A Hate Letter to the Ausländerbehörde

So the day of the visa appointment finally came....and went...without us getting our visas. BLARG! We know standards have been raised, but we were much more prepared than when we received our visas in 2008. We had an appointment, a list of required documents, official German insurance, and a smile.

Apparently when they sent us a list of required documents they thought it was very efficient not to ask for some beforehand and just see if we telepathically foresaw them being asked for.

We had brought:

• Passports (duh)
• German Insurance Contract
• Work Contracts
• Marriage Certificate + translation
• Proof that we are not baby rapist (possibly more commonly known as clean bill of criminal history or Bundesamt fuer Justiz
•  Registration in Berlin
  
• Copies of our diplomas
• Lease Agreement

Note they had only asked for half those documents. So we were surprised when he asked if we had brought our resumes. Excuse me sir? Not on the list. In addition, they wanted a monthly budget, a screen shot of our bank accounts, and our insurance wasn't quite right. ARG! We listened to instructions and plodded on home to update our resumes (even though we have jobs), get the other paperwork together and stew. What an enormous waste of time and money! We would have gladly had the paperwork ready, especially as we have been waiting for this appointment for about 2 months, if they had simply asked.

Along with stewing, we had some beers. Everything will be fine, but sometimes you just gotta say

"The joys of being an expat!"

Update: Ian is properly visa'd! Still waiting to hear on mine, as it is more complicated (not the straightforward "English Teacher" ). Thumbs pressed....

Want to hear more about stamps & frustration at the Ausländerbehörde?

• They love stamps... lots of stamps.
• The most Frustrating Waiting Room in Berlin 
• Officially Visa'd