Extending a one-year working holiday visa - Germany

hi folks. i have a one year working holiday visa, and i am due to fly home (to australia) in the beginning of november. thing is, i have a german boyfriend (the reason i'm here) who i don't want to leave, and i have an excellent job. atm i am employed contract basis (three months). when my time is up, either a new contract will be offered or i will say toot-a-loo. ok. so if a new contract is offered, i will still fly home to see my family, but i will fly back. i am worried about the ease of aquiring a working visa. is it better to apply before i leave the country, or while i am home (of course all depends on being offered a new contract...). and i read somewhere on TT about a photographer who couldn't extend her visa for work purposes because of the number of unemployed german photographers street wandering. i am an industrial designer working with a team of engineers in NRW. is it likely the same could be said to me???

Just wondering if anybody had any answers for this thread.

My Australian girlfriend is currently here on a working holiday visa- thats due to finish in a few months. She has an indefinite contract at her work. What steps does she have to go through to get a more permanent visa? What information does her boss have to provide etc? If it makes any difference she is working as a teacher in an international pre-school. Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

I started in the exact same situation although I work in IT.

I got my boss to write a letter saying that my skills are specifically required for the position and that my native english is also required.

You will also need a copy of the rental contract, a copy of the the signed work contract, probably a resume, and provide evidence that you are health insured.

When you start working here you also get some kind of rentenversicherungs number and they require that as well. When you first move to an area you also register yourself there at the rathaus and I'm pretty sure this registration confirmation is also required.

After that you need to apply at your respective ausslanderbehörde (landratsamt) for Aufenthaltserlaubnis (which effectively contains both permission to live and work here). The Aufenthaltserlaubnis will most likeley be connected to your employer and position.

The position must be advertised here by law to see if anyone else from the EU is suitable for the job.

Then after approximately 1.5 months you should know what the deal is. It has always been quicker for me.

It sounds relatively heavy but for me so far it was just a formality.

Good Luck.

Excellent.

Thanks for the info.

So even if you've been working at a company for a year, if you're from outside the EU they still by law must advertise the position for a month in a half? Just seems kind of funny because it'd be easy to say we need this person for this and this reason and oh they know how our company runs and what projects were working on etc.

I'd just find it a bit odd but ah good information.

I also started in Germany the same way.

Pleb is correct and gives good advice. The only thing I'd add is that you should do it immediately. There is no need to wait until the visa expires and in fact if it does (or is about to), then you'll have to worry about getting some sort of extension, and possibly not being able to work legally while you wait for it.

I got my working holiday visa changed to an Aufenthaltserlaubnis within 3 or 4 months of arriving here, and I'm glad that on top of everything else I needed to do, I didn't need to worry about my working holiday visa expiring while everything was being processed.

I've just recieved my visa from the embassy here in australia, I'm heading to germany in a month. I got one for 8 months, as I was going to leave in january, but was wondering if it is possible to get it extended to the maximum 12 months? has anyone here been able to do this, or know what the deal is?
I will ask the embassy directly but thought I'd try and get some info here first.
cheers.

This isn't necessarily the case. If you are from one of the "good" countries then this step can be missed. The "good" countries being Aus, US, NZ, Canada & Israel if I recall correctly

No, not in my experience at least.
The KVR told me that you must go through the process of at least checking that no one available from the EU can perform your job, so you are not taking a job away from an equally qualified unemployed EU citizen, but the job does not have to be re-advertised if you are still employed.
This "process" took one day for me.

I don't know if there is a standard for how long they must advertise "your" job in the EU market, but the Arbeitsamt requires 3-4 weeks minimum (at least they did 4-5 years ago) and they list the position in their database and wait to see if there are any responses. It is crucial that the employer says that they need a native English speaker and to specify skills that apply to you as closely as possible. It seems unfair at the time, but I haven't heard of any cases where someone else got the job. The main thing as said above is to make sure you leave enough time to go through this process before your current visa runs out.

Hi!

I'm an Australian on a year long work-travel visa ending in June. I want to stay indefinately in Berlin - I have a German partner. We plan to marry, but unfortunately we are too poor at the moment to do so... I am a little concerned about the checking of bank balances bit... I currently have no job in Berlin and he is studying for the next few years.

Unfortunately I don't think I have much of a chance of convincing the financeamt or auslanderbehorder that I can support myself (nor can my future husband support us). So I plan to go back to Australia for a year (max) work and save to return.

Is it better in the eyes of the auslanderbehorder if we marry now... or if I return on a tourist visa and marry then.

Does anyone have any suggestions or been in a similar situation?

This situation and the idea of an elongated separation is making us both very sad,
Cheers

Enroll in a university.
You can stay and you can work part-time.

hey im a aussie having the same problem!!!
i have the working holdiay visa and it ends begginning of october. went to auslandersamt yesterday and they told me i am not allowed to apply for an extention until the month before i am supposed to leave.. and supposed to have a return flight home!! so i either get the visa a couple of days before and loose my flight or have no notice and have to leave. i have a fulltime job but no real uni degree and they told me i have to have one to apply..or can apply but they may not consider it without one!
by boyfriend and i thought about the rathaus option too (marrage) but its a bit scary...
anyone got any other suggestions on how to get the government to say i can apply now?? i have heard from other people it can take up to 6 months to process!

Hi

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about what exactly I need to do to Stay in Berlin-Germany. I.e what papers or departments do I need to go to?

Here is my status:

I am Australian 24 years old.
I have a Working Holiday Visa which is due to expire 30 July 08. It has been for 1 year and I have been in Berlin for about 10-11 months now.
I have an apartment lease under my name and also a full time job with solid contract until the end of the year ( i know thats not totally allowed :-s) - English speaking required only. I also work another job in a hostel bar.
I live with my boyfriend who has a British passport so yeah - lucky him.
I have an Anmeldebestätigung so Im registered with the authorities for where I live.
I have a bank account & also health Insurance.

So yeah Im pretty set up and wanting to stay so I just wanted to ask here first as I believe that someone must have gone through the same or similar process already and It is extremely hard to find out info here. Everyone seems to give me different advice so im a bit confused and time is running out till the end of my Working holiday visa.

Thanks!

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Have you enquired with the Australian Embassy to see if they could advise you?

Is getting sponsored an option for you? I don't know if it's the same here, but in back in Ireland an Australian friend stayed past her Visa as she got sponsored by her employer. If she left that job and was unable to get sponsored in another job then she would have had to leave, so that's probably not ideal.

Good luck anyway.