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Back in November I went to the office and registered that I want to apply for German citizenship.
Part of the process is two exams, citizenship test and language. The earliest appointments I could get was two months away, and nothing local.
Tomorrow is the first part. The Einbürgerungstest, or citizenship test.
33 questions from a pool of over 350. Made up of 30 questions about the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and 3 questions specific to the land /territory in which you live (my case Bavaria).
17/33 to pass.
Ja wohl!
Viel Gluck!
Goose??
Interested in how you get on, this is on my to do list...
How hard can it be 😉
Are you allowed joint citizenship?
Edit - oh forget it
Is there a practical element to the test, such a how quickly can you place a towel on a sunlounger etc.
Do they test sausage consumption?
Do they test if you know how to post an image instead of a google search result?
England Versus Germany, World cup Final. Who do you support?
As you enter the exam if someone says "good luck" in English be sure to reply in German!
@ Rickmeister.... Do it. Do it sooner rather than later.
Although this is of some comfort:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/europa/brexit-uebergangsgesetz/2119360
If you win. Post up the answers as I think I'll join you.
Glücklickeweise hast Du nur eine kleine Strafe bekommen, Weinige als 180 Tagessätzen sowieso. 😉
Are you allowed joint citizenship?
yes... and no.
you can have dual citizenship so long as both are from EU member states. so theoretically, if i were to apply/my paper work was processed after the UK had officially left the EU then i would have to make the choice between UK or German.
as it is, the German gov. are making some allowances for UK citizens and if they have handed in their applications before the end of March (assuming the UK leaves with a no-deal) they can still get dual citizenship.
if there is an extended period of UK withdrawal from the EU then the German gov will give UK citizens until December 2020 to apply.
If you win. Post up the answers as I think I’ll join you.
https://www.einbuergerungstest-online.eu
Have a bash.
@ Edukator.... That is my one concern.
(where did you get the 180 days from?)
Couple of questions on the application form are:
"do you be any Verurteilung (convictions) in Germany or another state?"
On that one I'm safe.
"hatten sie in den letzten 3 Jahren irgendwelche Ordnungswidrigkeiten?"
(have you had any misdemeanours in the last 3 years?)
Well, yes. Quite a few and one rather big glaring one. Several tickets for riding my bike along a bike path the wrong way and going against the red man.
Some people have said leave it blank (an omission of information is not a crime). Others have said you've paid up and been punished, it shouldn't go against you.
I'm torn.
I just got 14 out of 33 and I can’t read or speak German (although my Swedish helped) and I pressed the wrong button for who built the Berlin Wall. I reckon you will be fine, don’t get in a kuddelmuddel
Yeah. Lots of various tests to look at online.
Even on "Sehr schwer" I still get around 26-28....
Just did the "most incorrectly answered questions" and got 26.
Some of the questions are a joke.
Well after 20 mins effort
Bestanden!
Glückwunsch! Sie haben 27 Fragen von 33 richtig beantwortet.
Damit hätten Sie den möglichen Einbürgerungstest der Bundesrepublik Deutschland bestanden. Dazu sind nur 17 richtige Antworten nötig.
Here Alpin
https://www.frag-einen-anwalt.de/Einbuergerung-trotz-Vorstrafe--f3716.html
Incidentally I did the test for prospective immigrants to England and failed.
Like in a German humour kind of joke?
SEITE NICHT GEFUNDEN
Die Seite die Sie angefordert haben, konnte nicht gefunden werden
From your link, Edukator...
A German guy walks into a pub in London. The barman asks what he does.
"I'm a comedian"
"a German comedian? No way. Tell me a joke....."
The German replies "a good Frau is like a Volkswagen!" and then laughs so hard he falls off the bat stool.
Some of them really did make me smile, howsyourdad.
Die Menschen in Deutschland leben nach dem Grundsatz der religiösen Toleranz. Was bedeutet das?
Es dürfen keine Moscheen gebaut werden.
Alle Menschen glauben an Gott.
Jeder kann glauben, was er möchte.
Der Staat entscheidet, an welchen Gott die Menschen glauben.
To be honest, my biggest concern is getting there in time. Nearest place I could get an appointment for the test is about 50 minutes away on a good day.
It's snowing right now and I'll have to dig the car out and hope that the Autobahn ist frei.
It took the GF almost three hours to get to work yesterday because of the snow. Would normally take an hour.
Just go for the test with big springs on your hands and feet and a duck strapped to your head.
