Time line on German work permit applications

Hello all,
I am an Indian citizen currently working in US on a visa (non Green card holder),

my company wants me to send me to Germany for a year on a work assignment, my company has applied for a work permit in local office in Germany on 11th Dec 2006 which is currently on a pending status, our company has asked them to expedite the process as fast as possible.

In the meanwhile I have applied for a residence/workpermit in The German Consulate over in US on 28th Dec 2006.



Here are my questions.

--> Will it take 1 to 3 months from 11th Dec or 28th Dec?
--> If the work permit application in Local office in Germany is approved does it mean that I have been granted a visa, or there is another step involved?
--> How long does it take for an application to be approved any experience with this, your experience is highly appreciated.


Thanks in advance
amit

Hallo Amit,

The normal time defined in the law to process a workpermit in Germany is 6 weeks(when applied from within germany). This was the reply i got at the local Forgeiners office in Munich when i applied for my Workpermit.

I did apply for a Workpermit on Dec 5th and my application is not yet moved further. Whne my comapny called them, they said they have lost my papers and i had to again submit all the papres.

It all depends on the person who is incharge of your file. Some of my friends got their Workpermit approved in just 2 weeks.

So don't be panic as its common to take ages in germany for any official work, especially in the embassy and the Forgeiners office (Ausländerbehörde). I think in your case it might take more than 6 weeks as you are applying from US.

All the best.

Cheers,
Kranthi

It also largely depends on the federal state where you intend to work. In my case, the entire process was up and over within 4 weeks. Ofcourse, this is Bonn, and not Munich that I am talking about.

Edit: Well, maybe I am wrong. Who knows, it might have been my company's influence on the Foreigners Authority office (Ausländeramt).

It's really amazing how not-uniform are the services provided by the KVR. I applied for my work permit on the 28th of november, left the country for 5 weeks, came back and it was ready. Went there, picked it up and that's it. Couldn't have been easier. And the two ladies who took care of it were extremely polite and helpful.
Good luck with your paper work.

Edit: there was no contact between my employer and the KVR for all of this.

I am applying for Stadthagen which is closer to Hannover, north part of Germany.

My company office over in Germany started working on the WP application on 11th Dec, they sent out a letter to the German Authorities locally in Stadthagen, they were assured from local German authorities that the application would be expedited as much as possible.

My company office in Germany asked me to submit my applicaiton in the German embassy over in US, hence I applied on 28th Dec, since this is just an inter company transfer and that to for just a year, why is there a huge delay on getting things to work?

The whole process is just too slow, I just hope that I atleast get an approval by the end of this month.. man 7 weeks is really a long time to approve and inter company transfer...

Do you know anything that could be done in order to expedite the whole process?

Thanks
Amit

The German embassy has up to 3 months to go over your application. I've heard some bad things about this from a friend who tried to apply this way and from the german who actually goes over the applications in the embassy (edit: because i'm American he told me not to waste my time applying from the US). Call them in February to check in on your application...just to make sure they are on the ball and haven't stuck your papers in the back of a cabinet somewhere.

If your company wants you here, it shouldn't be a problem.