Forum menu
@ cchris.... Definitely the case in Germany.
Although the GF kinda has dual citizenship. German-Iranian. Only because Iran automatically hands out a passport to anyone with vague connections (her dad is Iranian,she has never lived there and was born in Germany). Germany accepts this, but does not officially acknowledge it.
Mariner: it's Tor not Ziel...google translate don't know shit!
I got 27/33 on the standard setting; am half German but last lived there 35 years ago so some inspired guesswork at play!
Test bestanden! 31 von 33.
Should know a thing or two after living here for 18 years!😳 Just two questions about the names of some politicianI got wrong. I know a couple of German people here who would fail that test though.
I’ve been meaning to apply for German citizenship for a while especially after the British Embassy organized a meeting in the city last year and basically said that know one has a clue what is going to happen if Brexit goes through. I can’t imagine the country kicking me out though seeing as I have four children with German passports, I run a business here paying a shed load of tax and own property here. As a last resort I could always marry Mrs Stern as we’ve been together for over 20 years!
, I know a guy who worked for BP there and ended up in a Flemish one , they got really upset if he spoke any french
Yes. The folks themselves are lovely and will happily speak English but at a commune level they are much more protective, especially in Flemish communes it seems
Alpin, did mine in November, did you also get the 'what are the colors of the Bavarian flag' and the capital of Bayern' questions? I got the feeling they let anyone in with the test and the real test is to produce 3 month's payslips and be up to date with your tax.
10 minutes, in and out.
2 questions I was a little fuzzy on.
I stand corrected unlike the Russian linesman.
Es war kein Tor.
@ elbows
No, neither of those.
One Bayern specific one was "which of these is the Bavarian Wappen?"
The other maybe "was hat Bayern nicht?
Innenminister
Finanzminister
Außenminister
Something else....
Regarding your point about them wanting to see that you're tax is up to date, etc....
Being self employed they want to see that your earnings for the last two years are over 20,5k gross.
Mine was always way over, but 2017 my mum got ill and I spent most of my time in the UK, earning nothing. The guy at the amt put it in my notes.
I'm yet to hand in my Steuererklärung for 2017.... That is partly my fault for having a shitty accountant.
Just two questions about the names of some politicianI got wrong. I know a couple of German people here who would fail that test though.
I’d fail any English test that involved politics, and I’ve lived here my entire life.
And as for football or sports, or celebrity telly...
Round two tomorrow.... Language test.
Der, die, das....
-en, -e, -er, -em....
My Bavarian is hotter than my Hoch Deutsch.
I pressed the wrong button for who built the Berlin Wall.
It wasn't Trump then.
Get some Birkenstocks. The germans know a thing or two about foot comfort
I used to take a school trip to Bad Wimpfen, when they'd had a few drinks the Schwäbisch started and that was the end of me following the conversation.
lol at Edukator. I learnt my German from the locals high on the Swabian Alb. It really is a different language to what most people would recognise as German. Kind of like what Rab C Nesbitt is to the Queens English. But I love it.
Heidenei
Ich: bist du Schwabe?
Er (total erstaunt): Wie hasch des jetzt so gschwind rausgefunde?
I learnt my German in the NRW, so I am completely unable to say "nein" - NEE ALL THE WAY!
31/33 on the citizenship thing.
Yay!
Now got to wait a few weeks for the language test results.
Ja wohl!
Prima !
Sag bescheid wann du den Sprachtest ergebnis bekombst
Nice one!
England Versus Germany, World cup Final. Who do you support?
Why watch, the result is a forgone conclusion 😀
I've never been to Germany and got 23/33 🙂
Refreshing this as was asked on another thread by shermam about my German citizenship.
Long story short, I got turned down.
If you want to know why, read on.
Despite passing both the language and citizenship tests with flying colours, having all the necessary documents in place and turning up five minutes before my appointment she said no.
The problem being, she* said, is that in the last two years I hadn't earnt enough to qualify.
Being self employed they want to see that I have a yearly profit (not turnover!) of over 20,400€ for each of the two financial years before my application.