It’s the four sprung duck technique
You're right Alpin, it doesn't work, but it's the third result down if you type this in Google search:
"frag-einen-anwalt Einbuergerung drogen Vorstrafe"
It starts like this which should help you find it with Google
"4 avr. 2005 - Im Januar 2003 habe ich Drogen konsumiert und wurde danach im Strassenverkehr eriwscht und habe dafür eine Strafe von 80 Tagessätzen"
As you enter the exam if someone says “good luck” in English be sure to reply in German
Well I s****ed.
My application to become Belgian is in. Working here for 5 years continuously gets you straight through the language and integration test which is rather nice really. The rest is a couple of hundred euros and a bunch of forms. If you haven't got the work record then you need to do language tests and get various people to write letters for you.
Cheers.... But I'm not vorbestraft... Just a misdemeanour. Bei mir ist die besitzt von Cannabis eingestellt worden. But I got fined for being high.
Invade Poland?
(Sorry)
Alles klar, bleib locker.
leffeboy, you’re in Brussels? I assume your daily use language is French?
Don't mention ze var!
To rival perchy - do you know the German for windscreen wipers?
Der flickenflacken muckenspreden schticken.
I should have done it, but health problems over the past 18 months have decimated my German language lessons, and I need to go back and cover ground I did 2 years ago.
I have had lots of friends do it, one tip is for the language test don't do it at the goethe institut, they are proud to be quite strict. There is another official organisation you can do it with (the name of which I cannot recall) they allow a little more leeway. Unless you are very confident in your German skills of course, but I know a couple of guys who have been here for 20 years and I would consider to speak near perfect German who failed at the goethe institut.
England Versus Germany, World cup Final. Who do you support?
The correct answer would be anyone but Holland.
27 out of 33 here too. I really should get my shit together and make the first steps before it becomes much harder. Hindsight is a wonderful thing
leffeboy, you’re in Brussels? I assume your daily use language is French
Yep. Our commune in bilingual but French is all I can do. My brain gets messed up trying a second
@ MSP..... have heard the same.
I've got the language test next week (again about an hour from Munich) and it's a TELC test.
Get on it. Depending on where you are the process can be quite quick.
Leffeboy you're lucky to have a bilingual commune, I know a guy who worked for BP there and ended up in a Flemish one , they got really upset if he spoke any french... He loved it there even though he thought they were all a bit bonkers
I was recently thinking about this. At my age there really isn't any point but I just had this idea I might like to die being a citizen of a sensible nation.
It took the GF almost three hours to get to work yesterday because of the snow. Would normally take an hour.
Snow on the autobahn?
They’ll be slowing down to 150kmh and leaving a 2 car gap instead of 1.
I made the mistake of asking directions in a bar in French on the wrong side of the linguistic border in Belgium. 🙁 However in another bar I asked in English-nope, French-nope, German-bingo! They went and got the German speaking cook out of the kitchen to help.
Good luck Alpin. I’ve got my Irish paperwork back so I’m also officially an Irish citizen now. Just waiting on the passport. Looks like I’ll need to do this all for the kids as well.
Are you sure the rules about dual nationality are correct?
I thought it was the other way round.
You can't have dual nationality from 2 EU countries.
Es war kein Ziel.
@ cchris.... Definitely the case in Germany.
Although the GF kinda has dual citizenship. German-Iranian. Only because Iran automatically hands out a passport to anyone with vague connections (her dad is Iranian,she has never lived there and was born in Germany). Germany accepts this, but does not officially acknowledge it.
Mariner: it's Tor not Ziel...google translate don't know shit!
I got 27/33 on the standard setting; am half German but last lived there 35 years ago so some inspired guesswork at play!
Test bestanden! 31 von 33.
Should know a thing or two after living here for 18 years!😳 Just two questions about the names of some politicianI got wrong. I know a couple of German people here who would fail that test though.
I’ve been meaning to apply for German citizenship for a while especially after the British Embassy organized a meeting in the city last year and basically said that know one has a clue what is going to happen if Brexit goes through. I can’t imagine the country kicking me out though seeing as I have four children with German passports, I run a business here paying a shed load of tax and own property here. As a last resort I could always marry Mrs Stern as we’ve been together for over 20 years!
, I know a guy who worked for BP there and ended up in a Flemish one , they got really upset if he spoke any french
Yes. The folks themselves are lovely and will happily speak English but at a commune level they are much more protective, especially in Flemish communes it seems
Alpin, did mine in November, did you also get the 'what are the colors of the Bavarian flag' and the capital of Bayern' questions? I got the feeling they let anyone in with the test and the real test is to produce 3 month's payslips and be up to date with your tax.
