I tend to look like an ax murderer every time I take a biometric photo. It's a skill.
Today, I went to the local foreigner's office (Ausländerbehörde) and picked up my newly printed Aufenhaltstitel, or resident's permit. My ten month plague of visa troubles is officially over for 20 months!! Well, that is unless I need to switch to a student visa, in which their only over for about 5 months, but nevertheless, I am a legal resident of Germany once again.
Some of my new readers may be confused, so let me explain my not-so-legal-alien-in-Germany-for-almost-a-year story.
Last February, the company I was working for went under, so me and the 4 others on the team lost our jobs. My visa was restricted to that employer, which meant I could not just go find another job, despite it not expiring until 2016. The foreigner's office told me that I could keep this visa and have some undefined amount of time to figure things out. I quickly found an english teaching job through LinkedIn, where I would be contracted out and placed in local companies to instruct employees in operational business english. I went through the training and submitted my hiring letter to the visa office in March. I would be contracted out on a freelance basis and upon submitting my letter, I was told that often freelance visas are rejected due to no proof that you will be earning enough to support yourself. By the way, they know exactly how much money I need to live here since they have copies of my lease, insurance, etc.
Ironically, on the fourth of July, I received a letter saying my freelance work visa application was declined due to no proof of sufficient earning potential, and that I could make a written appeal within the next week or I should make plans to leave. I immediately contacted the office by phone and submitted my written statement by email. Dozens upon dozens of phone calls later, I still had not spoken to anyone who could help me. Various employees would write emails to the director and try and connect me to his personal line, but I never spoke with him. By December, I'd concluded that the German government did not care that I was living here, but they did not want me working here. I resolved to push ahead with my plan to do a masters and switch to a student visa.
One afternoon in January, I was flipping through the stack of mail my roommate brought up and I saw a thin, postage-less letter addressed to me. It looked just like one from the government. I opened it and saw it was from the Ausländerbehörde. Was I getting deported? I quickly handed it to the Freund (all officially communication is in German) and he told me I got my visa. WHAT? That can't be right. I haven't spoken with a sole. It was right, though.
A week later, I was at the office with my representative who helped me through the whole process. I asked her what changed. She said her boss kept coming across my application in the pile and she finally convinced him to give it a go. Normally, these visas are granted for 5 years, but mine is only for 20 months as a trial basis. I'll take it!
In the next couple weeks, I will begin teaching. While I cannot say I am particularly thrilled about the idea of losing my lazy days at home, I am excited to try something new and refill the travel fund.
People often ask me if I like living here. Of course I like living here. Why would I deal with all this bureaucratic bull$h!t if I didn't like living here? It's certainly shaved at least two years off my lifespan.
Tonight, I will definitely be toasting to this new piece of plastic.
51 comments
trust me, i understand COMPLETELY the importance of that little card. and all the tears probably shed over it. i currently have a beer in my hand in berlin, and i will do a silent toast to you <3
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I am so happy things finally worked out! You definitely have a good reason to celebrate! I hate all the bureaucracy!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! I am in the middle of still dealing with my visa issues so I hope to be celebrating soon! I know how stressful that is for sure, party on tonight!
ReplyDeletegrüne Karte! 'grats & good luck with the teaching.
ReplyDeleteMust be something to genetics? Germany & teaching seem to run in the blood and apparently your heart too.
Miss, love, proud of, and happy for, you.
Always,
Daddio
Congrats!!! Must be a relief :)
ReplyDeleteWahey, channeling your inner Sting ;-) Congrats.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine used to do freelance English teaching. I think she had to prove she would be working a certain number of hours a week rather than how much she was earning though.
Good going, Alex!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! But I thought you're not allowed to do freelancing job unless you're German citizen? But I didn't read it thoroughly, so I don't know if what I know is accurate.
ReplyDeleteYou remind of my residence permit 'interview'. I lied to the interviewer and told him that I was 1 cm taller than I really was :D
Yay! I will be making my first journey to Germany in May :)
ReplyDeleteSuper exciting (and relieving), right!??!?!
ReplyDeleteToday in German class we were discussing German things that we had good or bad experiences with. I said I had bad experiences with the Ausländerbehörde..... so I definitely feel you here! While getting my au pair visa was relatively easy, my student visa last time was NOT. I'm so happy you got yours!! Cheers to you.
ReplyDeleteCongrats! So glad this all finally worked out for you! We're happy to officially have you back in Germany :)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome news! I'm so happy for you! Congrats! :D
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief! I remember that process being very nerve wracking and mine was just for a student visa! I also put it off a few weeks after I arrived (procrastination out of nerves) and ended up at the Ausländerbehörde in early October - with every other student in Berlin... oops!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! What a great feeling!!
ReplyDeleteOh that's so good to hear! Visa issues are ridiculous. The longer I'm here and hear more about others' struggles, the more thankful I am that ours went through easily. (I just hope the renewal will as well.)
ReplyDeleteJust last week, I was out to dinner with some friends here and one brought up her current issue with the Swedish Migration Board. With her visa ending, and having been here for quite some time, she applied for citizenship. She was denied... just after her visa expired. So now she wants to renew the visa of course, but since she's here illegally, it's not an option! She's really in a mess and all I wish was that I could do something to help.
