I met a German girl in London 5 months ago and decided to come to live with her in germany. But It's not going to be that easy.
I'm here for love.. and I'd marry her.. but I don't want it to be a marriage of 'convieniance' as they say.. so I want to stick around for at least a year and forge a strong relationship.
I'm in dire need of some advice on my options here.. Or I'm returning to my work Visa in the UK with my chance of Love lost.
Please read and help me..!!
I am a 26 year old NZ citizen, 1 month into my allocated 3 month stay within the shenanigan(sp?) eu border state, living in teh Pfalz region. I'm a skilled Web designer with a solid education and 5 years commercial experiance.
I currently hold a 1 year old Working Holiday Visa for the UK and will return there during any application processes so as not to jepordise my chances of future visa relations with Germany.
My wish is to remain in Germany.. indefinately.. Given my current relationship with a German girl, coupled with an appreciation for the german lifestyle, environment and opportunities available to me here.
Skip to the bottom if you just wanna read my questions.
The options I see that are open to me are..
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Option A.
Go back to New Zealand and apply for a working holiday visa for 1 year (only obtainable as a current resident of my home country, cannot be applied for from here or in the UK). Given this visa, I work any job available to me, learn the german language to increase my future chances for a Work permit and Residence and test out my 5 month old relationship for marriage potential (a good possibility, but something I don't wish to do just to remain in the country).
Pros : A Visa to work and stay legally in Germany.
Cons : An expensive flight back across the globe simply for stupid burocratic reasons. Plus its only possible to work 90 days of the year visa legally.
Call for advice :
Does anyone have any experiance applying for such a Visa or similar by sending their passport home for parents to post to the relevant embassy, using their NZ address..?
Does NZ stamp passports on arrival..?
Is there any way Visa officials can tell weather I'm actaully in NZ at the time of application or not..?
German Working Holiday Visa for NZ citizens :
http://www.deutschebotschaftwellington.co.nz/en/informationen/leben_arbeiten/WorkHolE.html#
Option B.
Attempt an application for a 1 year German work and residence permit.
Pros : Legal and Trouble-free work, potentially within my profession.
Cons : From current research, this looks close to impossible to get (please tell em otherwise!)
The application process, calls for a contract from a potential employer, stating that there is no available german citizen for the position. That the company needs Me.. more than I need the company. Given my almost non-existant german language skills, my only work options are possibly hospitality and agricultural. Hardly areas where specialist skills are required. I may come across a Web Design job where a native english speaker is required.. but I can't rely on this becoming an option. The german ecomony and job market do not currently work in my favour either.
http://www.expatica.com/germany.asp?pad=194,228,&item_id=9192
Options C.
Enrol in a german language course in Germany, and obtain a Study Visa fro the duration of the course, with some rights to work for a short time.
Pros : Legal residence and work options
Cons : only valid for the length of the course. Courses can cost alot of money, especially if I'm not able to work fully during the time. And is only really a short term solution.
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Could anyone with any experiance or insights please.. please.. please share them with me.. It feels like the worlds ganging up on me with this one.
Are there any loop holes anyones found..?
Any other NZ citizens done anything similar..?
Anyone been through the Work permit process..?
Anyone applied for teh WHV whilst overseas..?
Would a personal appeal to the german consulate be of any use..?
If so.. what angle should I take..? (ie. maybe not so good to say I have a German girlfriend, yet support from a german citizen could be a plus?!)
HELP.. HELP.. HELP..!!
Many thanks for all who took time to read my dilemma and 1000 Karma points to those offering insight.
OK.. I'm not the authority on Karma.. But I'll see if I can talk to someone about it.
Cheers,
Jim
Landau,
Germany
Nelson,
NZ
Germany
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