10 minutes, in and out.
2 questions I was a little fuzzy on.
I stand corrected unlike the Russian linesman.
Es war kein Tor.
@ elbows
No, neither of those.
One Bayern specific one was "which of these is the Bavarian Wappen?"
The other maybe "was hat Bayern nicht?
Innenminister
Finanzminister
Außenminister
Something else....
Regarding your point about them wanting to see that you're tax is up to date, etc....
Being self employed they want to see that your earnings for the last two years are over 20,5k gross.
Mine was always way over, but 2017 my mum got ill and I spent most of my time in the UK, earning nothing. The guy at the amt put it in my notes.
I'm yet to hand in my Steuererklärung for 2017.... That is partly my fault for having a shitty accountant.
Just two questions about the names of some politicianI got wrong. I know a couple of German people here who would fail that test though.
I’d fail any English test that involved politics, and I’ve lived here my entire life.
And as for football or sports, or celebrity telly...
Round two tomorrow.... Language test.
Der, die, das....
-en, -e, -er, -em....
My Bavarian is hotter than my Hoch Deutsch.
I pressed the wrong button for who built the Berlin Wall.
It wasn't Trump then.
Get some Birkenstocks. The germans know a thing or two about foot comfort
I used to take a school trip to Bad Wimpfen, when they'd had a few drinks the Schwäbisch started and that was the end of me following the conversation.
lol at Edukator. I learnt my German from the locals high on the Swabian Alb. It really is a different language to what most people would recognise as German. Kind of like what Rab C Nesbitt is to the Queens English. But I love it.
Heidenei
Ich: bist du Schwabe?
Er (total erstaunt): Wie hasch des jetzt so gschwind rausgefunde?
I learnt my German in the NRW, so I am completely unable to say "nein" - NEE ALL THE WAY!
31/33 on the citizenship thing.
Yay!
Now got to wait a few weeks for the language test results.
Ja wohl!
Prima !
Sag bescheid wann du den Sprachtest ergebnis bekombst
Nice one!
England Versus Germany, World cup Final. Who do you support?
Why watch, the result is a forgone conclusion 😀
I've never been to Germany and got 23/33 🙂
Refreshing this as was asked on another thread by shermam about my German citizenship.
Long story short, I got turned down.
If you want to know why, read on.
Despite passing both the language and citizenship tests with flying colours, having all the necessary documents in place and turning up five minutes before my appointment she said no.
The problem being, she* said, is that in the last two years I hadn't earnt enough to qualify.
Being self employed they want to see that I have a yearly profit (not turnover!) of over 20,400€ for each of the two financial years before my application.
Unfortunately for me (in now ways than one) my mum went into hospital early 2017 with leukemia. Needless to say I spent most of 2017 in the UK looking after her, my sister, nephew and my old man.
Mum passed in spring 2018 and I spent most of the time thereafter trying to get my head together. I had other priorities, namely looking after myself and my head space.
Even this genuine sob story didn't sway her.
I had my tax returns from the previous five years with me. 2016 I cleared 20k. 2015 my profit was 17.5k, I explained that in that year I had buried quite a chunk of money into a failed business plan. Didn't sway her.
(It's also backfired somewhat that my accountant rather tax efficient is. Mates were surprised that I had managed to squish my earnings so much.)
Part of the form asks about property and monies held. Technically I own 50% of my folks house and am fortunate to have ~200k in various funds. She asked her boss but came back saying that without owning property in Germany and only having 200k that I didn't have anything to fall back on if I were ill (no idea what she gets paid to think that 200k isn't a fairly substantial buffer...!)
Fortunately I got my application in before 29.3. (the original brexit date) which means that I was(and still am) eligible for dual nationality.
-The idea that I less need a visa to go and visit family in the UK is crazy and for various reasons being 100% German on paper doesn't sit well with me (mostly because the state owns you from birth till death, and beyond). -
I told a little white lie that I was in talks with a client to work for them full time. This she said could change things.
-Their concern was /is that I've not earnt enough to support myself and that I would be a burden on the state. This is ironic seeing as I've been self employed here in Germany since 2010 and as such was never eligible for any state help, be that unemployment benefit, health care or anything... The only state help I would be given now or five years ago is what the Germans call Harz4. Really basic support, but everyone is eligible for that whether they are German, EU or Chinese. The state would step in before you die, kinda,but being dead might be preferable to Harz4.-
The top boss last at the office took pity on me and has said that if I come to them with my contract and a few months payslips they will issue the citizenship. That is, assuming I have a job without any probation period, or Probezeit, which is generally the norm here in Germany.
