We have made our own special family holiday. And we are celebrating today!
We have been granted residency in Germany!
Yesterday was our appointed meeting at the Ausländerbehörde — a meeting which has had me popping a few ibuprofen every morning this week in anticipation. We’ve been getting our ducks in a row: copying documents, printing documents, officially requesting documents, collating documents, compiling documents.* It’s sexy work, applying for a residence permit. Right.
Everything was in order except for the piece of paper signed by our landlord stating the size of our living quarters. (By German law, there is a minimum space requirement for one’s accommodations.) Ours was missing; I swear they took it from me downstairs when we registered in the city (bureaucracy!). So after she processed everything else, I ran across the river to the property management office and had them fill out the paper. Ran it back. Nope. They had just stated the size of the whole apartment, and the application requires the sizes of each individual room in the apartment. Back across the river. They filled in random numbers that equalled the sum total and I ran back across the river again. Nope. Living rooms (minus kitchen, hall, bathroom, etc.) need to equal at least 46 m².
By then offices were closed or closing, so we had to wait until tomorrow. Which, if anyone has done the math of 90 days from when we entered the EU … well today was our last chance before we then had to leave the EU for 90 days. Um … Nerve wracking.
So at home we measured the house with Maggie’s 30 cm long ruler, filled in accurate (and satisfying) numbers on a new form, walked to the property managers at opening this morning, and hoofed it back to the Rathaus to try one final time.
Success!! We are now officially German residents! So we went to a beer garden with sandboxes and trampolines for afternoon snack, then through the rain to a bratwurst stand for dinner, and then to our cozy house (where we get to live for the next 8 months!) for a bottle our local vineyard’s wine.
We are celebrating today!
*In case you’re curious, here’s what we needed for our application:
For Bill — official residence application, passport, biometric photo, proof of housing, proof of adequate housing size, proof of health insurance including cost, German work contact, proof of sufficient income, 100 euros
For Gretchen — official residence application, passport, biometric photo, marriage license with apostille (plus copy), proof of cohabitation, proof of health insurance including cost, 100 euros
For Maggie — official residence application, passport, biometric photo, birth certificate with apostille (plus copy), proof of health insurance including cost, proof of current school registration and attendance, 50 euros
For Tessa — official residence application, passport, biometric photo, birth certificate with apostille (plus copy), proof of health insurance including cost, 50 euros
Magrilless 
Congratulations on your feiertag! I don’t know what that word really means but I guess it might be residence day. I would have been stumped at apostille. What a relief to have that behind you. We’ll done!
It means holiday, celebration day, party day! (I’m pretty sure 😁)
OMG. Talk about down to the official wire. How freakin scary…. to mimic your Mom & Dad… CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations!!!
And as I recall, when you checked into it before you left, it was an undefined process when you left. It deserves a complete chapter in the book you write.
Did you, during the process, find yourself thinking ‘we are Americans, so it should be easier for us’?
No, but we did find ourselves asking, “if we’re smart people and have so much trouble doing this right, how do ‘normal’ people get through it?” Maybe it’s kind of like natural selection in the world of immigration.
Congratulations!! And seriously that was way harder than it should be. And you’re right- you have the perseverance and smarts to jump through all those hoops – doesn’t seem fair to someone not quite as gifted and perhaps on their own. Is America just as bad if it were the reverse situation?
I was nervous just READING!! I kept thinking…hmm…maybe they’ll come back to us EARLY!??! Ha. Just kidding. And now look at us…we might even be in Germany come May. Want to meet up?!!?! ALSO, ON A BIGGER NOTE, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! We are so PUMPED you got that all straightened out!!!