everything (everything was tossed on the floor and destroyed). The police basically does nothing regarding the case. It can be argued that if I lived in an affluent neighborhood such episode would be less likely to have materialize, but I am not rich. I have lived in so called third/second world countries and never saw anything like that; there are crimes and crimes, and that was an extreme. I ended up selling the house at a loss. I feel that after all I went through that I want to try a different life outside the country.

 

I did some research and also read the answers to this thread. As you said, it seems that sending money overseas to a bank in Germany would not be a problem. No in normal circumstances I could not be treated in a US military hospital. It seems that the VA would refund treatment for service connected medical conditions only, so I would mostly be on my own for my medical care.

 

Also, I realize that there is crime in Germany too, but statistically it is much smaller. There are towns in Ohio whereby an employer cannot find a job applicant who could simply pass a drug test in order to fill the job position, and I am sure there are better areas and towns in the US, but the problem of crime and drugs seems prevalent in many places. Besides as a youth I was interested in going to Germany, so maybe that horrible episode rekindled that interest.

[tk3000 7]

3 hours ago, Al329 said:

American Military hospital in Germany will not support you.

Germany does not allow meds to be mailed...even if you had an APO box.. thats a no.

For a C&P.. I have seen people get sent to docs up near Landsthul. But also to some local docs too .. so guess it all depends on where you would plan to re locate to.

Yes there is crime here in Germany .. I would say its not as bad or as violent. But I dont live in a big city .. so....

Do you plan on working on base here? a 20 hour a week job on base would give you access to more services for sure.

Also VFW over here if you live near a post .. they can provide VA assistance. 

 

Thanks for your input!

I am planning on going to Germany during the summer of this year. Currently I am studying for masters in computer science, and also studying to improve my German in order to pass in a more advanced test in the language.

At first I dont plan on staying close to base, but that is a possibility in the future. Also, not planning on trying to work for the time being.

It is good to know that there is a VFW on base. I handle my claims myself, but always good to send them via a representative for verifying purposes and whatnot. But so far my claims are all settled (decided at BVA level) with exception of an appeal that probably will take few more years to be finalized.

[tk3000 7]

2 hours ago, Miken2c74 said:

I am also in Germany and have been here for 20 years. I can tell you it is a PITA dealing with VA or even trying to be seen for your service connected disabilities. Although there are some facilities off post that deal with US civilians as a whole there is no specific VA facility. Filing claims and fighting them is another set of problems, however it can be done. I honestly had to weigh the facts of piece of mind (my family which #1 to me) and the  aforementioned to see the course of action I needed to take. My decision has gave me fruit and for the most I am happy with my decision. I am purchasing a house and I have "stable" employment and  through DAV Pittsburgh even though I had my problems with dealing with them on some scale or another, we always find a way to right the ship. So it is a process but if you stay on it, the processes can be done.

Wow, 20 years... you must liked the lifestyle there. Hope I can follow suit. 

I was  mostly worried about having to travel to the US just to deal with the VA because I would not be going to medical appointments even though my conditions are stable not likely to improve. Besides I have had the same condition for over 10 years now (they are also granted some protective status)