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Post Titled: German Bureaucracy Thrashed by Gentile Naieve Chaoticism
sooo, officially (if I were official and organized) months before I even got on the plane to D-land I would've been doing THIS stuff to strive towards a coveted German VISA. Instead I bought a one-way ticket and told them I was getting married. On the aforementioned site is the process... but now I am seriously wondering if ANYone actually goes through this process- I mean, is it even do-able? This morning I went to the Bürgeramt to get a Lohnsteuerkarte (something similar to the American W-2 form, which of course you have to be a legal SSN-wielding citizen to actually get, which I am not) and after a lot of me telling them how I was caught up in a multi-level beurocratic Teufelskreis (Catch-22, which is very true) and finally showing them an email from work that said I needed the Lohnsteuerkarte asap they sort of grimaced, huffed and finally nicely gave me one. I had been fighting for this for MONTHS, always lacking some piece of the puzzle- so I got a huge emo-adrenaline rush as I walked out the door and back to work. Had I attempted to get here via official avenues, I doubt anything would've ever happened... there are literally a half-dozen Catch-22s (or more?) which one encounters... My point is... well, one could practically write a book about the hundreds of ways ex-pat Americans manage to stay overseas... and I would be curious to know if even ONE of those stories would begin with "Well, I flew in-person (as is required) to the German Consulate in Washington D.C. (or San Francisco) - and - blah-blah" and held thier breath while following this procedure:
"Procedure with involvement of the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde):
In cases where the visa application must be approved by an Office of foreigner authority (Ausländerbehörde) (particularly when the duration of the stay is indefinite) the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad transmits the visa application to the regional foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) in order to give them the possibility of a written opinion. Normally the forwarding is carried out by the express service of the foreign affairs office. As
visa applications contain confidential information, the dispatch is complicated. Necessary security measures make the process take up to 2-3 three weeks. Although the applications are announced to the the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) per fax to the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt) in Cologne beforehand, they normally can only be processed if a completed application including all documents is at hand.
The the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) checks the documents and investigates the relevant facts. It is often necessary that the persons of reference residing in Berlin (e.g., spouse, future employer) hand in further documents or provide for further information.
When the process is completed, the the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde), provides the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad with a written opinion of the visa application.
The German mission abroad then decides in sole competency whether or not a visa will be granted. The written opinion of the Office of Alien Affairs (Ausländerbehörde) is a
solely internal administrative proceeding that does not address itself to the applicant or the reference person, but exclusively to the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad. Therefore normally the result will not be communicated to the applicant. Only the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad informs the applicant of their decision. If a visa application is rejected, the applicant has the option of making a legal appeal to the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad."
no, these are stories of subtle oddity and quiet chaos... how things really happen. The "I-am-in-love-with-one-of-your-women-and-am-coming-to-your-country whether-you-like-it-or-not" approach has worked, more or less, for me.
I mean, jeez, this is only thing in the website's link in the law "Translations" section for the rights of foreigners is this:
German Civil Code
Auf Grund von Mängeln der von einem externen Übersetzerteam zugelieferten Übersetzung sah sich das Bundesministerium der Justiz leider gezwungen, die Übersetzung aktuell nicht weiter bereitzustellen. Wir bitten um Verständnis.
In view of flaws in the translation supplied by a team of external translators the Federal Ministry of Justice is unfortunately compelled to refrain from making this translation available. We apologize for the inconvienence.
Wonder how many years it has been there like that-
To be fair, sometimes the people working at these places are very nice adn helpful, other times they are not, and other times, like this morning they are quite naieve themselves, like the guy who said "Oh, it must be no problem for Americna to get a work permit in Germany-" I just smiled. if "No problem" means months of waiting, hang-ups, frustration and uncertatinty, then yea- no problem.
sooo, officially (if I were official and organized) months before I even got on the plane to D-land I would've been doing THIS stuff to strive towards a coveted German VISA. Instead I bought a one-way ticket and told them I was getting married. On the aforementioned site is the process... but now I am seriously wondering if ANYone actually goes through this process- I mean, is it even do-able? This morning I went to the Bürgeramt to get a Lohnsteuerkarte (something similar to the American W-2 form, which of course you have to be a legal SSN-wielding citizen to actually get, which I am not) and after a lot of me telling them how I was caught up in a multi-level beurocratic Teufelskreis (Catch-22, which is very true) and finally showing them an email from work that said I needed the Lohnsteuerkarte asap they sort of grimaced, huffed and finally nicely gave me one. I had been fighting for this for MONTHS, always lacking some piece of the puzzle- so I got a huge emo-adrenaline rush as I walked out the door and back to work. Had I attempted to get here via official avenues, I doubt anything would've ever happened... there are literally a half-dozen Catch-22s (or more?) which one encounters... My point is... well, one could practically write a book about the hundreds of ways ex-pat Americans manage to stay overseas... and I would be curious to know if even ONE of those stories would begin with "Well, I flew in-person (as is required) to the German Consulate in Washington D.C. (or San Francisco) - and - blah-blah" and held thier breath while following this procedure:
"Procedure with involvement of the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde):
In cases where the visa application must be approved by an Office of foreigner authority (Ausländerbehörde) (particularly when the duration of the stay is indefinite) the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad transmits the visa application to the regional foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) in order to give them the possibility of a written opinion. Normally the forwarding is carried out by the express service of the foreign affairs office. As
visa applications contain confidential information, the dispatch is complicated. Necessary security measures make the process take up to 2-3 three weeks. Although the applications are announced to the the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) per fax to the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt) in Cologne beforehand, they normally can only be processed if a completed application including all documents is at hand.
The the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) checks the documents and investigates the relevant facts. It is often necessary that the persons of reference residing in Berlin (e.g., spouse, future employer) hand in further documents or provide for further information.
When the process is completed, the the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde), provides the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad with a written opinion of the visa application.
The German mission abroad then decides in sole competency whether or not a visa will be granted. The written opinion of the Office of Alien Affairs (Ausländerbehörde) is a
solely internal administrative proceeding that does not address itself to the applicant or the reference person, but exclusively to the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad. Therefore normally the result will not be communicated to the applicant. Only the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad informs the applicant of their decision. If a visa application is rejected, the applicant has the option of making a legal appeal to the German Embassy or General-Consulate abroad."
no, these are stories of subtle oddity and quiet chaos... how things really happen. The "I-am-in-love-with-one-of-your-women-and-am-coming-to-your-country whether-you-like-it-or-not" approach has worked, more or less, for me.
I mean, jeez, this is only thing in the website's link in the law "Translations" section for the rights of foreigners is this:
German Civil Code
Auf Grund von Mängeln der von einem externen Übersetzerteam zugelieferten Übersetzung sah sich das Bundesministerium der Justiz leider gezwungen, die Übersetzung aktuell nicht weiter bereitzustellen. Wir bitten um Verständnis.
In view of flaws in the translation supplied by a team of external translators the Federal Ministry of Justice is unfortunately compelled to refrain from making this translation available. We apologize for the inconvienence.
Wonder how many years it has been there like that-
To be fair, sometimes the people working at these places are very nice adn helpful, other times they are not, and other times, like this morning they are quite naieve themselves, like the guy who said "Oh, it must be no problem for Americna to get a work permit in Germany-" I just smiled. if "No problem" means months of waiting, hang-ups, frustration and uncertatinty, then yea- no problem.
posted by "Post-Google" by TAR ART RAT at 3:22 pm
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