Good afternoon.
I present to the public the material on how I received a visa in four months, moved to Germany and found a job there.
It is believed that in order to move to another country, you must first look for a job remotely for a long time, then, if successful, wait for a decision on a visa, and only then pack your bags. I decided that this is far from the optimal way, so I went the other way. Instead of looking for a job remotely, I got a so-called “job search visa”, entered Germany, found a job here, and then applied for the Blaue Karte. Firstly, in this case, documents do not travel from country to country, and the waiting time for a visa is significantly reduced. Secondly, finding a job locally dramatically increases your chances, and this also speeds up the process noticeably.
Already on the hub on this topic. This is a good source of information that I myself have used. But this text is quite general, but I want to list the specific steps that need to be done to move.
I applied for a visa to Germany on June 10, 2014, received a visa a week later, and on October 1, 2014 I started a new job. I will provide a more detailed timeline in the second part.
Prerequisites
Опыт
In general, I cannot say that I had a brilliant programming experience. Until May 2014, I worked for 3 years as the head of the web development department. But I came to managers from the side of project management. Since 2013, I have been self-taught. Studied javascript, html and css. He wrote prototypes, small programs and "wasn't afraid of code". I am a mathematician by education. So if your experience is more, you have a good chance. There is a shortage of strong programmers in Berlin.
Education
You will need a diploma at least close to computer science, which is accepted in Germany. This is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa and Blaue Karte. But when making a decision, German officials interpret proximity quite broadly. For example, my math diploma was enough to get permission to look for a job in the specialty Javascript Entwickler (Javascript developer). To see how Germans accept your university diploma, use (More details can be found online.)
If your degree doesn't even remotely resemble engineering, you can still move to Germany. For example, the author of the material used the services of a relocator company.
Language
Tolerable English will be enough for you to move. This means that you will have to understand well what is being said to you and, perhaps with difficulty, but you will be able to convey your idea to the interlocutor. I had the opportunity to practice my English a little before going to Germany. I advise you to take private lessons with a tutor via Skype to restore your speaking skills.
With English, you can safely look for a job in Berlin first. In this city, almost all IT speaks English and there are many companies to generate a stream of vacancies sufficient for you to search for a job. In other cities, the percentage of English-speaking companies is noticeably lower.
German for moving is not required. In Berlin, English is spoken not only by the IT community, but also by many "mere mortals", landlords, sellers and others. However, at least the entry level (for example, A2) will significantly increase the comfort of your stay, inscriptions and announcements will not seem like Chinese letters to you. Before moving, I studied German for about a year, but not very intensively (I focused more on development skills) and knew it at A2 level (see explanations for levels ).
Money
You will need approximately 6-8 thousand euros. To begin with, to confirm solvency when obtaining a visa. Then on to start-up expenses, mainly related to renting an apartment.
Psychological moment
You need to be motivated enough to decide to move. And if you are married, it will be psychologically difficult for your wife to move to a country with incomprehensible career prospects for her. For example, my wife and I initially decided that we were moving for 2 years, after which we would decide whether to continue or not. And then it depends on how you adapt to the new environment.
If you have no problems with the previous points, then you have a high chance of moving to Berlin quickly and relatively hassle-free.
Obtaining a job search visa
For some reason, a visa for getting a job in Germany is rather unknown in the Russian-speaking community. Maybe because it is unrealistic to find information about it on the consulate website if you don’t know where to look. List of documents , a page with a link to this list (see the section "Employment", paragraph "Visa for the purpose of looking for a job").
I submitted:
- Diploma with certified translation.
- Employment book with a certified translation.
- As proof of solvency, I provided an extract from a Russian bank account (in euros). If everything is done in advance, you can get confused with a blocking account in a German bank (see for example ), then you can more easily solve the quest for renting an apartment.
- Insurance for a couple of months, like the one you do when you go on a tour. After you find a job, you apply for a local one.
- Booking from the hotel for 2 weeks, with the possibility of changing dates / canceling the reservation. When submitting documents, I explained that upon arrival I would rent an apartment.
- CV (in my opinion, I did it in English) in the format accepted in Germany on 2 pages.
- Photos, applications, translations, motivation letter, copies, passport according to the list.
I did translations Do not take it as an advertisement, I made a certified translation there several times. No problem.
In general, there is nothing extraordinary in the list, and any sane engineer is able to cope with this work. All this is similar to obtaining a tourist visa, but with a slightly modified list.
Consideration of documents lasts about a week. If all goes well, you will be issued a national visa type D for six months. Mine was ready in 4 days. After obtaining a visa, you buy air tickets, adjust your hotel reservation and fly to Berlin.
