Tag Archives: Immigration

Gohelpy and XpatVisor paved me the way to Berlin!

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I got a job offer as an IT consultant in Berlin. But I had no idea, how to get a work permit for Berlin. Then I found gohelpy online. It was unbelievable, gohelpy provided me with all necessary information.  The XpatVisor created a tailor made relocation path regarding to my profile. So I got all information of the procedure to get my work permit.

It is hard to find an apartment in Berlin these days, but I was lucky, I found a room in a (WG) shared flat.  I ask the relocation specialists of gohelpy for some support to handle the administrative matters. They coordinated  and applied for the appointments at the municipal registration and the Department of Foreign request in Berlin (LABO).

Just to let you know, with gohelpy everything worked out perfectly..

Andrei  from Russia

Berlin shines

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Berlin shines in a new light. Days become shorter, weather is getting worse. After a rainy cloudy day you may see a wonderful shining Berlin at night. Superb light installations are projected at many buildings – it is so impressive.

Berlin festival of lights has started last Friday and will be in Berlin until the 16th of October. Take your chance going around Berlin have a look at that brilliant light installation. You can go on your own, take part at a guided walking tour or bus tour, by bike…

Don’t miss this wonderful festival of lights in Berlin.

Online-Relocation and the XpatVisor

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gohelp.y is a Relocation portal. You find your way to us as you are interested in moving to Germany – to Berlin, Munich or Stuttgart. Additionally, to more general information gohelp.y provides a completely free of charge XpatVisor, an online tool, providing services of a relocation-expert. This makes your move to Berlin/Munich/Stuttgart as smooth and easy as with a service provider directly by your side.
Until now online-relocation was not really online relocation. This is different now, with gohelp.y. Here online is indeed online and free of charge is free of charge, there are no hidden costs. How? The XpatVisor makes it possible.

Real and free of charge online-relocation services: The XpatVisor

The XpatVisor is the centrepiece of gohelp.y. Equipped with the experiences of professional relocation service providers, XpatVisor creates automatically, based on your profile details, an individual relocation-concept designed specifically for you and your needs. Now you can handle each of the steps one by one and whenever you want, following the relocation timeline.

FIVE handy hints for a successful Relocation

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This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Relocation

Getting started in Germany to work, to study or to live here, you should think about important five things to do on your way to an immigration and successful integration to Germany

  1. Very important: paperwork, make sure you have all needed documents, starting with a valid passport and certifies copies of all certificates and diplomas…
  2. Flat hunt: make sure your new surrounding will fit with your interests.
  3. Make sure, which steps you will have to do, after moving to your new home: starting with registration, applying for residence and working permit, open a bank account etc…, it will definitely bother you to do all required administrative things.
  4. Get familiar with “DO’s and DON’Ts”
  5. Learning the language: this is the most effective way to become really integrated!!

Housing market in Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich

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At most German Universities the winter term (Wintersemester) will start in October.

This means, thousands of students are moving from their home town to their university town. They all are looking after flats or rooms in shared flats. The situation becomes critical in the housing property market in the main towns of Germany. Thousands of flats are missing in cities like Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich.
It’s a very hard procedure. If you identify a flat online, you have to arrange an appointment for flat viewing. You must have all your paperwork with, otherwise you will not have any chance. Then you stand in line with more 50 interested persons, waiting to get a view on flat.

The housing market in Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich is really becoming worse.

Berlin registration

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Back to business as usual at Berlin’s registration offices

In order to get an appointment at the municipal registration office you have to wait up to two months. The hotline to get an appointment on a short term notice was closed right after the Berlin election. That means you have to wait again for minimum a month. You should keep that in mind when making an appointment with the foreign department to apply for residence permit or work permit.

Our tip: If you know when you will move to Berlin exactly, ask for an appointment. You can make it online.

The “Berliner” have vote

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Now there will be a governmental change in Berlin.

The election makes clear, Berliner inhabitants want a new government. Berlin is likely to get a fist leftwing triple-coalition.
Angela Merkel’s CDU party and the ruling Social Democrats both plummeted to their lowest result in Berlin. Centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) came out top with 21.6% of the vote, ahead of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on 17.5%. Leftwing Die Linke came third on 15.7%, ahead of the Greens on 15.1%.  The liberal Free Democrats managed to get back into parliament with 6.7%.
The worst thing is, Anti-immigration populists Alternative für Deutschland are set to enter the Berlin parliament for the first time, with 14.1%.

But the good news is, that most of the voters 85,9% support the democratic parties, accepting Germany as a country of immigration.

Integration into the German labour market

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Suspension of priority review (Vorrangprüfung) facilitates integration into the German labour market.

The German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs decided to suspend the priority review in the majority of the 156 agency districts for asylum seekers and tolerated persons. Until recently it had to be checked whether German employees were available instead of employing asylum seekers and tolerated. The suspension facilitates the integration the integration of these persons into the labour market, as employment of those failed often because of the review. Undertakings as well as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce appreciate the decision as this facilitates filling jobs and raises efficiency. The International Chamber of Commerce mentions however that filling jobs with refugees is not a long-term solution against skills shortage in Germany.

 

Germany and the EU Blue Card

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The EU Blue Card is a special residence permit for workers coming from non EU countries. Everyone, having a German university degree or an in Germany acknowledged degree and earning more than € 49600 per year can apply for the EU Blue Card. People in fields of highly demanded qualifications need to fulfill lower conditions of a yearly income of € 38688. EU Blue Card holders enjoy the benefit of being granted the permanent residence permission after 33 or 21 months already.

Germany adopted the EU Blue Card in 2012 in order to combat the rising shortage of specialists. 41624 Blue Cards were issued until the end of 2015, mostly in the states of Bavaria (München), Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart) and Lower Saxony.

German think tanks and economists want to push the EU Blue Card further and want to lower the conditions applicable to university graduates within and outside of the so-called shortage sectors.
Do you fulfill the conditions for the EU Blue Card in Germany? How to apply for it? Special services are provided for EU Blue Card holder and those who want to apply for the EU Blue Card.

  • Supporting you in the application process – Which documents are necessary?
  • Supporting you in moving to Germany – What documents do I need? How to find a flat? What else is necessary?
  • Supporting you during your first time in Germany – Where do I find a language school to learn German?

Find out more here

Pathways to Germany – Part2 Employees

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This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Pathways to Germany

You have a recognized or comparable university degree or a vocational diploma in an understaffed profession? Or you already have a job offer for skilled or highly qualified employment in Germany, which you want to take up?

What do I need to do before going to Germany?
For both cases you first need to make an appointment at the German embassy in your country in order to apply for a visa. The visa is granted for 1-3 months. Bear in mind waiting and processing times at the embassies and do not do it last minute before leaving to Germany.

What do I need to do once I entered Germany?
After having entered Germany it is of utmost importance to register with the municipality of the city as soon as possible. This is a condition to register the with foreign nationals’ registration authority, which is responsible for you in Germany. They tell you which documents you need in order to apply for a residence permit and you apply here for the residence permit and work permit.

If you have a university degree or a vocational diploma in an understaffed profession you do not need to have a concrete job offer in order to apply for a residence permit, in this case you apply for the EU Blue Card which enables you to reside in Germany.

Handy hints:
– make appointments early in time in order to circumvent long waiting times and delays.
– in order to facilitate and accelerate the process you can inform yourself about the forms you need online at various platforms such as gohelp.y. You can print all forms and checklists at home and take them with you for your appointment.