Showing posts with label bureaucracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bureaucracy. Show all posts

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Welcome

Today I went to the Ausländerbehörde (where visas are processed) to get my work permit and blue card straightened out. Everything was super easy and should be processed relatively quickly (and I have a temporary document while it all goes through).

It draws a strong contrast to the experience of refugees that are currently in Germany or trying desperately to get here. I am feeling my privilege - white privilege, western privilege - that allows me to so easily travel between countries in search of a temporary or permanent change in my life. I do hope that this welcome is truly for everyone:

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Tax Numbers!

Yep, tax numbers. I think this is maybe step 8 out of 20 in our quest towards being settled here in Berlin. In other words, no I didn't see anything scenic today!

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Berlin Cathedral



This is the second (of at least three) times that we need to go to the bank as part of our move. On the way back from our Duetsche Bank branch, we pass over Museum Island, where I took this picture of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower. While some people might artfully try to exclude construction from their scenic photos, I usually get excited about the juxtaposition of old/historic/static with new/modern/changing.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Bürgeramt


When one moves to Berlin, one of the first things you need to do is present yourself to the bürgeramt and register yourself. This is where we did it, in the above building (you can't read it, but it's called the Rathous Mitte). An HR person at Wooga made us an appointment there and told us it was on Tuesday. We showed up on Tuesday, and after waiting 40 minutes in a tiny room and getting chastised in German, we found out that the HR person had confused his days - our appointment was actually today.

In the end, the appointment was not a big deal. We waited about ten minutes, then presented a form, our passports, and our marriage certificate to a nice lady who spoke to us slowly in German (David understood nearly all of it, and I caught a little bit). She entered us into a computer, and soon we will get our tax IDs in the mail. Done! Well, at least until we move into more permanent housing.

According to David (via his co-workers), when Angela Merkel visited Wooga a few years ago, at some point she asked the CEO how the government could help his company succeed. I guess most companies talk about tax breaks, but the Wooga CEO asked instead for English speaking agents at the bürgeramt to help out his new foreign employees. I guess that request has not yet been granted....