onemark

Ref. optimista's last comment:   Let's have a "design a T-shirt slogan" competition on this subject!   PS: I seem to recall that not too long ago, we also had a thread on how/why Germans don't like to admit they're wrong.

@ Kase: May we enquire as to why do you do not want German citizenship? Do you already have another citizenship you do not wish to renounce? As a German citizen, you have various rights that do not apply to non-German EU citizens, such as: 1. voting at state and federal level; 2. not needing a residence permit or work permit if you become a third-country national; 3. more importantly for you, you cannot be extradited; 4. anything else I haven't thought of.

US Immigration knows it can get away with shit like this because, you know, trzm.

Don't you think you'd better get you cousin a lawyer if he hasn't already got one?

Red Midge and Swimmer are correct. It is ignorant, not to say moronic, to call this tax on unused accommodation "Marxist". As we all know, Germany is currently suffering particularly serious housing problems, so obviously the federal and state governments have to help those who are permanently resident in Germany first of all, rather than short-term tourists, which is fair enough. In other words, the radical nature of this solution properly reflects (and must reflect) the serious nature of this problem. And let's not forget, Article 20, Paragraph 1, of the German Constitution says that Germany is a "... democratic and socially responsible federal  state." So this solution, while somewhat radical, is entirely democratic and socially responsible.

Leave while you can!

@ALLalone Did they deign to tell you why you are now on their watch-list?

@ RenegadeFurther: For God's sake, stop worrying! Germany is not - repeat, not - going to throw you out come Brexit next year if you don't have a German passport by then! 1. Start language lessons somehow - and don't tell me you can't. (xxxing well FIND a way!) 2. Go to your local foreign nationals' office and find out what your options are.  

I grew up with both Marmite and Vegemite and I'm still buggered if I can tell the difference. Bit like Coke and Pepsi, really.

OK, back on topic. The poster says at the beginning that he is "independent". Are we to understand that he is self-employed? (I assume he is.) If so, he is by definition his own employer and only he, the German tax authorities and his medical insurance fund/company will know if he is medically insured, i.e. not his clients. To clarify: if he is resident in Germany, he is legally obliged to be medically insured. (OK, we know this, but I merely mention it for the record.) His medical insurance (public or private) needs to be approved by the German health insurance authorities. Have I forgotten anything? (I am trying to be brief.)

Men don't need to sit down to take a leak. All you have to do is place two squares of toilet paper (one vertical, the other horizontal - in cruciform, so to speak) on the edge of the bowl in front of where you're standing. Very enlightening, not to say instructive. But it works.

The German "Beitragsservice" charges per household, which they are doing in this case. They don't care about who in any given household actually forks over the loot. This a problem you need to discuss with the university, not the"Beitragsservice".

@ sos-the-rope (10 May): I thought it was the translatOR that’s certified / sworn in, not the translation? A state-authorised/sworn translator has to authenticate the translation.   No. Translators swear an oath to a state court judge that they will faithfully ensure that a translation is true and accurate. They are then authorised by the state in the form of the judge to do this. Putting their stamp on a translation that they consider to be true and accurate is the actual authentication process.   They take this process very seriously as there are (at least potentially) penalties for authenticating an inaccurate translation: it's considered a form of forgery.

Richard Quest's accent is English, not British.

One thing that sticks out immediately is that many people here just talk about England (Britain = England?). How about some comments from people from - or who have lived in - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I like English humour for its dryness and wit but there's more British humour. Look at all the Northern English humour and that from Scotland and Northern Ireland. (I also love Northern Irish humour for its religious humour - it's so wicked!)