Working holiday visas for Aus and NZ citizens

I have recently arrived in Germany from New Zealand with a working holiday visa which states that I can live here for one year and only work for 90 days. Does anyone know how strict employers are with this 90 days? I sense my time here might be spent working in a pub kitchen!

Depends on your job. What can you do besides that?
The black market work is frowned upon as there are so many unemployed, but then again, the unemployed don't want those jobs.
Catch 22!

Hey cool another Kiwi in town.

90 Day Working Holiday Visa eh? Is that new? Dont worry, New Zealand has a special agreement with Germany that means they can get normal 1 or 2 year work permits for normal jobs. (Your employer might have to say that no local unemployed person can do the job first, but thats never been a problem with me) Renewable too. I have nearly been here 4 years.

I did ask for the exact laws on it, but they just said dont worry, just fill in the form and it seems to get stamped every time. After 4 or 5 years you can get a permanent residence visa.

I should have really waited and posted this when I get home and can write down the exact type of visa needed that doesnt have a 90 restriction on it.

I have an Aussie passport and came here on the same working holiday visa.

First job I had, they got me to fill out a bunch of forms and I got a 5 year residency permit.

That was when the economy was doing a bit better though.

Hi. I'm also a Kiwi in the process of getting a working holiday visa for Germany next year but need to buy health insurance before I apply. I've read the threads on health insurance and become totally confused about who will provide insurance to non-europeans who will not have an employer. Do you have any suggestions? So far Expacare and AXA PPP are looking like possibilities but basically I'm just totally confused! Any suggestions would be fantastic.

For the working holiday visa, get yourself some travel insurance that covers medical emergencies and make sure the policy also covers you if you work. It's sufficient for the working holiday visa.

There's a couple of advantages rather than getting purely medical insurance in Germany. You are also covered for things like theft, lost baggage, missed flight connections, etc. And you will automatically be covered for medical emergencies when you travel to other countries as well.

Shop around for a good deal - but talk to your travel agenct first. They might give you a discount if you're booking the rest of your travels through them.

I have a work visa, valid for 2 years, but apparently the Arbeitsamt weren't too happy about me having a permanent contract here. Technically, they have to prove no-one else in the EU can do that job! Really, that means willing and able, but with 10%+ unemployment in Germany I think it can be a bit tough at the moment. I don't know about the 90 day thing, but Germans are generally pretty strict, law abiding people.

The working holiday visa allows you to live in Germany for up to 1 year, working a maximum of 90 days. You have to be under 30 years old to get one.

It's similar to any other working holiday visa and is designed to allow young people to be able to travel by supplementing their trave funds through short-term work along the way. In Germany, you're not even required to register your address. You don't even need to visit either the arbeitsamt or KVR at any point during your stay.

It has nothing to do with getting work or residency permits, or anything like that. It's just an easy way to be able to work a bit while you're travelling

@Hazza
Are you sure you don't need to register your address? I thought anyone who stayed in one place for more than a certain number of days had to register here?

Yep...that's the visa I came here on.

I got told that by the German embassy in Australia before I even knew what registering really was...

However, I got employed full-time a couple of months later and they arranged for an actual residents/working permit. But that's when I first registered my address here

Hi I am also another kiwi but currently up north in the Ruhrgabiet. I too am here on a working holiday visa and after 3 months travelling around, then 3 months of language school I got a few days work in December doing some editing/translation type work for the grand sum of EUR500. The people I worked for have suggested they would like to give me some more work on a freelancing basis but had never heard of a working holiday visa and so we both need to know what I can and can't do now on the working holiday visa and then when my 90 days runs out do I just then apply for a residence permit and continue freelancing?

Unfortunately it’s the round in circles game I have been playing and nobody seems to know anything up here. The Ausländerbehörde agent I had an interview with had never even heard of a working holiday visa and suggested checking with the Arbeitsamt. I e-mailed the Wellington Embassy that issued my visa with my query and the reply I got was quote "I also don't know which procedure you need to follow in Germany. If you don't want to work longer than 3 months than your employer should just accept the document that you were provided with." The Finanzamt today have sent me back to the Ausländerbehörde with my query because apparently they don't deal with working holiday visas. mmmm ok then.

So does anybody know:-

1. What actually constitutes "holiday work" under the working holiday visa? Where do we fit in the big scheme of things? Hazza said "it was an easy way to do a bit of work" but what about getting tax cards if I don't need to register, paying income tax on the money earnt etc.
2. Does one have to pay tax on the work like the normal work permitted people?
3. Can I do freelancing work on the working holiday visa and therefore do i have to go through the same procedures as someone who already has a residence permit and get the stamp in my passport that i can freelance?
4. What do I do about the 500 I earnt in December? Do I have to do anything as it probably wouldn't qualify for tax as it is under the 7664 bracket. Or do I have to get the freelance permit sorted and add the 500 to this tax year?
5. the answers to any of my questions…..

Looking forward to any enlightenment.

Hey I was on the 90 day nz working holiday visa...and i did some work on it. I never got a tax card but had to fill out a form from the Arbeitsamt (i think) and i got a insurance card for the health system and a social security card.

But noone in germany has any idea wat the holiday visa is and they will tell u they dont deal with it and send u somewhere and they will send u back again...its 'bullshit' alot of running around untill someone realises they can help u. I have just become a english treacher and they would only hire me if i worked as a freelancer. Which is no problem as long as i can prove that i get paid enough to support myself in germany (as in housing and eating etc)

and with the freelancer it means u can stay as long as u like and work as much as u like as well

Kiwistylez,
Fellow Kiwi here. I want to get a freelance permit for a part-time job I've been offered, what's involved?
Cheers

Ok u need to go to the Landratsamt (not the Arbeitsamt like i said) and they will give it to you...but the will make sure u are getting paid enough to survive in germany...by asking you and by talking to the company you will be freelancing for.

unearthing an old thread here..

But I'm another Kiwi looking to transfer from Full-time (sponsored) work to a freelancer. I got into my job while on a Working Holiday Visa and they then transfered it to a proper work visa some time after.

Anyone have more specific info as to the steps I need to take (and difficulty) to become a registered Freelancer?

Cheers all,
Howy.

Is it all the same for canadians too?