If I have a job with Probezeit then they will issue a pass after one year and one month.... You need to pay into the system for one year until you are eligible for unemployment benefit or any other state help (again, ironic as I don't currently qualify for any state help in the basis that I'm self employed).
Oh, just one caveat. I need to be earning over 1500€ gross so that my net monthly wage covers my half of the rent and leaves me with 480€/month to live off (quite how they expect anyone to live off that in Munich it's beyond me!).
So great. The only problem is I don't have a job lined up. And the chance of finding a job that pays 1500€/month is slim. Friends of mine who are employed as joiners or carpenters ain't earning that, and they have German apprenticeships/qualifications. Neither of them live in Munich as they cannot afford to.
I'm now left in this limbo land of not knowing what the **** is going on.
My plan was to get the German citizenship (meaning my stay in any EU country is safe), sublet the flat and bugger off for a year with the GF and look for a house /business in Italy or Spain.
Now as it stands I'll have to apply for the right to stay assuming no deal is the deal. If I were employed this wouldn't be a problem, but seeing as I'm self employed there is no guarantee that my application will be approved ironically for the same reason my citizenship was declined; lack of earnings.
Marry a German? Invade Poland? Buy some lederhosen?
just had a look for France for my wife . she will have a year to pply for a carte de sejour in case of no deal . Because she moved to france before original brexit date she will have to fill simplified version .
It's shit mate, I feel for you.
During Brexit arguments, leavers say 'oh, you'll still be able to work in other countries don't be silly'. But this is the kind of shite you have to put up with when you don't have rights.
Aye Molgrips - My sister has been in the netherlands for 30 years, running a business, married to a Dutchman and she has had to apply for dutch citizenship to preserve her rights. She didn't want to do this. My nephews have to apply for UK passports to ensure they can still keep on visiting their grandparents without issue - they are entitled to dual nationality.
Its just utter shite
Tough call, I'm sorry for the position it leaves you in. Been interesting reading how some Brits here in the UK are struggling to get their EU born spouses through the UK citizenship process, but it's obviously not just our system that is tight.
Can't agree Moe than what's said above.
Brexit it destroying so many things and on to of that is attempting to tear families apart.
It's all utter,utter s***.
I just despair of it all.
Argh, rubbish.
My mum’s doing this at the moment. I hope they have different rules for pensioners. Her German is near perfect and she’s worked as a translator and teacher. I get a free pass as I have a German dad (although even that is not straight forward and I’ve had to dig out more paperwork to re-present).
Can you buy somewhere with the money you have put away? If that would change the situation it might be worth it. Then you a) have property and b) wouldn’t need to show that you can cover rent, maybe? I guess you could sell it again if you got footloose.
Wonder if the million or so expat pensioners in Spain will be sent back to the UK? That 350 a day will come in handy.
Feel for you Alpin, any chance if just getting a job in Germany to up the salary requirement?
The pensioners will probably not be sent back - just they will have to take out health insurance which for many of them will be impossible. They will qualify to stay as residents but the reciprocal arrangements under which they get free healthcare will no longer apply. Health insurance will be prohibitively expensive for them ( pre existing conditions / age) so many will have to come back
It truly is Brexshit now.
Sorry to hear this. I've been through a similar situation, albeit with a different outcome. I'm from the UK, wife and daughter are from Denmark and we live in Australia. Been here five years and are just a month or two away from citizienship having got the points, paid our fees and passed the test. Whilst we have no plans to leave Australia anytime soon as this is very much Plan A, I work in oil and gas and the market here ain't great versus Europe, so Plan B could be to return to the UK - in which case it's probably easier for my wife and daughter on an Australian passport.
There's going to be a lot of people impacted by this decision and it's shoddy implementation in the months and years to come. I've spoken to people who voted leave and have kind of a negative undercurrent towards those like me who moved away from the UK that we deserve whatever outcome we get. Fair enough that's your right, but it undermines the long held principles upon which these decisions were based and massively overlooks the complexity of how many people live and work these days (certainly in Europe - unfortunately the points-based Australian system is what the UK seems to want to implement!).
we became australian 5 years ago, with the plan to move back to the UK once things had settled down a bit.
still waiting.
I’m shocked that carpenters in Munich earn under €1500 a month!