Stamps and Red Tape.
It hasn't been two whole weeks in abroad, but Dave and I have already run into our share of red tape. If we ever thought things were difficult when trying to move and set up in another state, we have now encountered bureaucracy and red tape like we have never experienced before.
Every American traveling to the European Union has an automatic 90-day visa without applying, but to stay longer one has to go to the Auslanders Amt (Foreigners Office) and apply for a Visa. Dave and I tried to do this in San Francisco before we left the country, but were met with a terse reproach from the German Consulate. "What are you doing here?" "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" "Why don't you take care of this once you are in Germany?" Then when we arrived in Dusseldorf, the immigration agent gave us a hard time for not having our visas, and lectured us on needing to arrange for them before the 90 days were up.
In order to apply for the Visas, we needed an assortment of paperwork, including my official letter of acceptance from the Humboldt Foundation, proof of unlimited health insurance for the entire length of our stay, a certified copy of our marriage license, and our passports. The first time we turned these forms in, however, we were told that we needed another form that "officially" registered us at our address in Bonn. This was another long form to complete, and another visit to a different government agency. We then obtained a form that had our names on it, our address, a lot of blank space, and a stamp. Dave took that new paper to the visa office today to hopefully get the process completed.
We are learning that these "certified," "official," "stamped," "signed" documents carry an inordinate amount of weight in the German system. We had to produce a lot of the same paperwork for our cell phones that we needed to get the visas, and papers without stamps on them are viewed with skepticism. We had to visit the cell phone store three times in order to convince them to give us a contract for a year. Apparently German businesses are more interested in making sure you have all the official forms rather than getting your money. They would not give us a contract at all at first unless we had approved visas to be in Germany for two years, but Dave was able to sweet-talk the people, auf Deutsch, into giving us a one-year deal on only the Humboldt Letter.
As I'm writing this I just got a call from Dave, who is at the Auslanders Amt filing visa forms on our behalf. Apparently the copy of the Humboldt Foundation letter that he has is not good enough for them - they need a different version of the letter, which is at our house, that lists the exact locations where I will be working. So no visas today, we'll have to go back to the hotel, get the other letter, and then Dave will have to go back again tomorrow. The problem is that our visa applications are dependent on each other, so all the proper paperwork has to be filed for me before I can get my visa, and Dave can only get a visa once he proves that he is married to me. Aaargh.
Unfortunately, our friends that have preceded us in this process have said this process will continue the entire time we are here. We'll need to re-register at our new address in Berlin. To join a gym or even a video store, we'll need all kinds of letters indicating our approved and official presence in Germany. Fortunately we already have a bank account, but many banks won't give you an account until you have a visa. It's a completely circular process that ends up forcing us to run in endless circles, trying to get ourselves established here.
Update...Dave called again, and the lady at the Auslanders Amt decided to grant me my visa on Dave's word that we will fax a copy of the other letter from the hotel tonight. However, they cannot grant his visa because he has lived here before, and they have to formally contact the police in Regensburg to make sure he was a good boy when he was there. Apparently this process can take up to 3 months, basically the entire time that Dave has a free stay here. And so the saga continues...
It hasn't been two whole weeks in abroad, but Dave and I have already run into our share of red tape. If we ever thought things were difficult when trying to move and set up in another state, we have now encountered bureaucracy and red tape like we have never experienced before.
Every American traveling to the European Union has an automatic 90-day visa without applying, but to stay longer one has to go to the Auslanders Amt (Foreigners Office) and apply for a Visa. Dave and I tried to do this in San Francisco before we left the country, but were met with a terse reproach from the German Consulate. "What are you doing here?" "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" "Why don't you take care of this once you are in Germany?" Then when we arrived in Dusseldorf, the immigration agent gave us a hard time for not having our visas, and lectured us on needing to arrange for them before the 90 days were up.
In order to apply for the Visas, we needed an assortment of paperwork, including my official letter of acceptance from the Humboldt Foundation, proof of unlimited health insurance for the entire length of our stay, a certified copy of our marriage license, and our passports. The first time we turned these forms in, however, we were told that we needed another form that "officially" registered us at our address in Bonn. This was another long form to complete, and another visit to a different government agency. We then obtained a form that had our names on it, our address, a lot of blank space, and a stamp. Dave took that new paper to the visa office today to hopefully get the process completed.
We are learning that these "certified," "official," "stamped," "signed" documents carry an inordinate amount of weight in the German system. We had to produce a lot of the same paperwork for our cell phones that we needed to get the visas, and papers without stamps on them are viewed with skepticism. We had to visit the cell phone store three times in order to convince them to give us a contract for a year. Apparently German businesses are more interested in making sure you have all the official forms rather than getting your money. They would not give us a contract at all at first unless we had approved visas to be in Germany for two years, but Dave was able to sweet-talk the people, auf Deutsch, into giving us a one-year deal on only the Humboldt Letter.
As I'm writing this I just got a call from Dave, who is at the Auslanders Amt filing visa forms on our behalf. Apparently the copy of the Humboldt Foundation letter that he has is not good enough for them - they need a different version of the letter, which is at our house, that lists the exact locations where I will be working. So no visas today, we'll have to go back to the hotel, get the other letter, and then Dave will have to go back again tomorrow. The problem is that our visa applications are dependent on each other, so all the proper paperwork has to be filed for me before I can get my visa, and Dave can only get a visa once he proves that he is married to me. Aaargh.
Unfortunately, our friends that have preceded us in this process have said this process will continue the entire time we are here. We'll need to re-register at our new address in Berlin. To join a gym or even a video store, we'll need all kinds of letters indicating our approved and official presence in Germany. Fortunately we already have a bank account, but many banks won't give you an account until you have a visa. It's a completely circular process that ends up forcing us to run in endless circles, trying to get ourselves established here.
Update...Dave called again, and the lady at the Auslanders Amt decided to grant me my visa on Dave's word that we will fax a copy of the other letter from the hotel tonight. However, they cannot grant his visa because he has lived here before, and they have to formally contact the police in Regensburg to make sure he was a good boy when he was there. Apparently this process can take up to 3 months, basically the entire time that Dave has a free stay here. And so the saga continues...
posted by Erin at 4:41 PM
2 Comments:
Poor dear Daverin, this is sure awful. It can give you some comfort that germans suffer also under american bureaucracy. You know Christiane. Let her tell you the story about her greencard.
Stefan, Regensburg
Poor dear Daverin, this is sure awful. It can give you some comfort that germans suffer also under american bureaucracy. You know Christiane. Let her tell you the story about her greencard.
Stefan, Regensburg
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