TurMech

Hi @garbo,   Thank you for sharing your experience.   I was made aware about the free Elster software of Government before, but every article i read about the topic mentions that, it is relatively complex, and time consuming to file taxes through Elster. And some of my colleagues shared similar information to yours above, related with Finanzamt coming back to you with questions, when the filing is made with Elster.    On the other side, they say that, when they use one of these commercial softwares, it takes about half an hour to an hour to carry out the tax filing, and Finanzamt almost never comes back. So, i thought it would be a well invested 20-30 € to avoid some headache and gain time.     If you have got the onlineausweisfunktion activated, i believe this waiting is not necessary.

  With NE, you can stay in the country for an indefinite time period, even if you are jobless. With BC, it is not possible for an unemployed person. You have to leave after a certain time period (6 months to a year).

I've been in Germany for 3 years now, and worked with a tax advisor for the tax filing of first and second years. This time i want to do it myself due to the reason that,   I don't have much to claim from 2019, so it won't be complex, I want to learn the process a bit as one of the last remaining part of my integration.   I am a full time salaried employee with a family, read the information about tax claims shared here, went through these articles --> 1, 2, 3, 4, and now in search of the most user friendly, and time efficient tax preparation software.   I would kindly like to ask your experiences and recommendations on various softwares available in the market.   Thanks a lot in advance.

If i open an account at DKB, can they take over all my payment orders at my current bank, like electricity bill, monthly rent, etc. without me having to spend an extra effort?   Is it true that they send a letter to all the institutions, which i have a contract with, and deal with this process?  

Yes. Versicherungsverlauf from the Deutscherentenversicherung.

A colleague of mine from Russia has been going to business trips in Germany & Europe by rented cars with his Russian driving licence. He has been registered in Germany for about 6 years, and the validity of his driving licence after the first 6 months is over.    Company has an agreement with a car rental company, and the booking is carried out through an internal system. During the handover of the car, he shows his Russian driving licence.   We wonder, in the case of an accident, apart from his personal responsibility, will the rental company, and our company be held responsible?  If yes, how?    Could it legally effect his line manager, because he (theoretically) let him drive with an invalid driving licence?

  Which advice? 

  That is so strange. By law, it is not possible (§ 10 StAG).    Edit: It seems to be possible, based on the input from @pappnase below.   (3) Weist ein Ausländer durch die Bescheinigung des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge die erfolgreiche Teilnahme an einem Integrationskurs nach, wird die Frist nach Absatz 1 auf sieben Jahre verkürzt. Bei Vorliegen besonderer Integrationsleistungen, insbesondere beim Nachweis von Sprachkenntnissen, die die Voraussetzungen des Absatzes 1 Satz 1 Nr. 6 übersteigen, kann sie auf sechs Jahre verkürzt werden.   For the definition of application after 6 year residence, please see Page 30, top left paragraph in this document --> Link

Hi Honigbiene,   Citizenship application after 6 years of residence is something, i am also targeting. Though i have still 2 years and 11 months until then, i started my preparations. I took the B2 language certificate, and will be taking the Einbürgerungstest in a week.   This is the thread where citizenship after 6 years is discussed --> German citizenship after 6 years However, the answer to your question regarding the processing time is under this thread --> Processing time   Have you been involved in any kind of voluntary service? I am asking, because that was advised to me to support my future application in my info4alien topic--> Einbürgerung nach § 10 Abs. 3 Satz 2 StAG (6 Jahre)

  He says that, he will deregister (Abmeldung). The information you gave is for those who are registered in Germany, but traveled outside for longer periods. Deregistration kills the abode.

I got myself registered for the Einbürgerungstest last week in VHS, and will take the test on 10.02.  I see that there are many apps in the appstore in order to prepare for this test. Is there any broadly used "favorite" app for this purpose?   I know there are many websites (e.g.  https://www.einbuergerungstest-online.eu/, http://oet.bamf.de/pls/oetut/f?p=514:1:4728971578507::::: etc. ) and also a PDF on the page of Bamf for the complete list of questions, but i would like to study from my phone while i commute.

  In this case, is the requested language certificate from the spouse also B2? (Same criteria as the main applicant)   Or a B1 result would suffice, which is the minimum for application, but after 7 or 8 years?

Does the spouse of the person, who makes the application to be naturalised under 6 years rule, also need a language certificate and citizenship test result to be naturalised together?    I know that the required time is less for spouses.    

  That is valid for the Blue Card holder himself/herself. The spouses must wait until completing 5 years of residence.

My wife has gone to a driving school this year, and we have paid an amount, which can't be considered as a small expense for her driving hours. Can we partially claim these costs in the tax return of next year?