Unfortunately for me (in now ways than one) my mum went into hospital early 2017 with leukemia. Needless to say I spent most of 2017 in the UK looking after her, my sister, nephew and my old man.
Mum passed in spring 2018 and I spent most of the time thereafter trying to get my head together. I had other priorities, namely looking after myself and my head space.
Even this genuine sob story didn't sway her.
I had my tax returns from the previous five years with me. 2016 I cleared 20k. 2015 my profit was 17.5k, I explained that in that year I had buried quite a chunk of money into a failed business plan. Didn't sway her.
(It's also backfired somewhat that my accountant rather tax efficient is. Mates were surprised that I had managed to squish my earnings so much.)
Part of the form asks about property and monies held. Technically I own 50% of my folks house and am fortunate to have ~200k in various funds. She asked her boss but came back saying that without owning property in Germany and only having 200k that I didn't have anything to fall back on if I were ill (no idea what she gets paid to think that 200k isn't a fairly substantial buffer...!)
Fortunately I got my application in before 29.3. (the original brexit date) which means that I was(and still am) eligible for dual nationality.
-The idea that I less need a visa to go and visit family in the UK is crazy and for various reasons being 100% German on paper doesn't sit well with me (mostly because the state owns you from birth till death, and beyond). -
I told a little white lie that I was in talks with a client to work for them full time. This she said could change things.
-Their concern was /is that I've not earnt enough to support myself and that I would be a burden on the state. This is ironic seeing as I've been self employed here in Germany since 2010 and as such was never eligible for any state help, be that unemployment benefit, health care or anything... The only state help I would be given now or five years ago is what the Germans call Harz4. Really basic support, but everyone is eligible for that whether they are German, EU or Chinese. The state would step in before you die, kinda,but being dead might be preferable to Harz4.-
The top boss last at the office took pity on me and has said that if I come to them with my contract and a few months payslips they will issue the citizenship. That is, assuming I have a job without any probation period, or Probezeit, which is generally the norm here in Germany.
If I have a job with Probezeit then they will issue a pass after one year and one month.... You need to pay into the system for one year until you are eligible for unemployment benefit or any other state help (again, ironic as I don't currently qualify for any state help in the basis that I'm self employed).
Oh, just one caveat. I need to be earning over 1500€ gross so that my net monthly wage covers my half of the rent and leaves me with 480€/month to live off (quite how they expect anyone to live off that in Munich it's beyond me!).
So great. The only problem is I don't have a job lined up. And the chance of finding a job that pays 1500€/month is slim. Friends of mine who are employed as joiners or carpenters ain't earning that, and they have German apprenticeships/qualifications. Neither of them live in Munich as they cannot afford to.
I'm now left in this limbo land of not knowing what the **** is going on.
My plan was to get the German citizenship (meaning my stay in any EU country is safe), sublet the flat and bugger off for a year with the GF and look for a house /business in Italy or Spain.
Now as it stands I'll have to apply for the right to stay assuming no deal is the deal. If I were employed this wouldn't be a problem, but seeing as I'm self employed there is no guarantee that my application will be approved ironically for the same reason my citizenship was declined; lack of earnings.
Marry a German? Invade Poland? Buy some lederhosen?
just had a look for France for my wife . she will have a year to pply for a carte de sejour in case of no deal . Because she moved to france before original brexit date she will have to fill simplified version .
It's shit mate, I feel for you.
During Brexit arguments, leavers say 'oh, you'll still be able to work in other countries don't be silly'. But this is the kind of shite you have to put up with when you don't have rights.
Aye Molgrips - My sister has been in the netherlands for 30 years, running a business, married to a Dutchman and she has had to apply for dutch citizenship to preserve her rights. She didn't want to do this. My nephews have to apply for UK passports to ensure they can still keep on visiting their grandparents without issue - they are entitled to dual nationality.
Its just utter shite
Tough call, I'm sorry for the position it leaves you in. Been interesting reading how some Brits here in the UK are struggling to get their EU born spouses through the UK citizenship process, but it's obviously not just our system that is tight.
Can't agree Moe than what's said above.
