Work permit rules for foreign students

This October I will be a full time MBA student but will need to work to pay bills, etc.. I am from the US and therefore am not EU. I was told that full time students here (non german) are allowed to work up to 20 hours a week irrespective of a work permit. Is this true and how many hours is the actual maximum?

Thanks

Your residence permit stays at the bottom that you can work a maximum of 90 full-time days per year or 180 half-time days per year. These are working days and not calendar days. Additional to the maximum amount of days and hours that you can work according to the above statement you are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week during the semester. You are allowed to work up to 40 hours a week during vacation time, that is between semesters.
One exception for this rule, which was introduced on January 2006, is that if the work that you do is highly related to your studies and it takes place at your university or institute then you can do it for an unlimited time. Some HiWi jobs at university may fall on this category, however to make sure that a given position fulfils that requisite you should go to KVR and make a direct query there and get an approval (they put a signature or a stamp on your passport) for logner-term job. It usually goes without any problem as long as it is at university. Keep in mind that University jobs pay less than jobs in a company.
I hope that info is helpful. Good luck!

Additionally, you can also work as an intern while you study. For the internship to not be counted as part of your work allowance it must be compulsary for your MBA. You'll need a letter from your course coordinator stating this. If the internship is voluntary then it will be counted as part of the 180 half days.

A note on tax too, you can be paid up to €400 per month without the usual level of taxes. If you earn more than €400 on any one job you will be taxed at a much higher rate. Therefore, its difficult to find a part-time job (or paid internship) which will pay you more than €400/month.

Good luck for study!

The 400 euro limit may not be as stated by puku. I don't know the legislation on that respect. However I work as a werkstudent and as long as I don't work for more than 900 odd euros a month I don't get taxes deducted. You will always get deductions for RV (RenterVersicherung) though. If you work full time you also get deductions for the Solidarity contribution and church tax (in the case that you registered your religion at KVR).
Even if you have to pay taxes at the end of each fiscal year you can fill out the SteuerErklaerung form and get your taxes back. For students it's an easy and straightforward procedure. You get your money after two months or so. The RV you don't get back as part of your taxes, but if you leave Germany before working for five years you can also ask for that back before leaving. If you work for more than five years you can't claim back your contributions to RV until you are old enough to retire, I think about 65 years old.

Hello All.

Does anyone know the procedures for extending the normal allowance of 90 working days allowed for a foreign student in Germany?

I have tried to call the KVR and the Arbeitsamt in Muenchen and no one seems to be able to tell me anything, even though I have read on several university pages that it is possible to apply for such permission.

Any info would be much appreciated

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As far as I know from what other people who studied with me it is only possible to extend the working days allowance if you can demonstrate that your work is tightly coupled to your studies. This is rather easy if you are working as a Hiwi at the university or doing an obligatory praktikum that lasts more than 90 full working days. Remember that the 90 days are full working days, it means that you have up to 180 half-time working days. That gives you about 9 months of work part-time.
There is something written about that on your residence permit stamp, on the second page. Read carefully and try to demonstrate that whatever you are doing at work is important for your studies.

I am aware that if you are employed through the university or if it basically at a research institution that this rule can be easily circumvented.

However, I am looking for any advice on how to extend the 90days/180half-days rule while being employed as a regular Werkstudent at a company.

Has anyone heard of such an exception that actually went through?

Does anyone know how long this student residence visa normally takes from application within Germany.
As an Australin I only need to get this visa wihin the first three months of studies commencing, however I am acutely aware that won;t be able to work whilst waiting for the visa to come through.. I have all my financial support papers etc sorted (so hopefully it should be a fairly smooth process) but still no job=no play money

Thanks Marcus

So if you have a job you only get monopoly money?

In order to receive a residence permit as a student you must have a valid student visa PRIOR your arrival. A student visa you get from your local German embassy. That process may last up to 8 weeks, but you will still be in Australia, so no problem. Once you are here you go need to get a health insurance (with TK or AOK or any other kasse), you also will need to proof your financial stability (you say you have that already) and you will need to register at the KVR (anmeldung). The insurance is a relatively fast process once you are enrolled in the university. You will not get a student health insurance without being officialy enrolled in the university. Without a health insurance card you won't get a residence permit. Once you have all the required documents to apply for a residence permit you get it the same day that you apply for it. Take into account that it will take you a complete day to do this. You should go to KVR as early as possible and then wait for very long hours until your turn comes.
Regarding the financial proof, this is something which is looked at from many different optics depending on who takes your case in KVR. Sometimes it's very easy, but some other times it may require you to show a bank account in Germany with enough money to live here for the duration of your studies. That is a rather large account, and sometimes if you get in the hands of some c**t at KVR this may be a problem.
I hope that's useful.

The last time I had to apply for a residence permit, the relevant department at the KVR was closed on wednesdays - is this still the case?

Montag 8.00 bis 12.00 Uhr
Dienstag 8.00 bis 12.00 Uhr und 14.00 bis 18.30 Uhr
Mittwoch 8.00 bis 12.00 Uhr
Donnerstag 8.00 bis 12.00 Uhr
Freitag 7.00 bis 12.00 Uhr

From the opening times published in their website, it seems it's no longer the case.

I just had a look at the website, it seems I was right about wednesdays:

Aufenthaltserlaubnissachbearbeitung und zentrale Dienste:

Montag
8:00 Uhr bis 12:00 Uhr
Dienstag
8:00 Uhr bis 12:00 Uhr
14:00 Uhr bis 18:30 Uhr
Mittwoch
grundsätzlich kein Parteiverkehr, nur Terminvereinbarungen
Donnerstag
8:00 Uhr bis 12:00 Uhr
Freitag
7:00 Uhr bis 12:00 Uhr

As you can see on wednesdays, you cannot go there for any applications, only to get an appointment.

@Panama: the opening times you looked at were the general opening times, not for the department that deals with residence permits.

You're right that you can apply from within Germany. You'll need your passport, valid health insurance, apartment contract, local registration from the Rathaus, enrollment documents (or the official letter accepting your application if you haven't yet formally enrolled) and the docs showing your financial support. It costs about €60 or so for the visa. I got my visa the same day I applied - took about an 1 1/2 including waiting. But I also live in a small town, not the Munich KVR.

If you are under 32 you have to have health insurance. If you are getting the German state insurance (not cheapest but least hassle), then you'll need a German bank account. You can get the insurance before official enrollment if you have a letter admitting you into the course. You'll also need the German bank account if you are going to live in a student dorm. Otherwise you might get by with a foreign account if you wanted. To get the local registration from the Rathaus (anmeldung) you have to show your apartment or room contract.

When I was helping some students with this last year, the auslanderamt told me that the student should have at least the rent + €500 each month coming into the bank account. It really does depend on who you get at the Auslanderamt though!

PM me if you want more info.