First steps in Germany
Your initial task is to find accommodation where you can register at the Bürgeramt (analogous to the passport office). After that, you can open a bank account, get a social number, a pension number, etc. Many initially try to look for long-term housing and fall into a kind of deadlock: in order to be selected, you need to have a bunch of documents, including a good credit history, and for this you need a German bank account, and for this you need registration, and for this you need a rental agreement, and for you need a credit history...
Therefore, use the following life hack: instead of looking for long-term housing, look for housing for 3-4 months. The Germans try to save money and often, if they go on long trips, they rent out their apartments. There is a whole market for such offers. Also, such housing has a number of advantages, the main ones for you:
- it is furnished
- instead of a credit history, salary certificates, etc., you will provide the owner with an insurance deposit (I will write about it in more detail below)
- there is an order of magnitude less demand for such apartments, so you have a much better chance.
Finding an apartment
I used the website to find an apartment , which is specifically designed for the short-term housing market. I filled out the profile in detail, wrote a letter template and created a filter (mine was an apartment, more than 28 m, less than 650 euros).
On the first day, I sent about 20 letters, on the second, about 10 more. Then I received notifications about the appearance of new ads by the filter and immediately answered or called. A prepaid SIM card can be bought at Dm, Penny, Rewe, Lidl and other stores, registered via the Internet at the hotel. I bought a SIM card from Congstar.
In two days I received 5-6 responses and agreed to view three apartments. Since I was looking for temporary housing, I had no special requirements. In total, I managed to see two apartments, the second one suited me perfectly.
It should be borne in mind that good offers close quickly anyway, so you need to act here without delay. For example, I responded to an advertisement for an apartment that I ended up renting a couple of minutes after it appeared. On the same day I went to see the apartment. And when I arrived, it turned out that there were already several people who wanted to see the apartment the next day. As a result, we had a good conversation, and he agreed to hand it over to me that very evening and refused the rest. I bring this story not to show how good I am (although there is nothing to be modest about), but so that you understand how important speed is in this matter. Don't be that someone who arranged to see the apartment the next day.
And another important detail: the owner rented an apartment for five months and wanted to pay for three months in advance, plus a security deposit, a total of about 2700 euros. Add the cost of food, transport, and more - about 500 euros per month. Therefore, 6-8 thousand euros in the account will definitely not be superfluous. You can focus on your job search without worrying about finances.
Lease contract
Once you have agreed, you sign a rental contract and nothing else. You need a rental agreement to register with the Bürgeramt. No gray schemes, in Germany you are a law-abiding resident).
A couple of words, what is a deposit. This is a special account that is created for you, but you cannot withdraw anything from it. And the landlord also cannot rent anything, only if he sues you for broken property and wins this court. After the end of the lease, you again go to the bank together with the landlord and close this deposit (transfer money to your account). Such a scheme is perhaps the safest. And quite common.
Account
There is another subtle point. Strictly speaking, to open an account in a German bank, you need to be registered in Germany. But when you come to the bank, most likely you will not have received the Anmeldungsbescheinigung (Certificate of Registration) yet. However, bank employees often go to meet their potential customers and open an account on the basis of a lease agreement (and you sign it). And they ask you to bring a certificate of registration on parole after receiving it. I had it. The bank was Deutsche Bank because my landlord had an account with that bank. But if you open a blocking account in advance from Russia, you will not have this delicate moment.
Simultaneously with the deposit, ask to open a regular account in order to put money into it and not be afraid that they will be accidentally stolen from the hotel. You will also pay rent from it.
All passwords, appearances and a bank card will be sent to you by mail. The post office in Germany works a little more than perfectly, so everything is sent in this exotic way for us. Get used to the fact that you will start receiving a bunch of letters. Registration is also needed for other more important things, like work and insurance, but more on that later.
Register
My registration at the Bürgeramt went like this: I found the address of the district amt on the Internet. He came, stood in line, but instead of registering, he received a record (in Germany this is called Termin) the next day. They also gave me a form to fill out. Here . In general, there is nothing complicated, most importantly, remember that in the “church” section it is worth indicating “I am not a member” so as not to pay an additional tax. In addition to the form, you will need a rental agreement and a passport. A certificate is issued to you right there, it is done in 15 minutes. The Bürgeramt can also be booked online, but you will most likely not receive the Termin until the next month. Therefore, go to the very opening of Bürgeramt and say that you are very urgent.
That's it, you rented an apartment, registered and opened an account. Congratulations, half done, you're in Germany with one foot.
In I will talk about how I looked for a job, took out insurance, got a tax class and got a Blaue Karte.
Source: habr.com