Hi everyone, so I’m moving to Germany November 1st and applying for the German Language Course Visa upon arrival (thank you to those who helped clarify the details of that on my last post :)).
I’m faced with another topic I would appreciate some assistance on and that is the timeline I’ve managed to create for myself that may cause some issues. So far it looks like:
Nov 1-Nov 16: Enter Germany to visit with family
Nov 16-Dec 14: Airbnb stay (my idea was to use this time to look for a long stay apartment)
The issue is that I also thought I could apply for my visa during my stay in the airbnb, but for that I need to register my address. Lets say I move into a permanent apartment on December 15th, and am able to register my address shortly after, that leaves less than a month and a half to get my visa before my 3-month visa free period is up. I saw on here [https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/324289/en/](https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/324289/en/) that it can take 5-6 weeks in Berlin, but I’m going to Köln and what if it takes longer??
Also so sorry if I am mixing up visa and permit, I believe the language learning visa is really a residence permit but is just referred to as a visa unofficially.
I appreciate any help!
2 comments
The length of the residency permit process is only a minor inconvenience.
What counts is that you need to apply within 90 days of entering. If you apply on the 89th day, you will be fine – even if the foreigner’s office then takes 4-6 months to issue the residency permit.
As long as you applied in time, your stay in Germany is legal while the application process is ongoing. You can get a letter stating this, this letter is called “Fiktionsbescheinigung”. Fiktionsbescheinigung in combination with your passport = no big deal if you get checked by police.
Note that you cannot leave Germany while your application is pending and you are on “Fiktionsbescheinigung”. This makes this inconvenient.
Just a heads up from someone living in Cologne: Four weeks to find an appartement in Cologne is probably not enough time. You better start NOW and also look for shared appartments (wg-gesucht.de). Good luck, it’s a mess even for natives.