Going for the second visa - Germany

So this topic seems to have literally no up to date information in existence on the internet. Theres a few official documents that mention such a thing, but its so vague and leaves too many questions. So after reading through the depths of the forum, and talking to people who know a bit about it.. I want to through down my findings here.. and hear what you all have to say about it. Please keep in mind that any information from you guys is really only relative if its something that happened in the last year as the systems here change so often.

So i came here to Germany on a Working Holiday Visa (Nov 08), after being here for one year ive managed to have good standings with my employer (a restaurant), that ill be given a second contract. So based on the things ive read here, and from what im told from outside sources, it seems to get the second Visa (the one where you already have a job, sometimes confused with an "extention") all i need is the contract, and valid health insurance (travel or german based, im still a bit unsure of).. then i simply go into the nearest immigration office with these and get my passport stamped, and its all done and good to go for another year. This information is based off of the fact im from Canada (one of the countries in good standings with Germany).

In about a week or 2 i should know my fate. So untill then, your experiences and suggestions are very welcome.

One thing that I would add that you haven't mentioned, is IF you have been obliged to do an integration course (i.e. you have a document titled "Bestätigung über Berechtigung zur Teilnahme am Integrationkurs" and one of the boxes under the section "Es besteht eine Teilnahmeverpflichtung gemäß" is ticked) THEN your residence permit may possibly not be renewed if you haven't actually attended the course.

Ive never actually heard about this.. in any case, where would i find info regarding if i needto do this or not.

Is there really no one else out there that knows anything.. i feel like a pioneer.

You definitely would need German health insurance, but if you are working right now on other than a 400 euro basis, you are paying into the public health system. I would think that the reason you weren't obligated to take an integration course is that the working holiday visa is a temporary one. Are you sure that you can get a visa for restaurant work? Something doesn't sound right about that, and it doesn't sound as though you qualify for an Aufenthaltserlaubnis on other grounds either.

EDIT: this potentially useful link was provided in another thread. In it, the following is stated:

thats simply a program similiar to SWAP, basically not a visa but a company that does most of the work for u for a fee.. most of the information on that site is about as vague as any other. this is why i come here seeking peoples experiences.

for example in this thread here http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=134289 it seems this person had rather an easy time, as for the job.. im not sure how hard the auslanderbehörde will look into it, im doing well over the 400€ thing, and been registered with AOK and paying in for some time now so thats not a prob, as well as travel insurance. bank has been in great standings as well so i cant think of a reason why.

well ill know soon, ill give a try here in berlin, if it doesnt work here, ill go down to the kvr in munich and try there.. ill travel all over germany till i find someone nice enough to give me a stamp. im no threat to the country, so it cant be too hard to be accepted.

I've found the Berlin Ausländerbehörde a lot easier and faster to deal with than the Munich one.
With regards to the health insurance, it entirely depends on what visa you go for. I was granted a visa (praktikum) when I finished my work/hol visa with my travel insurance. When I went for a proper work visa, I needed German health coverage.
Make sure that it's stipulated that you are needed for your native english speaking abilities at the restaurant, otherwise it's hard to see why they'd grant you a fully fledged work visa.

I was thinking, would it be wise to make an appointment? is this something thats required? or is it simply only to pass wait times during a busy day? can I just walk in?

It would be wise to make an appointment. You can just wander in and take a number, but you'll waste the best part of a day doing it like that.

well walk-in certainally is not a recommended idea. the wait times are not too horrible, but in the end i did end up only to just get an appointment which is only 11 days away, so not too bad, problem is my visa ends on the 12th, and the appointment isnt untill the 16th.. meaning for 4 days i wont be able to work apparently.. but with a lil slip of paper with my appointment info on it, i can do anything else but work. aside from that i have a few pages of paperwork to fill out, a visa application form.. some kind of work reference form, and a form from an amt in germany for my employer seems to be just a statisics/position registration, apparently that form is to the choice of the employer and has no major impact on the application.

so untill the 16th i guess, then what i hear according to people here is most have gotten it on the appointment date, any experiences regarding this?

imma try and go in anyways on their open days and maybe wait incase an appointment doesnt show up, my employer is already a bit stressed as theyve given me a signed contract already, but since my visa only runs to the 12th, and no second in hand yet.. not sure how thelly react if i gotta tell em i need 4 days off.

the lesson this time is make a damn appointment, and make sure the date is before the end date of ur current visa, and that u have at least a contract in hand before that appointment.

this must be the busy season seeing how my experience is going. went in for the appointment, got a lil confused as when i got there, there was about over 100 people in a line.. luckily some guy was calling for people with appointments to the front of the line, so i got to pass all that. was assuming this was the day i was gonna get the visa, but yet again wrong. after handing in the paperwork they gave plus a few other things, all i got was this Fiktionsbescheinigung, and was told i hate to wait to hear back from them about the visa, minimum of 14 days.. gave me 4 and a half months on this FB thing though.. problem is i dont know if im allowed to work with this or not as they didnt explain that part to me, and my work isnt sure either.. ive read here that some people can work with this, and some who cant.. whats the difference? can i or cant i? well heres to waiting some more.