# I need help...



## Bjaexpat (Mar 18, 2021)

Hi there! 
I have been living in Germany for 5 years. But now with brexit over and done with, I need to have a residency card... 
I have tried to get my residency card from the Ausländer Büro. I have already given my finger prints, scan of my passport etc. I have now got a letter from them asking for my last proof of income and proof of health insurance. This is where my problem begins, I have been a freelance photographer for the last 6 years and stopped my business officially Jan this year (2021) (that’s the last tax form I sent back to the British GOV and then told them the business was terminated). But my last income from that was at least over a year and a half ago, with COVID and no bookings I haven’t made much money in the last years. I have been living off savings and loans from my parents, and living as cheaply as possible for these last years. But I’m worried that this proof of income won’t be enough for them, and they will ask how I’ve been supporting myself in recent years. Which has been through these savings mainly. I now have an apprenticeship here in Germany, but with COVID it’s been taking a lot longer to finish than expected.
I just want to know, will the contract I have with my apprenticeship now be enough for them to see that I have or will have a job here in the future once I finish my apprenticeship or will I have to show something for how I’ve been living the past few years? Or do I show them my last income as a photographer? (Which was only a couple hundred £££)
ive also tried to register my new business for after my apprenticeship is over but I need my residency card to do that. So, as you can guess I’m in a bit of a pickle. Any help would be a massive help as I really don’t know what I’m doing.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Bjaexpat said:


> Hi there!
> I have been living in Germany for 5 years. But now with brexit over and done with, I need to have a residency card...
> I have tried to get my residency card from the Ausländer Büro. I have already given my finger prints, scan of my passport etc. I have now got a letter from them asking for my last proof of income and proof of health insurance. This is where my problem begins, I have been a freelance photographer for the last 6 years and stopped my business officially Jan this year (2021) (that’s the last tax form I sent back to the British GOV and then told them the business was terminated). But my last income from that was at least over a year and a half ago, with COVID and no bookings I haven’t made much money in the last years. I have been living off savings and loans from my parents, and living as cheaply as possible for these last years. But I’m worried that this proof of income won’t be enough for them, and they will ask how I’ve been supporting myself in recent years. Which has been through these savings mainly. I now have an apprenticeship here in Germany, but with COVID it’s been taking a lot longer to finish than expected.
> I just want to know, will the contract I have with my apprenticeship now be enough for them to see that I have or will have a job here in the future once I finish my apprenticeship or will I have to show something for how I’ve been living the past few years? Or do I show them my last income as a photographer? (Which was only a couple hundred £££)
> ive also tried to register my new business for after my apprenticeship is over but I need my residency card to do that. So, as you can guess I’m in a bit of a pickle. Any help would be a massive help as I really don’t know what I’m doing.


So, how were you living in Germany for five years?

You were/are registered with the Meldebehörde?

But you kept paying taxes and NI to the UK ?

How were you health insured?

Since when are you doing your apprenticeship?


----------



## Bjaexpat (Mar 18, 2021)

When the Uk was in the eu until Jan 2021, you didn’t have to do anything, I registered my German address, and used my NHI card if I needed to see a doctor. 
my taxes I paid to the Uk, but never earned enough to be taxed, but yes filed my tax returns every year for the past 5/6 years, to the Uk where my business was registered

I started my apprenticeship here last November, due to finish it in April/ may.


----------



## Bjaexpat (Mar 18, 2021)

ALKB said:


> So, how were you living in Germany for five years?
> 
> You were/are registered with the Meldebehörde?
> 
> ...


When the Uk was in the eu until Jan 2021, you didn’t have to do anything, I registered my German address, and used my NHI card if I needed to see a doctor.
my taxes I paid to the Uk, but never earned enough to be taxed, but yes filed my tax returns every year for the past 5/6 years, to the Uk where my business was registered

I started my apprenticeship here last November, due to finish it in April/ may.
My last income proof was an invoice from my last job as a photographer a few months before COVID started. Will this be enough for them? I’ve been living off my savings and inherited money from my family ever since.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Bjaexpat said:


> When the Uk was in the eu until Jan 2021, you didn’t have to do anything, I registered my German address, and used my NHI card if I needed to see a doctor.
> my taxes I paid to the Uk, but never earned enough to be taxed, but yes filed my tax returns every year for the past 5/6 years, to the Uk where my business was registered
> 
> I started my apprenticeship here last November, due to finish it in April/ may.


Yes, you were supposed to 'do' certain things, EU citizens just tend to be able to fly under the radar.

You became tax resident a long time ago and you should have stopped paying tax and social contributions in the UK and started paying tax (if any) and social contributions in Germany. You could have applied for housing benefit and other financial help to top up your earnings. Also, once you registered your residence at the Meldebehörde (within 90 days of moving to Germany), you should have joined the German health care system. 

All of that are potential issues with your application now.

An apprenticeship usually lasts three, but at the very least two years - is this not a formal apprenticeship with attendance of Berufsschule and exams before the chamber of commerce/trade chamber or similar at the end?

Are you being paid Ausbildungsvergütung?