Brexit it destroying so many things and on to of that is attempting to tear families apart.
It's all utter,utter s***.
I just despair of it all.
Argh, rubbish.
My mum’s doing this at the moment. I hope they have different rules for pensioners. Her German is near perfect and she’s worked as a translator and teacher. I get a free pass as I have a German dad (although even that is not straight forward and I’ve had to dig out more paperwork to re-present).
Can you buy somewhere with the money you have put away? If that would change the situation it might be worth it. Then you a) have property and b) wouldn’t need to show that you can cover rent, maybe? I guess you could sell it again if you got footloose.
Wonder if the million or so expat pensioners in Spain will be sent back to the UK? That 350 a day will come in handy.
Feel for you Alpin, any chance if just getting a job in Germany to up the salary requirement?
The pensioners will probably not be sent back - just they will have to take out health insurance which for many of them will be impossible. They will qualify to stay as residents but the reciprocal arrangements under which they get free healthcare will no longer apply. Health insurance will be prohibitively expensive for them ( pre existing conditions / age) so many will have to come back
It truly is Brexshit now.
Sorry to hear this. I've been through a similar situation, albeit with a different outcome. I'm from the UK, wife and daughter are from Denmark and we live in Australia. Been here five years and are just a month or two away from citizienship having got the points, paid our fees and passed the test. Whilst we have no plans to leave Australia anytime soon as this is very much Plan A, I work in oil and gas and the market here ain't great versus Europe, so Plan B could be to return to the UK - in which case it's probably easier for my wife and daughter on an Australian passport.
There's going to be a lot of people impacted by this decision and it's shoddy implementation in the months and years to come. I've spoken to people who voted leave and have kind of a negative undercurrent towards those like me who moved away from the UK that we deserve whatever outcome we get. Fair enough that's your right, but it undermines the long held principles upon which these decisions were based and massively overlooks the complexity of how many people live and work these days (certainly in Europe - unfortunately the points-based Australian system is what the UK seems to want to implement!).
we became australian 5 years ago, with the plan to move back to the UK once things had settled down a bit.
still waiting.
I’m shocked that carpenters in Munich earn under €1500 a month!
Ah I am really sorry to hear that OP, what a shower of scheisse.
My Swedish citizenship application has stalled, applied in March and have heard nothing. I should be fine as I have children, a house and a job here, so I am largely ignorant of the Brexit uncertainty. It sounds awful though. Best of luck
Thanks for your sympathy, folks.
I’m shocked that carpenters in Munich earn under €1500 a month!
Have spoken to one guy about getting a permanent contract and chucking the job as soon as the citizenship paperwork goes through. He was saying that if I'm being paid 1500 it's costing him about 1300-1400 on top due to all the extra taxes that he needs to pay.
Generally speaking, taxes here are high. On 1500 gross you'd be looking at around 950-1000€ a month net.
Marry a German?
Have obviously spoken about this, but stupidly they only look at the two years prior to the paperwork being handed in /application made. So we were not married then so that's that. Getting married now wouldn't help.
And besides even if we had been married I still wouldn't qualify. They total up the combined income after tax and then split it 50/50. GF was previously working in social care which is noble, but pays shite. Now I'm back earning, yet she is now unemployed.
Oh, and forgot the * in my last post.... So here it is.
* the lady dealing with my case is Spanish....! Not a single German sounding name anywhere in one of her four very Spanish sounding names. The irony!
the lady dealing with my case is Spanish….! Not a single German sounding name anywhere in one of her four very Spanish sounding names. The irony!
Often the way, pulling up the drawbridge after they've crossed!
Good luck Alpin. I’ve got my Irish paperwork back so I’m also officially an Irish citizen now. Just waiting on the passport. Looks like I’ll need to do this all for the kids as well.
@hot_fiat Was this relatively easy? I need to do this for my kids (I qualify but not doing it for me yet)
Alpin - just spotted this in the ~Grauniad - I know no details beyond this but hopefully it will work for you
Legislation has been passed to ensure British people and their family members living in Germany will receive residence permits if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, irrespective of the Home Office’s latest plans for EU citizens in the UK.