Wow, if I would have felt like being more than a fly on the wall, I would have taken pictures. I had my first visit at "The Amt" on Thursday, to check on my residency options here. My legal 90 days were due to run out on December 16th, and not wanting to be here illegally, I took the big step and visited "The Man". Sitting in the waiting room kind of felt like waiting to be processed in a jail, or so I imagine. Interesting group of people, and I was just like them.
Turns out "The Man" didn't speak English, so I had the good fortune of dealing with an extraordinarily chipper young-ish woman, who didn't seem to think there was any problem with my being here, so she said "You have 3 months to find a job. Come back when you have one" (that's chipper, for Germans). So, I am now legal at least through March 4th, with permission to work here, which, believe it or not, is quite a big thing. I even received a fancy little official document that fits in my passport.
That woman, whose name I never learned, really was great, and the whole thing was much easier than I ever would have imagined. Thank you, "Man", and friendly lady at the Amt.
3 comments:
Wait, you are legal to work there? Fully legal? For how long? That's fantastic!!!
I am kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, because it all seemed so easy, but yes, I am legal here and have permission to work. Once I get a job, I have to go back to the Amt, and at that point I think they will let me know how long my visa is good for, but until then I don't have to worry about it. My main concern will be finding a suitable job (after the holidays...). Still not sure how long I want to stay here, though. I keep waiting for that instinct to become apparent.
Woa, the INS could use a few people like her
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