----------



## Bjaexpat (Mar 18, 2021)

ALKB said:


> Yes, you were supposed to 'do' certain things, EU citizens just tend to be able to fly under the radar.
> 
> You became tax resident a long time ago and you should have stopped paying tax and social contributions in the UK and started paying tax (if any) and social contributions in Germany. You could have applied for housing benefit and other financial help to top up your earnings. Also, once you registered your residence at the Meldebehörde (within 90 days of moving to Germany), you should have joined the German health care system.
> 
> ...


I asked at the Bürgerbüro when I moved here what I should do with my British registered business and if I need to pay tax here but they said as long as it’s registered in the UK and I file my tax returns to the Uk then it’s fine to keep doing it as I’ve been doing it. And the Health care, is ok to be on my national health insurance (NHI through the NHS in the UK) until my card runs out of date which is next month, currently sorting out my health insurance here, finding a plan etc.
my apprenticeship is with a local business, as a tattoo artist, and lasts for 2 years, no exams being taken, I guess I just need to pass a level of standard for this job. The learning Part of this apprenticeship is 3/6 months, with a total of 2 years supervised work. So the apprenticeship in total takes 2 years
The apprenticeship is not paid, but to register my business here I need a residency card, which is why I am writing this on here to get help
I will be Freelance at this tatto shop, hence why I need to register my business before I get paying customers


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Fortunately I don't need to know too much about how this works, but I imagine it's difficult to regularize one's status post-Brexit when one was living in the country semi-illegally prior to Brexit.


----------



## Bjaexpat (Mar 18, 2021)

Nononymous said:


> Fortunately I don't need to know too much about how this works, but I imagine it's difficult to regularize one's status post-Brexit when one was living in the country semi-illegally prior to Brexit.


I wasn’t here Simi–illegally, the Uk was in the EU until Jan 2021, I was allowed to be here, I registered my address here, and now having to do paper work to make it able to have my residency card here, and to start a business here. I asked at the citizens office all the questions I needed to ask, and they helped me. And now I have until June 2021 to finalise my residency card etc.


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Semi- depending on how you handled registration, health insurance and taxes. One part of the bureaucracy may not like the advice given to you by another part of the bureaucracy.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Bjaexpat said:


> I asked at the Bürgerbüro when I moved here what I should do with my British registered business and if I need to pay tax here but they said as long as it’s registered in the UK and I file my tax returns to the Uk then it’s fine to keep doing it as I’ve been doing it. And the Health care, is ok to be on my national health insurance (NHI through the NHS in the UK) until my card runs out of date which is next month, currently sorting out my health insurance here, finding a plan etc.
> my apprenticeship is with a local business, as a tattoo artist, and lasts for 2 years, no exams being taken, I guess I just need to pass a level of standard for this job. The learning Part of this apprenticeship is 3/6 months, with a total of 2 years supervised work. So the apprenticeship in total takes 2 years
> The apprenticeship is not paid, but to register my business here I need a residency card, which is why I am writing this on here to get help
> I will be Freelance at this tatto shop, hence why I need to register my business before I get paying customers


The Bürgerbüro is not trained in either immigration nor tax advisory, it's not their role, they should have sent you on to the Ausländerbehörde and the Finanzamt.

That you could use your EHIC until it runs out is plain wrong. It actually automatically loses validity as soon as you take up residency outside the UK. (As my EHIC would be invalid should I move to another country - when I lived in the UK under EU rules, my EHIC was UK-issued, now that I am back in Germany, my EHIC is Germany-issued). You are lucky that the NHS does not seem to have a system in place to check.

Doing unpaid work is not going to help you, unfortunately.

Even before Brexit - and still the case for EU nationals moving to a different EU country - if you wanted to stay for longer than 90 days, you have to exercise treaty rights: being employed, self employed (with being registered in your country of residence, declaring your income and paying anything that might be due into the country's systems), being self-sufficient (with comprehensive health insurance) or studying full time (more than 20 hours/week).

You could have regularised some of this before the end of last year to hopefully retain your rights under the withdrawal agreement but your situation appears to be very challenging now. 

I recently recommended some steps to a British person who had actually worked in Germany for six months, paid taxes and all, was health insured in the German system the entire time, completed an integration course and was still refused when he applied for his withdrawal agreement permit because he does not have an income in Germany right now. He will challenge that decision.

We don't know yet how strict and how uniform across Germany rules will be applied when it comes to the withdrawal agreement, it will be some time before we see enough cases to form an opinion and see patterns.


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Don't take this the wrong way, but I have a feeling that "former freelance photographer now tattoo artist" is going to be the new version of the "trained architect working as a documentary filmmaker" that seemed to be every second person I met in Berlin fifteen years ago.


----------



## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

Bjaexpat said:


> I asked at the Bürgerbüro when I moved here what I should do with my British registered business and if I need to pay tax here but they said as long as it’s registered in the UK and I file my tax returns to the Uk then it’s fine to keep doing it as I’ve been doing it. And the Health care, is ok to be on my national health insurance (NHI through the NHS in the UK) until my card runs out of date which is next month


Do you have any proof that you were given this inaccurate advice?


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Bjaexpat said:


> And the Health care, is ok to be on my national health insurance (NHI through the NHS in the UK) until my card runs out of date which is next month, currently sorting out my health insurance here, finding a plan etc.


This has been reviewed this year, but EHIC rules have been the same before Brexit:









Planning your healthcare


Healthcare information and advice for UK nationals moving to, or working in, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland on or after 1 January 2021.




www.nhs.uk


----------

