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Any advice, Irish lad moving to germany

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  • 10-04-2006 2:03pm
    #1
    CoolGuy2006
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭


    Howdy. So im moving to Hamburg at the end of May to do a month long course and hopefully find work afterwards.

    What the deal with residence and work permits. Everywhere i look says something slightly different. I dont know which info is outdated.

    Im waiting for a reply for the German Emabassy but just thought id look here for any extra advice i may need. Thanks for any replies


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    #2
    isolde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 177 ✭✭isolde


    hi,

    i work in germany for part of the year but my company sorts stuff so apologies for any mistakes. i lived here before for a year while at uni though, so this is my general understanding of it!

    you need to register with the authorities i think within a month of you getting there (not totally sure of the timescale though). you get like an aufenthaltserlaubnis which allows you to stay there. you also need to apply for a lohnsteuerkarte (tax card) either before or when you start work. when i was a student i needed to show my passport, bank statement, driving licence, few normal things like that, generally to prove who you are and that you're not going to sponge off the state. if you have a job sorted it will be easier, but being an eu citizen you are entitled to be there anyway.

    opening a bank account i know a bit more about as i have done that recently, all i needed was my passport, very handy altogether and much simpler than i had expected.

    can you speak german? if not and you have a link telling you what you need to do, send it to me and i will translate it for you.
    a few tips: when registering with the authorities, if you state a religion then you have to pay kirchensteuer (church tax).
    when looking for a house or flat, they are often advertised without furniture, and generally as warm or kalt, warm meaning that the rent includes bills, kalt that it doesn't.
    get a bahnkarte, i think it's worth it :)

    hamburg is nice, though a bit on the dear side. have fun. :) the longer im here the worse my english seems to be! hope all i've said is semi-clear.


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    #3
    CoolGuy2006
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭CoolGuy2006


    Hey, thanks alot for taking the time to reply. I was getting a bit confused myself. As i understood it being a EU citizen intitled me to what you say but when i started looking around on the messy german official sites they just contradicted themselves all over the place. I think some pages were outdated and some were new :-(

    Anyway, i sent a email to the German embassy in Dublin and they said basically everything you said so top marks for you :-)

    I dont speak much german but ive been over to Hamburg around 14 times in the last 8 months. My girlfriend is german and lives there too so i have a translator :-)

    Where do you live in Germany? Is your german any good, how did you start learningt, Thanks again


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    #4
    isolde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 177 ✭✭isolde


    glad to be of some help! the german embassy site is pretty rubbish alright. too complicated!

    i live near cologne, learned german at uni so it is decent thank god. tis all about the practice though.
    do a lot of work through english so it isn't really a problem, mostly just speak german in the shops, on the phone or with my german friends. should probably speak it more than i do. thinking of coming here permanently, but not sure yet. lived in munich before for a while and preferred it there.


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    #5
    CoolGuy2006
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭CoolGuy2006


    Hey, thanks for the reply again. whats the deal with health insurance? also any other things i should know about or were would be the best place for me to ask. I would like to sort out things before i get there, thanks again


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    #6
    Ruu_Old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 36,634 ✭✭✭✭Ruu_Old


    Hope this might be a bit of help. The transport system in Germany imo is excellent, so it might save you a few eurons to use the public transport instead of getting a car, at least until you get on your feet. Best of luck.


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    #7
    CoolGuy2006
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭CoolGuy2006


    thanks man, i have my transport already sorted Montly travel pass, 45euro a month :-). Can only be used at certain times on weekdays but the weekends are open. I spend 60euro a month in dublin :-(

    I dont have a drivers license yet and the autobahn terrifies me:-) especially when my girlfriend is driving me in her SMART car, ha ha, not for the faint hearted


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    #8
    isolde
    Closed Accounts Posts: 177 ✭✭isolde


    when i was a student it was paid for for me, i was with the AOK, so if anything happened i just had that. had an accident, just paid 10euro to reg with the doc and that was it.

    i think most people pay health insurance automatically from their wages, im not sure what the deal is, my company pay for it now.
    what i would do is bring your e111 card (if you dont have one get one from your local health board) and if you need to go to doc or hospital urgently just use that.


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    #9
    Mr.75
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18 ✭Mr.75


    When I worked in Germany, I was asked which health insurance I wanted to go with. I asked which one the guys in the company had and the majority had Techniker Krankenkasse: http://www.tk-online.de

    Found them to be quite good when it came to doctor and dentist bills. Only ever had to pay half for special bridge work I got done. An ex-US army dentist told me to get as much dental work done in Germany since the German system was one of the best by his standards.


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    #10
    hunnymonster
    Registered Users Posts: 5,365 ✭✭✭hunnymonster


    the european health insurance card should cover you for the first while health wise
    (think the website is www.ehic.ie)


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    #11
    hunnymonster
    Registered Users Posts: 5,365 ✭✭✭hunnymonster


    There are two cheap options for learning german. There are usually "german for foreigners" courses at the local volkshochschule (something equivalent to vec evening classes) or if you will be near a german uni post a notice on the notice boards. There are always german students looking to improve their english and you can spend half an hour talking german in return for half an hour talking english.


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    #12
    CoolGuy2006
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭CoolGuy2006


    Hey hunny monster (and everyone else), thanks.

    yeah, my girlfriend made a few enquiries about the insurance for me. I am starting a course in Hamburg on the 29th of may, its a month long intensive course. While i do the course the E11 will be sufficient.

    Im doing a CELTA course, "Teaching English as a Foreign language". Hopefully i will find some work afterwards teaching English. I know some people who have done the course and are working there but it seems like hard work finding enough hours at the beginning. There is always barwork i suppose, to help things a bit. I have a fair bit saved up so im not stressed out at the moment.

    Its funny, i thought i would be studying German before i head over. It turns out im spending more of my free time here brushing up on my English.

    The Year long distance part of our relationship will finally come to an end in 3 weeks so im happy about that. Also, being in Hamburg while the world cup is on should be interesting.

    Thanks for all the replies


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