You can luck out or strike out. The first time I tried, I got stuck with a couple of women who had no clue how to deal with an American. They were used to saying no to Russian economic "refugees" who show up here wanting to go on welfare without looking for a job or even learning German (Americans aren't the only ones who are convinced that everything in Germany is free). An American, not looking for a job or a handout was more than they could handle. Luckily, their task was transferred to a more competent bureau, who got me my residence permit within two months. Some Germans still think I'm nuts. Once, when I was coming in from Atlanta, the German border policewoman stared at my residency permit and asked why in the world I would want THAT? She said that if she could move in the opposite direction, she would do it in a heartbeat. She must know someone with a 3000 square foot apartment in San Francisco overlooking the bay or something.
Keep in mind--I got my residence permit that quickly because I offered them EVERYTHING they wanted to hear: married to a German citizen for decades, had a steady job for decades, had my own US health insurance, had no outstanding debts, spoke fluent German, was willing to pay the high (around 50%) taxes and get nothing in return--no health insurance, no pension, no NOTHING. I also could show them a Dallas bank account that convinced them I would not be asking them for welfare any time in the next ten years if I lost my job. My wife does have a pension, but the €850 a month she gets from the German government REALLY doesn't go far. A retired girlfriend of hers is on a much more generous disability pension, and she has to watch every cent so as not to be eating stale bread for the last five days of every month.
I did ask about a German health insurance, but I was quoted €30,000 a year--a little beyond what I could justify after being relieved of 50% of my earnings first. Not only that, but the German government wants to tax part of my income that is already taxed in the USA at 39.6%. After the USA takes 39.6% and the Germans their 50%, that would leave me with about 10%. The German accountants have been battling the German government over that for the last 8 years, but the German bureaucrats (avoid them like the plague if you can!) don't want to admit they are clueless--or, worse, wrong. There IS a double-taxation treaty, but they understand it less than I do.
A certain group of people seems to delight in perpetuating the myth that everything is free here in Germany. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the relatively high cost of living here hits lower-income people pretty hard. The number of panhandlers at German train stations can be shocking at times. "Spare any change?" is not limited to North America.
If you want to emigrate here, it CAN be done, but make sure you know what you're in for, and what to expect. Fluency in German and a waiting job with a German employer that is not time-limited would be a good start when you apply. "Ein Bier, bitte" won't cut it with them. When you can use "Streichholzschächtelchen" in a sentence without stuttering, THEN you come apply, not before.
An Italian once drew up a cartoon entitled "perché io non imparo mai il tedesco (why I'll never learn German)." It showed a face with a runny nose, five times the same face, vertically. Four times it said, after the words Italiano, Inglese, Francese and Spagnuolo, "sinusitis." After the last face, it said "tedesco (German)" and the same word in German: Nasennebenhöllenentzündung."
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