# Need some advice or assistance



## MrKequc (Nov 4, 2011)

I'm 28, living in Berlin.

I have a Visitor's Visa and have been inside Europe's Schengen Area for a little over two months in total. Ultimately I have until November 30th at the very latest that I am allowed to be here.

Since I arrived I've been trying to sort out getting a proper Visa or a Residency so that I would be able to remain longer. I spent a little bit of time learning the language, but decided I didn't have time to do that. So I have someone who I found is helping me with the language barrier in order to get these things sorted out. The biggest hurdle I am having to overcome is acquiring a registered address. I don't want to bore you with details about the places I've been staying, including hostels and such like that. Where I am staying at the current time it is not really doable to register the address.

I am fully capable of paying rent and even potentially moving in someplace fairly comfortable. But for many people, they don't want to take the time to help me fill out the registration papers, which looks like a big daunting contract. When instead anyone can basically just rent their rooms out to other people that don't need such a thing. Without a registered address I cannot make progress in my application for a longer stay. I'm starting to fear that if I do manage to find a place that will help me register an address, I'll arrive at immigration with little more than a few days or a week left.

If I don't have all of my i's dotted and everything in order once I go in, I won't have time to reapply. Then I would be forced to leave the Schengen Area for a minimum of 3 months before being allowed back. So that discourages me from wanting to commit to any kind of lease or tenancy agreement of any kind. If I had to basically leave, then all that would be a waste.

Where should I go to get an address? From what I understand, it only has to say 1 month. The immigration guys are going to want to say "yes he has an address" and put a stamp on a separate piece of paper and I can advance the process.

Despite the highly relaxed nature of Berlin, I'm finding myself a little bit stressed out because I feel like I don't have very much time left.


----------



## Guest (Nov 4, 2011)

MrKequc said:


> I'm 28, living in Berlin.
> 
> I have a Visitor's Visa and have been inside Europe's Schengen Area for a little over two months in total. Ultimately I have until November 30th at the very latest that I am allowed to be here.
> 
> ...


I'm sorry to hear about your trouble. In my experience Germany and Germans are relaxed but German bureaucracy is definitely the opposite of that. I don't understand what visa category you would be applying for? From the sounds of it I assume that you are moving to Germany with the intention to stay awhile! You need to find a job normally to get a visa issued in the 3 month window that you have as a Canadian citizen. Are you looking for work as well or just trying to settle your address first? In addition to a job offer and an address you would need to show proof of insurance as well before they would be willing to register you.

You have a couple of ways that you could legally extend your stay in Germany. First is that you could try to register on a full time German course for a few months in duration. They would find housing for you and help you with a visa to stay for the purpose of study. I don't know what the rules are under a study visa, but I think you could legally continue to look for work during this time and after your course, assuming that you have found a job and an employer willing to sponsor a visa, you would then be able to get an Aufenthaltserlaubnis (Residency Permit). Learning German will of course improve your job chances, no matter what you are interested in doing. 

The easiest way to settle permanently would require completing a degree programme. For example, you could do an MSc or an MBA. I have an acquaintance from outside the EU who did an MBA and was allowed to stay in Germany with a one year window to look for work afterwards. She has since found a job and has a residency permit.

I know that you don't want to hear this, but maybe the best course would be to return to Canada and take the time to consider all of your options if you find that your window is running out. The best advice of course is under no circumstances overstay your visa!


----------



## Guest (Nov 4, 2011)

Have a look also at the DAAD website, which is the federal agency responsible for attracting international students to study in Germany:

DAAD - FAQ's Planning your studies

This also mentions the one year rule to be able to look for work after completing a degree of some sort. I don't know any other route that would allow you really move permanently to Germany unless you are qualified in something really in demand like Engineering.

Look at as well the website of the Federal Foreign Office, which details all of your visa options:

Auswärtiges Amt - Studying and working in Germany

And finally the website of the Federal Employment Agency which will give you more info about looking for work:

Working and Job-Seeking - www.arbeitsagentur.de

Detailed information on how to register your address in Berlin can be found here at the Foreigner's Office Website for Berlin. This information is only in German (clicking on English will open an unrelated tourism website) but you can plug the website into Google translate to get all of the info you need.

