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A warm welcome from the GACO! You are in Germany now and are probably looking to make yourself at home as soon as possible. In a different culture, different rules apply and different authorities deal with different requests, and you might need help dealing with it all.
One of the things that is hard to navigate as a foreigner is Germany’s bureaucracy. However, you do not need to feel at a loss because help is near: The German-American Community Office in Kaiserslautern is THE drop-in point for all your questions regarding life in Germany.
The GACO has been a unique point of contact with most valuable information for all citizens in the Kaiserslautern Military Community since 19 February 2003. Since then, over 47,000 inquiries from Germans, Americans or individuals of other nationality have been answered.
After having arrived in Germany, you will certainly have a lot of questions about life overseas. The bilingual staff at the GACO will help you in every way possible — from finding the right POC at the local administration responsible for your matter, to helping understand German cultural matters, to providing support with traffic issues and many more.
Most inquiries deal with questions such as how to obtain a German or international driver’s license, marrying in Germany, visa-related issues, pet importation rules and recycling regulations — as you can see there are regulations for almost everything over here.
German customers contact the GACO with their questions on the U.S. military presence in the KMC, looking to get in touch with American clubs, to get help communicating with their neighbors, to find their long-lost American family and to inquire about base visits, to name a few.
Beside supporting military and civilian members of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, the GACO-team provides information to high-ranking visitors from Ramstein Air Base, the U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, the Kaiserslautern city and county administration as well as Rheinland-Pfalz state government representatives. It serves as an important linking point for the German and U.S. side. This makes the GACO the only facility of its kind world-wide. The staff has developed an extensive network of contacts within the local administration, businesses and associations.
The GACO is also an official cooperation partner of the “Welcome to Rheinland-Pfalz” (WIR!) initiative, a program that is sponsored by the Rheinland-Pfalz state government to provide much-needed information in English about regional events and services in the participating villages to help you get settled quickly in your local area.
Do not hesitate to contact our office during your stay in Germany with any question you may have regarding life in Germany.
You can reach us by e-mail info@gaco-kl.de (preferably your private e-mail, not your military e-mail) or by telephone +49 (0)631 363 3010 during these hours: Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri 9 a.m.–1 p.m. and Thu 2–6 p.m.
