kayw

I think your situation is quite different, lotsofballoons, since you are/were American and had to renounce your citizenship before acquiring german citizenship. So the timelines above from Brits won't help you much. Hopefully someone who's been in your exact situation can chime in.

You need a "beglaubigte Übersetzung" from a "vereidigter Übersetzer". There are many in Berlin, ask for quotes from several - one that is advertised here on Toytown wanted 90 EUR and others only 35, for the same document! 

Depends on your situation and which Bezirk you are in. It's taken about 1.5 years (possibly longer) for a friend in Pankow, I am in Charlottenburg and had a straightforward application and it took 6 months from handing the initial set of documents in (May this year). I sent a couple of translations of certificates a month into the process, and my einbürgerungstest results halfway through. Got my Urkunde in November.

Perso takes about 3 weeks, passport under a week if you pay 30€ for the express service. That was in Berlin, although I think everything is printed centrally at the Bundesdruckerei.

Ah, I'm not sure there, sorry 

You can use your Widerrufsrecht in a situation like this, even though you haven't received the goods, if you bought from an online shop. The seller has to refund you the money and it becomes his problem to search for the parcel and/or fight with GLS. Not your problem!  Obviously if the parcel does turn up you have to send it back or refuse the delivery. https://www.arag.de/auf-ins-leben/udo-vetter/paket-nicht-angekommen/

Hi sjohn, we talked about this on another thread: https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/topic/378532-tips-for-getting-an-einbürgerung-appointment-in-berlin/

Brooke PM'ed me with some questions, which I answered and copied below:   1. I was pretty fluent in German when I started the Ausbildung. It is in German and is obviously not just your typical everyday language. I still struggled at the beginning though - it was so tiring to sit through lectures in German, to listen to everything and try to understand everything in a foreign language. Assignments also took a LONG time to complete due to the language!   2. I did the Berufsbegleitende Ausbilgung which means I studied and worked in a Kita side by side.  I had school on Mondays 8am-1pm and on Wednesdays 2pm-7pm, and I worked 30 hours in a Kita in addition to this. I needed the money! This meant I worked a few hours after school on Mondays, a few hours before school on Wednesdays, and on Tues, Thurs and Fri I worked full days.  The Berliner Senat have increased the number of school hours now though. Some colleagues also did the Berufsbegleitende Auslbildung but had two full days of classes and then worked full days the other three days of the week, it just depends which school you go to.  The other option is a Vollzeit Ausbilding, where you have full semesters of school and then you do a Praktikum in a Kita for a few months.    3. I first found a job as an English Speaker in a large Kita in Berlin, and was then informed that I would have to do the Ausbildung if I wanted to keep working there - this is normal.  I had planned to do the Ausbildung at some point anyway. My Kita is part of the Fröbel Gruppe, and the woman who coordinates the English Speakers in Berlin suggested the SPI school to me.  The SPI is on Hallesches Ufer, near the UBahn station Möckernbrücke. I didn't really consider any others. I applied directly to the school - they told me what to provide (copies of passport, work contract, degree certificate etc)   4. During the Ausbildung I was paid around 1200/1300 euro each month, netto, i.e. after all taxes and health insurance is taken off.  This was for 30 hours work per week at the level of Kindergartenhelferin, since I wasn't qualified at that stage.  This will obviously vary hugely depending on where you work and how long you work!   5.  A general salary for an Erzieher/in at the entry level (just starting) in the Fröbel Gruppe is around 1800 netto per month. This increases after a certain number of years, or if you do further qualifications.   6. My Kita is not bilingual - we offer the kids a first contact to a foreign language, in this case English, in day to day life.  I do all the things a German Erzieherin does, but in English (mostly). You would still have to do all coursework, assignments, exams etc in German.   7. (question regarding class/work hours answered above)   8. I would say the best place to look for Ausbildung places would be directly with the schools themselves and not the Job Centre. However I have never had anything to do with the Job Centre so I wouldn't know what they offer!   9. I still work at the same Kita and really love my job! One has to love kids to do this job!!  It is sometimes loud, chaotic, stressful but that is how it is with large groups of young kids!  I don't have children myself - I had every evening and every weekend free to study and complete assignments, revise for tests etc.  I can imagine the berufsbegleitende Ausbildung would be trickier with your own kids to take care of too, but anything is doable. Perhaps the school which has classes until 8pm would not be the best option, rather the school with two full days of classes per week instead, for example.   Happy to answer anything else!

I did the Erzieher Ausbildung here in Berlin, feel free to ask questions here or by PM.