Kids in Berlin: Citizenship Issues.

In another forum (Yahoo! Answers), I also recently answered another question that I've received from a number of people regarding the citizenship status of children born to couples in which one parent is German and one, American. Here's how I answered the question:

The following text comes from the web site of the American consulate in Germany:

"A child born to an American parent and a German parent acquires both American and German citizenship at birth, regardless of place of birth, if the parents satisfy the jus soli or jus sanguinis requirements of their respective countries. See the sections above entitled, "Basic Primer on American Citizenship Law," and "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law." Neither country requires a person born under these circumstances to choose between American and German citizenship, i.e., he/she may keep both citizenships his/her entire life."

In other words, children born to one American citizen and one German citizen are entitled to lifelong dual citizenship.

See here:
http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/services/dual_nationality.html
The text from the consulate page was last updated in November of 2006.

Other interesting tidbits from that web page:
"A child born in Germany to two American parents may also become a dual national at birth under the circumstances described in paragraph 4 in the section above entitled, "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law." Under German law, he/she would have to choose between American and German citizenship before turning 23."
and
"Under German law, a person may not have more than one citizenship unless he/she was born with both, as described in paragraphs 2 and 3 above. Thus, German law requires an American who becomes a German citizen through the Einbürgerung process (see paragraph 5 in the section entitled, "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law") to formally renounce his/her American citizenship, and a German who becomes an American citizen (see paragraph 5 in the section entitled, "Basic Primer on American Citizenship Law") to give up his/her German citizenship."
and
"An American-German male dual national must register with the U.S. Selective Service System within three months of his eighteenth birthday; that he is also a German citizen does not exempt him from that requirement. Registering with the Selective Service System, however, has no effect on his German citizenship."

"An American-German dual national is not exempt from German military service simply because he is also has U.S. citizenship. However, service in the German military, at least under these limited circumstances, has no effect on his U.S. citizenship."

Health: Finding good doctors in Berlin.

Someone on the "Berlin Scholars" listserv recently asked about finding a good doctor in Berlin. I fretted about this for a while after moving here, and I think a lot of people worry about it.

Here's the response I wrote for the group:

"I think finding a good doctor is a particularly difficult challenge for expats (short-term or long-term). I'm not in Eli's neck of the woods so I can't make a specific recommendation, but I think it's not a bad idea to look for someone who's a Chefarzt/Chefaerztin at a clinic or hospital. You can find a Chefarzt at institutions in your area via this web site:

http://www.arzt-auskunft.de/index.html

Look for titles like Prof. Dr. med. or Priv. Doz. Dr. med., click on the name, and the description should confirm if the doctor is a Chefarzt/in or not and provide other details (contact info, insurance info where relevant, etc.) Some listings even mention if a doctor speaks English or not--though in my experience the people in top positions at clinics and hospitals tend to speak English, regardless of whether or not that's mentioned in an online bio.

Other useful online doctor search engines are:

http://www.aerzte-berlin.de/_php/therapie30/fach.php3
and
http://www.calladoc.com/.

It's a blunt instrument, but the Chefarzt title is the only easily accessible indicator for finding doctors who have distinguished themselves in a positive way."

In the U.S., publications like New York magazine will run special issues on "New York's Best Doctors," and whatnot. They don't do that here in Berlin. Anecdotal information from German acquaintances is not particularly reliable, particularly given the surprising number of people here who put their faith in things like homeopathy. If you're not networked into the medical community here, looking at the Chefarzt title is the best way to go--at least, it's the best that I've been able to think of. If anyone has any other ideas, please share.

Many accept all types of insurance, but some Chefaerzte limit patients to people who are privately insured or "Selbstbezahler." Most expats, I suspect, are privately insured or Selbstbezahler.