LABO - Auslaenderbehoerde Berlin - Empfangsseite - Berlin.de

Last advice would be to ideally go with a German friend or contact when you do register your address to deal with the bureaucracy! 

Hope this helps!


----------



## MrKequc (Nov 4, 2011)

DonPomodoro said:


> The best advice of course is under no circumstances overstay your visa!


From everything I've been reading the easiest one to get in Germany is a Working Holiday Visa, during which I can apply for a residency. Having residency would be wonderful but I worry that I hardly have time to apply for a working holiday.

To get either one regardless I still need this "Untermietvertrag". A registered address.

So that's where I'm stuck. I'm a computer programmer and from what I understand my skills are desired in Germany. I'm self-employed and working right now for a company in Seattle. I don't feel like I have the time for school. But maybe I could register at a reasonably priced language school for instance and they could help make sure that I don't have to leave right away?


Would I need to be attending all my classes? I want to learn German but I have a kind of heavy workload this month. :ranger:


Having to leave the Schengen Zone will just put me behind my current work load even more though. Should I just put off work and start going to school for a month or two while I continue to search for a place I can register an address? Can I do that?


----------



## Guest (Nov 4, 2011)

MrKequc said:


> From everything I've been reading the easiest one to get in Germany is a Working Holiday Visa, during which I can apply for a residency. Having residency would be wonderful but I worry that I hardly have time to apply for a working holiday.
> 
> To get either one regardless I still need this "Untermietvertrag". A registered address.
> 
> ...


Well, in terms of full-time studying you shouldn't need to worry about the cost - German universities cost nothing like US and even Canadian equivalents. Some universities are free to attend and the most expensive that I have ever seen is 500 Euros per semester.

Language study can vary in price, but you should be able to find something for a couple of hundred Euros for a long term course.

I hadn't thought about the Working Holiday visa - That's definitely your way in then. The only problem is that you have to apply for this from within Canada:

Deutsche Botschaft Ottawa - Youth mobility visa

They say that they process application in one week, so you could be back in Germany legally in under a month in theory. They even provide a sub-website about where to find accommodation and a job:

Experience-Germany.ca :: Home

So, yeah, I think you've got it settled but you just need to go back to Canada for a couple of weeks!


----------



## MrKequc (Nov 4, 2011)

I hate to disagree and I am thankful for your help but there are many discrepancies between the Canadian embassies' information about Germany and the German information about Germany. I have been opting to listen to the instructions given to me by the German offices. Especially since when I asked the Canadian Embassy for some assistance they wrote me a very curt and unhelpful letter about how they cannot offer any assistance regarding German immigration or integration. Which is exactly what I thought they were there for, I was wrong about that.

According to the German offices, I can apply for new visas from within Germany without having to return home. I'm certainly not all sorted in any case, I still need to register an address and I'm finding it difficult to do.


----------



## Guest (Nov 4, 2011)

MrKequc said:


> I hate to disagree and I am thankful for your help but there are many discrepancies between the Canadian embassies' information about Germany and the German information about Germany. I have been opting to listen to the instructions given to me by the German offices. Especially since when I asked the Canadian Embassy for some assistance they wrote me a very curt and unhelpful letter about how they cannot offer any assistance regarding German immigration or integration. Which is exactly what I thought they were there for, I was wrong about that.
> 
> According to the German offices, I can apply for new visas from within Germany without having to return home. I'm certainly not all sorted in any case, I still need to register an address and I'm finding it difficult to do.


Well, that's certainly unprofessional if there is conflicting information about whether or not you have to apply in Canada on their websites. In any case even if you run out of time on your current visa there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about since you could just apply the moment you get back. I thought you were trying to move to Germany and look for a permanent job in your original post, but if you can use the Working Holiday Visa and just want to explore Berlin for a year there shouldn't be any issue. 

Best of luck


----------

