As any foreigner living in Germany will tell you. No, let me start that again, as anyone living in Germany will tell you, the bureaucracy is hell. It isn’t that it’s particularly corrupt - I’d happily bribe someone to get to the front of the queue if I could - there’s just so much of it and it’s so utterly pointless. Take the little picture in the top right-hand corner of this post for example. An “Aufenthaltserlaubnis für Angehörige eines Mitgliedstaates der EU“. Or in English, a residency permit for someone from the EU - that freely move and live where you want place.
I have to say, I thought maybe it was something to do with the U.K. not having signed the Schengen agreement or some such, but the French guy from my football team had to get one too. So I’d better get myself down to see the relevant authorities and “take a number and wait in that seat for three days until you’re called please”. God knows what they’ll say when they see it expired in July 2002.
German Word For Today: “Unbefristet” - In my dreams
Song playing as this was published: Isaac Hayes “Theme From Shaft”
Can you imagine what I, a citizen of a third world country, had to get through to get my working visa and then later on, arrange to get my Aufenthaltserlaubnis?!
“expired in July2002″ hehehe That’d be fun to explain. Goodluck! hehe
AnP: I used to have to accompany 3 of my colleagues to the Auslaenderamt in Munich. One Chinese, one Indian, one Indonesian. Now, I might moan about the hoops I had to jump through, but the people there were awful with my co-workers / friends. Yes, I’m sure there are exceptions in those offices, I just haven’t met any yet. And yes, before I moan too much, most Germans really are great people.
Most? Hmmm… I guess a lot of those I have in contact with do not belong to “MOST Germans” hehe
Oh yea, forgot to tell you… I actually have unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Small things like that, I can appreciate.
Ah - it’s actually the work permit that other EU citizens don’t need, but they still have to have a residence permit - which is a formality, once they see your contract or a letter from your employer. It’s a strange thing, but there you are. I think it’s probably to prevent people from going to another EU country, deciding to live there without a job, and then claiming unemployment benefit. How to claim the Dole in another EU country is a very unclear legal area, left ‘fuzzy’ by EU law; I once managed it for a while in Denmark, but I was told in advance that I’d have to pay it back, which I did.
David: I’m sure there’s a treaty somewhere that states that - however the catch 22iness of the system here gets a bit silly. You need a resident’s permit (EU member) so you can get a tax card, so you can apply for a job so you can get a resident’s permit. Exact details WILL vary according to who you happen to speak to at the office that day. I never had to get a work permit though…….
Once when I moved to the UK I thought I was going to need something similar. I went to the local police station in the small town where I was, as I thought they would point me in the right direction. They thought I was very strange, but did phone around and in the end they told me I truly didn’t need anything as I already had an EU passport. “What, I don’t even have to register at the Einwohnermeldeamt?” I asked in disbelief. “We’re not the Gestapo, you know” said the smalltown copper.
Crap trains, bad weather and the NHS notwithstanding, I still love the UK for being founded on the principle of “if it’s not illegal, go for it”, rather than “if you don’t have 300 permits and licences, it must be illegal” like Germany.
I’ve actually never even been down the county office as my wife has gone in my stead and as she used to work there I was allowed to sign all the forms at home and then just mail them back.
I will say it is crap not having an “Ausweis” though. I can’t even sign up for a membership at a video rental store without bringing in my passport and our registration papers.
Ernst: It’s nice isn’t it? Although the “I still love the UK for being founded on the principle of “if it’s not illegal, go for it”, rather than “if you don’t have 300 permits and licences, it must be illegal” like Germany.” concept is coming under a bit of pressure at the moment…..
Karl: I came to Germany with a German girlfriend. All the Um- An- and heaven knows what meldungen, she did it all for me. It was only after being here for 7 years and suddenly not having a German girlfriend to do that for me that things got a bit tricky….. And as for what I had to provide when I foolishly decided to work at the Innenstadt Klinik in Munich (and therefore, technically work for the Bayersiches Staat - those people won’t even accept certificates from other German Bundesländer), well, let’s just say it took a long time until I got my first paycheck….
The only purpose of the residence permit is to prove the holder’s rights as an EU citizen, and absolutely nothing will happen to anyone who doesn’t renew it when it expires.
Maybe so mdid, and obviously mine is almost 3 years out of date and I’ve never had any *real* problems with it. The annoying thing is that the Behörde often don’t seem to know the rules of what’s required….. Large cities like Munich and Stuttgart are probably okay, but I applied for mine in a small town in Nordhessen (population ca. 13,000) where I suspect they get to deal with fewer EU-mitbuerger….. And the people that work in those offices are, in general, just not nice.