Residence and employment visas for Germany

Despite having its own dedicated visas and permits section, the TT chat forum is not the best place for getting accurate and up-to-date info about such things. Instead you are better off going to either an official government website, a private website dedicated to such information, or asking in person at your local immigration office, embassy, or consulate.

Government websites:

• US Consulates Germany - Visa information - info for US citizens and other nationalities coming to Germany
• US Mission to Germany - residence / work permit for Germany - similar to above
• German Embassy London - lots of info regards visas for Germany, all nationalities

Private websites:

• Germany visas and immigration - from "workpermit.com"

Immigration offices in Germany:

• München KVR, Ruppertstraße 19, 80466 Munich, Tel. 089 23396010
• Berlin Ausländerbehörde, Friedrich-Krause-Ufer 24, 13353 Berlin, Tel.: +49 (0) 30 902690
• Frankfurt Ausländerbehörde, Mainzer Landstraße 323, 60326 Frankfurt am Main, Tel.: 069 21244422
• Hamburg
• Stuttgart

Embassies and consulates in Germany:

• American:
  • US Embassy Berlin, Neustädtische Kirchstr. 4-5, 10117 Berlin, Tel. +49 (0)30 2385174
  • US Consulate Düsseldorf, Willi - Becker - Allee 10, 40227 Düsseldorf, Tel.: (0211) 7888927
  • US Consulate Frankfurt, Gießener Str. 30, 60435 Frankfurt am Main, Tel.: (069) 75350
  • US Consulate Hamburg
  • US Consulate Leipzig
  • US Consulate Munich
• British:
  • Munich Consulate-General, Königinstraße 5, Lehel, 80539 Munich, Tel. +49 (0) 89 28880
  • British Embassy Berlin, Wilhelmstr. 70-71, 10117 Berlin, Tel. +49 (0) 30 204570
  • British Consulate Düsseldorf, Yorckstrasse 19, 40476 Düsseldorf, Tel. +49 (0)211 94480
  • Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart - British consulates closed in 2005
• Canadian:
  • Berlin
• Irish:
  • Berlin
• Australian:
  • Berlin
• South African:
  • Berlin
• New Zealand:
  • Berlin

Despite the wealth of comprehensive information available via the above sources, if you absolutely must post an immigration related question to the TT forum then make sure you use the search function first. If there is an existing topic that is directly related to your query, post a reply. If no related topic exists, then start a new topic.

When making a post to TT, be sure to make your post as concise as possible. Keep the question short and to the point. Do not write a rambling essay about your complete life history - few people will be bothered to read such missives, let alone answer them.

So, in summary, what you should do next is as follows:

• (1) Contact the relevant embassy or immigration office
• (2) Search the websites dedicated to immigration topics
• (3) Search TT for existing information
• (4) If, and only if, your question is still unanswered, make a concise post to TT

Hi,

I absolutely agree with TT-team !! But unfortuneatly, the forgot to mention one other private site:

1.) The Legal Guide to Living in Germany,

The project “The Legal Guide to Germany aims at helping citizens of other countries, either living in or coming to Germany, in gaining a reliable orientation toward their every day legal rights and responsibilities in Germany. LG2G is targeted at reaching the nonprofessional in law with the overall objective of providing a legal encyclopedia for the international community in English. Founder Alexander Baron von Engelhardt firmly believes “Integration is the name of the game for newcomers both living and working in Germany. Otherwise it will be lose-lose situation�. He adds “Too many non-Germans could easily avoid basic legal situations had they only been better informed. The goal of LG2G is to provide this valuable awareness.�

This portal offers products and services in three areas:

1.) a platform for legal content and newsletters on topics of everyday concern for the foreigner in Germany,
2.) the book "The Legal Guide to Living in Germany", as well as Checklists for different needs,
3.) space for advertisement to reach out to expats in Germany.

Oh, yes, I'm the foreigners attorney for immigration and commerce. If you just have quick question or just want legal "first aid" call 09001 529 366 00 for € 2 /min. (incl. VAT).

Alexander
www.vonEngelhardt.com

i ENTER GERMANY THROUGH A SCHENGEN VISA, I HVAE SPONSOR, NOW I WANT TO CHANGE IT TO STUDENT VISA, MY SPONSOR WANT ME TO STUDY GERMAN LANGUAGE IN A GERMAN SCHOOL HERE IN GERMANY. MY SPONSORS WILL BE THE ONE TO PAY MY SCHOOLING WILL IT BE POSSIBLE TO CHANGE MY VISA TO RESIDENCE VISA?

FIRST: WRITING IN CAPITALS IS AKIN TO SHOUTING

Ok: let's be clear. You want a student visa or a residence visa ? You mentioned you wanted to change to both.

Particularly for UK-peeps, I cannot recommend the UK consulate in Düsseldorf enough. My experience has been that they are extremely friendly and helpful people and often better informed about German law than various German Behörde (I have been in the situation a couple of times where Ive had to get a German Beamter to ring the Bavarian courts to confirm what the consulate told me).

In dealing with the Ausländerbehörde its well worth being able to speak German and being prepared to shout very loudly at them if they try to play silly buggers. After a few hours dealing with Turkish Grandmothers in broken German they tend to get into a "foreigners are morons" groove - Its worth shaking them out of it again.

andy M

For the latest info. try the German Foreign Office - http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de
All you could possibly need is here - and in English.

I have a question.

I am a Malaysian citizen holding a French temporarily resident permit (Carte de Sejour). I have been offered a working contract in Germany. I hence went to Deutsch Botschalf and applied for a work permit. The lady told me that with this application I will get a Aufenhaltserlaubnis for 3 months, with this I then have to go to Auslanderbehoerder to get a proper work permit to allow me to work legally in Germany.

My question is,
1) Can I already start work with this Aufenhaltserlaubnis?
2) Can I use the Aufenhalterlaubnis to work for another employer? (I have submitted a working contract by a company during application)
3) What if I would like to change employer before 3 years of working and paying taxes in Germany?

Many thanks for your kind answers!!

Also, a good site for people looking to get a self-employment visa can be found here. Extremely thorough and tells you how to apply in 4 days or less.

http://4dayvisa.tumblr.com

Barrie