aka That time I finally made it to Bremen but only for a day
aka I HATE visas
A lot of paranoia and anxiety surrounded me getting a visa to continue to stay legally in Germany for the next year. Because I plan to stay 15 months in Germany, I had to apply for the visa towards the end of my “90-day free period” in the Schengen zone (most countries in the EU) but before I began au pairing in January.
There isn’t a lot of information out there for American au pairs in Germany. Or, in the least, none that I could find. So I was looking at what there was for Canadian au pairs in Germany and also American workers in Germany, trying to find out what exactly I would need to bring to apply for the visa.
I just remember when I applied for my visa to study in Spain, I had this huge stack of papers and copies of each in a certain order and I was told that even if I was missing one thing, I would have to reschedule my appointment. So I figured that Germany, being stereotypically (and truly) stricter than Spain, would be super particular in having everything in order.
I read online that I needed to have a basic level of German (A1) and a certificate to prove it. So as my first few months in Germany drew to a close, I tried to find a test, only to find that the earliest test would be in the middle of January.
Ensue panic.
We then tried to get an appointment for me to apply for the visa at the foreigners office in Bremen.
A call in only revealed that the earliest appointment was in February.
Ensue more panic.
But then a bit of a silver lining came.
We were told that a certificate of language proficiency would not be required (PHEW! Even if I would have gotten into a test, I probably would not have passed it yet!) because part of the purpose of the au pair position is to learn the language. You shouldn’t be fluent when you come over. Instead, they wanted proof that I would be enrolled in a language course.
I was told that I may have to speak a little bit to them. That, I figured, I could manage a little better.
We were also told that we could go to the office on the 22nd of December REALLY early before the doors opened, get in line, and then *hopefully* get to talk to someone.
The only problem with that was that it was my only option. The office in Bremen is only open M/W/Th, and considering that Wednesday was Christmas Eve and Thursday was Christmas Day, the office was going to be closed for the rest of the week. The next time would be past my 90 days.
If it didn’t work, I would have had to make terribly costly last-minute plans, ditch my friend over Christmas, and spend a week or two out of the Schengen zone (I was leaning towards Croatia…somewhere warmer!!) in order to extend my 90 days by that same amount and try again when I got back.
Now maybe I wouldn’t have had the same level of stress if I was in Spain, Italy, France, or Greece, but Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium are known to be some of the strictest countries when it comes to overstaying your visa. Deportation was not something that I was going to risk.
So now that you somewhat know my level of stress going into the day, I’ll give you the play-by-play.
Sunday, 21 December:
23:15 my bus arrives in Bremen and I drag out all of my belongings. (I pray hard that my host family will find me because I have no other way to contact them!) I find my host mom, and we go to my new home for the next year!
Monday, 22 December:
00:30 after some light chatting and bringing my things in, I head to bed.
05:15 my cruel alarm goes off.
05:45 we drive to the foreigners’ office.
6:00 we arrive to a line of 15+ people already.
6:00-6:30 we wait in the rain…at least it wasn’t too cold!
6:30 we waddle like penguins through the opened doors and get into this huge heard of people. Turns out that there was another line, so when we get our number, it is already 33. We squeeze through the crowd and find a spot to sit. Just a minute later, the guard announces that there are no more tickets. He handed out 60 so we are just a bit past halfway.
6:30-8:30 we wait for the place to even open.
8:30-10:45 we wait for our number to be called……..wondering why so many people have to go up to the ladies calling numbers “just to ask a quick question” and spend 5+ minutes there. Not to mention praying that we get in before they close at noon.
10:45 (give or take) number 33 is called!! We go up to the desk, show her a bunch of papers that she doesn’t look at, and guess what we are told?
Just guess.
There is a computer software malfunction today, so where we need to go, there is only the one worker there taking people with pre-scheduled appointments instead of the usual two workers. (And I don’t have a pre-scheduled appointment!)
Ensue begging and pleading and more praying.
She went to the back to see if there was anything that she could do. 5 minutes later, she comes back and tells us that she got us an appointment at 2:15 that afternoon!!!! She then gives us a list of things that we need to take with us to that appointment that we need to fill out/gather.
The first thing was that I needed to have a residency permit.
11:15 we wait in line to find out how to do that.
11:15-13:30 we wait…and fill out some forms. I get biometric pictures taken down in the basement. I run to grab something from the bakery across the street (mind you, we have had nothing to eat thus far and it was shaping up to be a looooong day.)
13:30 we are called!!! We give her the forms for the residency permit and that was that.
13:40 we find where we need to go next. This is the big visa part. We sit down and wait for our names to be called.
14:25 we are called. There’s a bit of discussion to be had in German. I am asked if I speak any, and I say “ein bisschen.” That was that!! Easy enough, despite fumbling over that word that I just learned that morning!! He gives me a paper with a date of an appointment February 9th where I will actually get my physical visa (this is currently the only thing making my stay legal in Germany…if I am “caught” without my passport/that paper, it could mean trouble). I catch bits and pieces of the conversation, and realize that I am not allowed to leave Germany until that date. First he said Schengen, then just Germany. I got to thinking, zoning out the rest of that, that I should still be fine to go ahead with my plans with my friend and go to Austria and the Czech Republic…I just have to be back and stay in Germany between the end of my 90 days (December 30th) and until I get my visa. Easy enough.
14:40 we are finally free to leave!!!
After 8.5 hours of waiting and maybe a total of 20 minutes actually talking to people, I am finally set with my visa!!
We grab some food and I am dead for the rest of the day!
The biggest problem with being locked into Germany was that I was thinking about going to Spain for a week over New Years and Día de los Reyes, but now I couldn’t go. However, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go when the weather wasn’t optimal there, so it is probably better to wait. I’ll definitely visit in the spring!
So instead, I make arrangements for finishing my trip in Dresden and Berlin instead of going to Spain with my friend.
And I finally make a decision about when to go to Munich (I was debating a night train or one early in the morning…I went with the latter) and give myself a little early Christmas present of a bahn card (discount card for train travel).
It’s funny though, because a small part of the reason why I chose to go to Germany was because the visa process seemed easier than for Spain/Italy because I could do it in Germany. And I guess that it did turn out that way! Getting it done in 1 day and being “locked” in the country for a month is far easier and cheaper than the 3-month stint that I had to deal with for getting my Spanish visa.
If you are an American au pairing in Germany, here are some things to know:
- It’s good to bring with you the au pair contract, even though they probably won’t look at it.
- Bring someone from your host family along to translate for you. They did speak English as well, but it’s just easier to have it done in German. Plus no one will be too greatly questioning your level of German if you don’t need everything to be in English.
- You need: 2 biometric photos, your passport, and everything else you will get there to fill out.
- Call early for an appointment if you don’t want to wait forever!! Like right when you arrive in Germany.
- To pick up the visa, you need to pay 100 euros.
Visas have always worked out very smoothly for me, despite always causing a lot of stress. Especially time-wise. Get on top of things and you’ll be fine. Although I wasn’t on top of things and it worked out fine, it did cause some sleepless nights.
Into Uncertainty 