So now I’m hooked up with a great insurance policy (private health from Gothaer), but there was a serious catch: I had to pay a fee for the last two years that I haven’t been insured. It wasn’t much (900 euros), but it was a bit hard to swallow! In the end, I did save some money for not being insured, but to pay that at once was a bit frustrating…

Hey kids

I actually made my trip to the Ausländerbehörde on the second of February, but since I didn’t have my insurance papers, all I got out of the deal was a Fiktionsbescheinigung. What’s a Fiktionsbescheinigung? Well, I’ll tell you: it’s a simple certificate that essentially states that my case is undecided, and that I may continue my current activities until it expires, which in this case is on the day of my next appointment in early March. So basically, I have to go back and show them my insurance papers, and then I’ll be allowed to stay for another two years.  What’s the moral of this story? Make sure you have all of the papers required beforehand, since otherwise things could get a little sticky!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPmL-_haRac

hilarious

It sounds like a no-brainer, but for a Canadian like me who has never thought about insurance, it came as a shock to find out that I need to get private health insurance. Yeah, yeah, I know…

Anyway, I found an insurance broker and I’ve been to the doctor and the dentist, so now we send my bill of clean health to the insurance people, and then the ripoff gets a green light.

If you employ yourself here as a freelancer like I do, then you are required to insure yourself via one of these private companies. It sucks, but that’s life.

I’m just about to go into my Ausländerbehörde phase again… I’ll likely call LABO on Thursday, so I’ll let you all know how long I have to wait to talk to a Sachbearbeiter, just in case I break any records.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o&NR=1&feature=fvwp

I’m sure it’s the same with all rental car companies, but the fine print includes a clause about traffic violations, and in particular that you will be billed a ‘processing/administration fee’ in case of a violation, and on top of that the fine itself. While in Florence (I know it’s not Berlin, but Berlin also has Europcar), I got a fine for being downtown too long, and Europcar charged me 40 euros for passing on my address to the Florentine police. Like I said, all rental cars probably nail you like this, but I know for a painful fact that Europcar does!

Seems like a happy ending so far:

Hi Matthew!

So we went to the Auslander this morning at 7:30am and went out at 9:00am with a temporary resident permit for me valid until March 10. My 3 months no-visa period was ending by January 1st so we were in a bit of a hurry to get a temporary resident permit and avoid having to go back to Canada for 3 months.

That leaves us some time to breathe until we get married even if it’s a bit short. Then we have an appointment on March 11 to go back there with the marriage certificate and get the regular resident permit.

There was not too many people waiting there this morning surprisingly, maybe due to Holidays. They just grabbed all my stuff and then give back the temporary resident permit so I can’t tell you if something new is required compared to what you required previously.

As we add a lot of troubles reaching someone by phone or mail I would tell you to start early bugging them.

 I’ve just received a message from a reader:

Hi Mathew Michael,

thanks a lot for the blog, a lot of interesting stuff.  I’m from Quebec, my girlfriend is German and we go to Auslanderamt next week as we want to get a temporary resident permit until we actually marry next year and get a regular resident permit.

Any trick to get an appointment at the Auslanderamt?  E-mails are bouncing, nobody answers the phone, etc. So we decided just to show there and try to get someone.

Thanks,

Pepito (names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Here’s what I had to say:

Hi Pepito ,

It’s always nice to hear that my blog is reaching people out there. I can’t think of any particular trick to get an appointment at the Ausländerbehörde - I have always just called and re-called and stayed on the line until someone responsible finally takes the initiative to book me a meeting. Emails will not work. I do know that they have special hours for phoning though, so you might want to take a look at the LABO site to see when those are (they have really crap hours, like every other day before 1 p.m. or something, and I guess nobody answers the phones on Tuesday or Wednesday, period). It’s a bit of a test, but eventually someone will have to listen to you.

By all means, let me know how it goes. I think I will actually add this info to my blog right now

Cheers and good luck!
Matthew

PS: I recommend NOT just showing up. Usually, the place is a mess and it is full of people who don’t speak German, which is pure chaos. You will invariably have to wait a minimum of an hour. Plus, they will typically just give you an appointment, and you will not be able to see someone directly, which means you will just have to come back another day (waste of time).

Not related to Berlin, although I’m sure a lot of Berliners are laughing about it…