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…

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).

My new project:

canadiansinberlin.com

I’m starting to feel like a consultant! Read on…

Dallas,
In most cases an employer will have to prove that you are somehow beneficial to their operation, and that you have some special skills which aren’t available in the local work force. That’s why translation is usually the safest bet, or teaching English, since native speakers are, well, North American or British. You can always try anyways…
I worked for Switzerland for close to 8 months under the table as a carpenter years ago. Getting a permit is damned near impossible- you will need SERIOUS connections in Swiss, if you plan on being legit. Switzerland has a system which is designed to keep foreigners out, unless they want to drop in and give them money… It’s a lot easier in Germany, and in Germany it’s already difficult enough. I sympathise with you not wanting to go back over the Atlantic- Europe rules.
Cheers,
Matthew

The following is an email I just wrote to someone asking me how I managed to begin the immigration process in Berlin…

Hello Dallas,
Who is Joachim?
Anyways, I’ll list some questions I have for you:
A) Do you have an EU passport?
B) Where do you want to live?
C) What are you trained to do?
D) What languages do you speak?
E) Do you have any post-secondary?
Depending on your answers, this will determine the likelihood of your being able to stay in Europe. I’m afraid to say that I only have experience in Germany, so I can’t really give you too much advice about other countries, so we’ll just use Germany as an example. Now I’ll tell you the extraordinarily fantastic story of how I came to be a Berliner…
I moved here after I finished my university degree back home in Canada. I was lucky enough to have spent a summer participating in a work exchange program in Germany two years before, and my employer liked me enough that he sponsored another work permit for me. That enabled me to get my foot in the door the second time around, but since the position was only a seasonal one, I was forced to leave the company. I have always thought that Berlin is more or less a cultural nexus, so I decided it would probably be easiest for me to make it in the capital. I moved here (all I had was a backpack and a suitcase- both very, very small), found a place to live for a reasonable rent, and started looking for work. I speak fluent German, and this is of course VERY important if you are going to function properly here. Plenty of people will speak English with you in bars, or on the street, but to integrate legally with the system, you are going to need to express yourself and make sense of what is being said to you at official offices in German. Fine, okay, so I made it past that stage. I registered myself and started the process of getting my work permits and looking for work. The fact is, you are going to be very limited in the sort of work you can do here legally. What I mean is, the government will only allow you to do work as long as it can be proven that it will not interfere with the domestic labour policy, i.e. take any work away from a native citizen. That means you will have to do IT (in Germany they are screaming for these people), translation, or teach English. I work as a translator- I have the whole time I’ve been here, and it’s a great job, but other than these basic three things, I can’t do too much. I’m lucky enough too that I produce electronic music, and this is starting to become more and more of a revenue source for me…
So, bottom line is this: You will need to be able to function with whatever language is local, have some skills you can offer to the work force, probably private health insurance (if you work as a freelancer), and some bank statements showing you aren’t totally broke. This will all be key when you want those coveted work and residency permits. Oh yeah- and you’ll need a can-do attitude and some serious balls, since it won’t be easy and NOBODY is going to really try to help you.
Let me know if this was helpful and if I can tell you anything else.
Matthew

Moving to Berlin - The Basics

So, you finally made the decision to move to Germany’s capital. Berlin is a young, vibrant city, full of life and artistic energy. I moved here because of a music career, and I’m sure something creative has drawn you to Berlin as well.

I’ve lived in Berlin for about a year now. When I first got here, I really had no idea where I wanted to live. In fact, it was actually a secondary matter, since I was basically sleeping on couches. Eventually I settled on Prenzlauer Berg. People were telling me that it was too trendy and that sort of thing, but I kind of like its gentrified East Berlin flavour- the only thing that’s getting on my nerves lately is the amount of babies around here…

Other interesting neighbourhoods are definitely Kreuzberg, Mitte, Friedrichshain and Neukölln, but in my opinion Berlin in general is cool, so I think you should like it pretty much anywhere. Just make sure you get a decent apartment and some okay flatmates and everything should turn out fine.

Places to look for flatmates online:
WG-gesucht.de
Studenten-wg.de
Berlin.de

You really shouldn’t pay more than 200 euros a month for a shared place, and a whole flat can be yours for 400 to 500 euros. That’s all a question of what you are willing to put up with. For example, I live in a nice old building with a coal stove in my room to heat during the winter, and we have a boiler in the kitchen and bathroom for hot water. That’s not really luxury, but hey, I put up with it because my place is right across from Mauerpark, and now I kinda like it.

Next: Registering yourself as an alien!