DoubleDTown

As in all situations when the police want to talk to you, your duty is limited regarding the information you have to give the police.    You are not required to testify against yourself.  That means you don't have to give them hardly any information.  Watch this guy (in German) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctsXfSv1tes  from about 01:15 to 04:30.    Watch this American on same concept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE   at about 19:23 to 25:05.   In a traffic accident situation you have to give the police 4 bits of info.  Your official address, where they can currently find you, your vehicle’s license info, and let them inspect your vehicle.  You don’t have to say where you were coming from or going to.    You don’t have to say whether you left the scene or not and why you came back.    If the police invite you to come in and speak with them.  Don’t.  Get a Fachanwalt for Verkehrsrecht and get some advice, likely you’ll be told by your Rechtsanwalt not to talk to the police.   

  I'm glad the police (namely the Staatsanwalt) are not going after you.  BUT, never ever ever say anything to the police other than your name and address.  They are there to keep order, not to help you.  If you say "I only rolled back 10 cm", they write down "he admitted to allowing his vehicle to roll backwards".  Then some sob that works for DEKRA writes a report for the other party's autobody shop that says her damage was "plausibly" caused by you rolling backward, and the next thing you know the Staatsanwalt has taken your license away and there wasn't even a court hearing. I. am. not. kidding.  German justice does not work like American justice.

Further update.   Remote notarization of parental consent for a minor's passport was accepted by ACS in Berlin.   NOW we are living in the 21st Century.  

  yes, talk to a lawyer.  with all this discussion of settlements and possible court cases, talk to a lawyer.  lawyer's are not free, but if you want to know the answer you will need to get advice from someone that has experience with medical malpractice.

Remote notarization update.  FYI, Notarize.com couldn't deal with a German parent with no U.S. social security number - Notarize didn't have a way to verify identity.  But NotaryLive.com has a work-around.  NotaryLive.com will use a person with verifiable U.S. info (e.g., U.S. s.s. number) to be the "verifier" of the foreigner, and then if the notary is from the right state (e.g. Florida) then NotaryLive can accept seeing the foreign passport on camera to identify the signer and notarize the document.  So, if you don't have a U.S. social security number for your German spouse, don't despair.  Online U.S. notarization is possible. 

Dear TT Community,   I'd still like to know if anyone has actually submitted a remotely notarized permission form to renew a minor's passport, but ACS Berlin says it is okay if the U.S. state allows online notarization.       

anyone use a remotely notarized permission form for a minor's parent that doesn't come to the Berlin consulate for the minor's passport renewal?  e.g. via Notary.com, etc.  ?   What I mean is: rather than the trouble and expense of a German Notar, use an online service to have a U.S. notary remotely notarize the form.  Anyone do it recently and have it accepted?    

Hi.  Has anyone tried PlanetExpress.com ?    It's a business built around ordering things from U.S. or UK companies that don't ship internationally (e.g. Walmart) and shipping the goods to a foreign address.  One could in theory order something from Walmart and have it delivered to a non-military German address.  For some fees of course.  (and don't forget the Zoll..)  Has anyone tried it, or perhaps another service like it? 

  good job to radioactive76 for bringing this up, and extra kudos for the link to Ms. Bitter's recent declaration.  it is a nuclear bomb for people trying the income hardship route for dual citizenship.  

I'm not a fan of unsupervised Internet access for kids, and I agree it's annoying to see groups of kids on the bus all looking at phones and not at each other.  Ten years ago when there was more of a choice between a smartphone and a not-smartphone I went to a presentation our Gymnasium had from some e.V. about media and kids.  They speaker said yeah, it's crazy how kids can get addicted - that they do programs to teach troubled kids how to throw a ball or a frisbee because they literally couldn't.  On the other hand he said, you can't stop access to porn.  Forget about it.  If they don't get it on their phone, they'll see it on another kid's phone.  Just prepare for it and be honest about it.  I agree there are legitimate uses for the phone for a 5th grader.  These include, at our Gymnasium: access to the Vertretungsplan to know if classes are canceled or changed; access to the menu for ordering or canceling lunch; access to most up to date bus/streetcar info; and of course WhatsApp groups - (or your favorite "supposedly NSA proof" app of the day for those that don't trust WhatsApp) That said, especially the younger kids do not need a top of the line model.  A 5 year old Android phone will suffice.  See clevertronic.de etc.   Also a pay-as-you go plan will suffice, especially to stop extravagant uses of mobile data.

Hi TT Community,   Has anyone used remote notarization of the USA's form DS 5525 (absent parent's consent for a passport application)?   I've got to renew a minor's passport and of course it's more convenient for our family if only one parent goes to the consulate - meaning we need a notarized consent form.   Since Spring 2020 many states have authorized notary publics to do remote online notarization and various websites (e.g. OneNotary.com) have sprung up to make it easy to do.    Has anyone had an experience using a remotely notarized document successfully with a U.S. consulate here.  (e.g., Frankfurt, Berlin)   Berlin's American Citizens Services unit wrote me indicating it is okay:  "Electronic notarizations are acceptable if the notary public completed all of the notarization functions required by the form, such as verifying the affiant's signature (either in person or by an audio-visual link) and included the notarial certification on the form or document itself (or an attachment to the document).  Notarial certifications that must be verified on a website are not acceptable"   I find online notarization with a U.S. notary public easier and cheaper than visiting a German Notar.    As an illustration, I used a website to do remote online notarization with a video link for a U.S. Post Office change of address form.  I was in Germany, notary public was in Florida, the address being changed was in Illinois.  Post Office accepted it fine.  I'm pasting below that example.    Anyone do that for a consular document yet?