Letter says I need a work permit, but I'm British

So, i'm a student on her year abroad in germany. i'm english. ive just finished my job, arranged thru the british council, as a foreign language assistant. i wanted to get a job so i can work for the next 3 months and then go finish my studies. BUT this morning i get a letter telling me to take all sorts of things to the bezirksamt; like my work permit, a work contract; ALL THINGS I DON'T HAVE!! i;m english; i thought i could easily just stay here
or not???
argh. i have to go and see them on monday, hopefully they won't deport me :S:S
lol. any help appreciated before i stress myself out to the max!!
thanks

If you are English as you say and you hold a British passport you don't need to apply for a work visa to work here, freedom of work within the EU and all that. However you do have to register your living address, register to pay income tax etc.

sorry my Friend but ,

the EU means it's possible for you to stay and to work in Germany without Visum but you have to find a Job ...

EU Member in UK have to finde a Job as well (3 Month time ) and if not UK will tell them good by my friend.

I think every country do that .

wel the not having a job thing won't be a problem cos if i can't find one i'm goin home anyway lol! and as i sed i only want to stay for 3 months longer. this letter though says please bring ur work permit, and has sent me a form sayin i need to apply for a residence permit; but a bit of googling tells me they can't even issue me a residence permit because i automatically have one with being an eu member :S argh. i just don't get why i have been here 9 months yet they only just sent me this letter, requesting stuff off me that i don't think i even need!! perhaps they know i am now out of work! hmm.

so what's the big deal then? Just go there with your passport and if they ask for anything you just say you don't have it, and if they say that you'll have to be out of here in three months then, that would fit well then, oder?

the big deal is i WANT to work, but it asks me to bring a work permit in, which i don't understand because i don't have one :S

So how were you able to work all this time? Did the British Council just hire you off their own bat?

If youve been here for 9 months, did you register at your bezirksamt? You do have to register your presence and accommodation. Then you must register at the auslaenderbehoerde- EU citizens get a waiver of 3 months but then you must do it.
So they may just be chivvying you to do it. you need to take some proof of address ie rental contract and your passport.

One week to be precise ... like anyone else residing in Germany

Hamburgisches Meldegesetz (HmbMG)

you have to notify the authorities you are here and make sure you are registered at your address. Takes only a few minutes and all you need is your passport.

As you come from an old EU country you DO NOT need any work permit or evidence of work to be here. That ONLY applies to one or two of the new EU entrant countries.

You may have problems applying for benefits here tho, until you have several months under your belt paying into social insurance. But if you can support yourself unemployed there is absolutely no reason why you would be unwelcome in Germany desppite what some people have alleged above.

My (British) bf has been here for 3 1/2 years, registered properly as needed, but I remember he was also asked for the permit when he was unemployed for a short period. I get the feeling those people really don't know what they are doing, they just tick certain text modules, apparently no matter if they apply for you (being British), or not.
If you registered, there should not be aproblem, my bf just told them he's English so he doesn't need it and that was it.

The two things they may ask you as an EU citizen of one of the privileged EU countries to prove, as I understand it, are health insurance cover and sufficient funds to support yourself.

Miwild, yes, you have to register your residence-as-in-address within a week at the bezirkamt, but then you have 3 months waiver before you have to go to the auslaenderbehoerde. Thats to get the letter they send you that gives you official residency-as-in-permission-to-stay status. It could be a laundry bill for all its EU relevance but its not the same thing as registering your address.

Since UK citizens don´t need an "official residency-as-in-permission-to-stay status" I´m wondering what exactly you are talking about ...

Just a guess...the 'Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung'.

@Miwild:
Dude, I've just checked your details and you are German, so there's obviously no reason you would have to do this in your own country, but other EU citizens do have to get it, believe me. And Highered is absolutely right in the name, Ive just dug mine out to check. Its not the same as registering your address, its an official grey letter that you get, stamped and signed. And EU citizens do have a 3 month waiver before they need to get this letter, but they cant just reside in an EU country without doing it.
Incidentally, the "EU-openness" only works if you are not a security threat, or have communicable diseases and a couple of other conditions that i cant be bothered looking up in my Boys Book of EC Law. In some EU countries you do actually have to get tested for STDs and take the negative result to that country's equivalent of auslaenderbehoerde.

You can pick up one of these babies at the local Bürgeramt though when you do your residence registration. You don't need to drag yourself to West Haven and the Ausländerbehorde anymore.

This is not true. They can deport you from Germany if you are not able to support yourself, or are a drain/danger to the system but otherwise you are able to stay if you are an EU citizen.


Dude, you are wrong. You need to register, just like everyone else does in Germany. Other than that, there is no other requirement if you just want to stay in the country. I believe that the original poster has just got a case of mistaken identity, which would be cleared up very quickly if he flashed his British passport.

Nooooooo! I meant that Miwild didnt have to get residency letter from the auslaenderbehoerde. I think we have already covered and are all in unanimous agreement that you need to register with your bezirksamt. That you can now do the residency aplication from the bezirksamt is a bonus. Hopefully the original poster in can do likewise in Hamburg.
I think the original poster's lack of awareness of the bezirksamt or the auslaenderbehoerde suggests she didnt register with one or other or both.

I'm just letting you know that your last comment is wrong. If you are a EU citizen, you do NOT need a Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung. You can apply for one if you want, but it is NOT needed. This guy does not need one.

Yeah but now you are telling us something completely different! you didnt actually say this before! Well, thats nice if she doesnt need one anymore.

This sounds like the problem. It may be that they found out the OP was working, but they didn't have any records of who the OP is so they are inquiring as to work permit, etc.

The OP may get fined if she didn't register within seven days of establishing residency in Germany. This is a fine that applies to all--Germans, EU citizens, other foreigners.


yeah...It's highly advisable, but AFAIK it isn't legally required. It does make things easier and is evidence of your right to reside in Germany. (Otherwise, you could have to prove upon request that you have insurance and sufficient funds, etc.)

Jesus, I hate threads like this because the information provided is so confusing that it is as useful as tits on a bull!!!

Ok First link explains what is needed and by whom. You will note that under the paragraph "Resident Permit for EU Nationals" that you do not require a work permit, you just have to submit the filled in application form. it is a little confusing that they refer to it as a "residence permit" in one sentence and then the form itself is called an "application for registration" but don't forget we are in Germany here.

Unfortunately, you cannot fill the English version of the form on line, which is just as well because it does not contain all the forms. However, if you go here you get the German version of the form called "Anmeldung", which if you fill in the first page all the other pages will be populated with your data.

The second form is "right of free movement for the foreigners registration office shit" which a pleasant lady told me I should fill in as well if at any time this bloody office needed to prove that I had the right of free movement. This is also the form that you tick the little box that says you are unemployed with sufficient means of subsistence and health insurance if those are your circumstances; they will not deport you for being unemployed although a friend of mine says one particular bureaucrat threatened him with a concentration camp if he did not fly back to England

Fill all the fucking forms out, print them, sign and date them, take a copy if you are feeling particularly Germanic and stick them in an envelope with a photocopy of your passport and send them off to:

Landeshauptstadt München
Kreisverwaltungreferat
80466 München

You do not need to go to the office or any of that shit and a few days later you will get back a stamped Anmeldung and you are not officially a resident of Germany you lucky sod.

PS Links might be a bit slow on the forms but be patient and they will eventually come up as all good things do.

Not for someone living in Hamburg...

Here? (Link for Hamburg-Mitte Auslaender office) Though the address to reply to is probably already on the original letter.