Congrats! I know I went through some hoop jumping and a lot of headache for bureaucratic nonsense when I was living in Mexico, but it was worth it in the end!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Alex. I know all too well about the 'green card' situation. It is a lot of bureaucratic hoop jumping and stress but it is completed for you. So happy to hear you are legal for the next 20 months. There are also some loopholes that you may be able to find to extend it. The office in Pforzheim was so difficult to work with in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteWhat an ordeal - glad you got it sorted! Also, major props to you for not having a mental breakdown of some sort during the process ... I likely would have.
ReplyDeleteFully agree with this sentiment:
People often ask me if I like living here. Of course I like living here. Why would I deal with all this bureaucratic bull$h!t if I didn’t like living here? It’s certainly shaved at least two years off my lifespan.
That piece of plastic is so worth the toast! Just shows how pestering and being persistent pays off :)
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing how, despite all the bureaucracy, a lot is just left to be. For example, I've signed a contract saying I'll pay electricity and gas, and haven't paid for 5 months because I'm still waiting for some elusive letter. I know I'll have to pay eventually, but they don't seem to mind that I'm so behind.
And Germans are known for their efficiency, so I cannot even imagine what it'd be like in a less developed nation. Then again, the lesser developed nations would probably not be as paperwork crazy either. Hm..
ReplyDeleteI can't call them mental breakdowns, but you bet bawled my eyes out a few times and heavily considered getting an immigration lawyer. I am glad it never came to that.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have the option to extend, thankfully. Well, that is if I prove I'm earning enough money. I could be switching to a student visa thought depending on if I get in my Master's program. We shall see!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love the blog world for having so many people who understand what a pain in the arse it is!
ReplyDeleteWow. I hope everything works out for her. I am very fortunate I could stay here while working the process out and also that I did not need to get any lawyers involved. I try not to complain too much as I know obtaining a green card for the US is probably even worse, but it does make me think that changes need to be made all around.
ReplyDeleteI am still in disbelief, but so happy German finally let me stay (and work)!
ReplyDeleteHaha I can only imagine the madness before semester beginning!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Where are you headed?
ReplyDeleteThank you!! When I speak about this with my non-EU passport-holding friends, they just always say they are so thankful for their British passport or whatever and I can't help but be envious.
ReplyDeleteMy freelance visa is restricted to the company hiring me out, so I am not free to seek out my own clients. Maybe that is the difference, but there are lots of non-German citizens holding this Frei Mitarbeiter visas.
ReplyDeleteEek good luck!! What sort of visa are you applying for?
ReplyDeleteHours vs. Pay really amount to the same in the end. But that was the issue, since it is a company contracting me out, the company cannot guarantee that I work a specific amount of hours since they may not have the clients, thus the problem with the Ausländerbehörde.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Megan! Countless tears shed over this damn thing. It feels great. I hope you are having a great time in Berlin!
ReplyDeleteI am applying for a residence permit. Hopefully I am in the finally stages and I will be done with this nightmare process in the next few weeks with my own little card of gold in hand!
ReplyDeleteMunich! Mario (my husband) worked there for a year, and I've never been, so we figured we better go before we move back to the U.S. We'll also be going off to the see Neuschwanstein, because we'll be there for four days! I'm very excited; I hope the weather will be decent in May.
ReplyDeleteThat is great that you have options. I know you will make it work for you no matter what way you go. When do you find out about getting in the Master's program? It is funny how that plastic card has such meaning for many of us.
ReplyDeleteyay!! that is awesome. you definitely need to be celebrating this!
ReplyDeleteNow that I think and googled about it, maybe the no freelancing rule only applies to students...
ReplyDeleteI am just in the process of completing the application, so not sure how long it will take once I get everything submitted.
ReplyDeleteOh you should for sure have perfect weather for enjoying the English Gardens. I just love Munich!
ReplyDeleteI am currently going through the same thing, the bad thing is it is even worse in Munich, the big city bull$hit.
ReplyDeleteI am also lucky been an EU member citizen but still they make me apply for a visa like wtf?
I hope that goes faster and approved as well!
ReplyDeleteEven as a european, moving about in europe seems to require a ton of red tape and paperwork so it must be a pain for anyone outside of the eu.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting through the bureaucratic bull without having to put in too much effort. No fun at all.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I know the feeling - it took me nine months to get my Dutch visa and I couldn't work that whole time, I had to end up getting a UK working holiday visa and working outside the UK... what a mess! We had a little celebration when that pink and blue card finally was in my hot little hands :)
ReplyDeleteDang - what a mess! My boyfriend was just telling me that the Netherlands just passed legislation that they can search without warrant any foreigner without a passport with them, even if they are legal residents. Nuts.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the student visas are SO restrictive on work.
ReplyDeleteI've always heard my state, Baden-Württemberg is the worst. Who the F knows. I think it's just bad everywhere, except Berlin where I know for sure it's easier. That is nuts though that you have to do it and you're already a EU citizen.
ReplyDeleteWOOOHOOOO!!!! Good job on finally getting past that stupid German red tape and over the bureaucracy! I'm sure it feels freaking awesome.
ReplyDeleteCHEERS to being legal!!
ReplyDeleteTotally understand! Drink up and celebrate!
ReplyDelete