Around December of 1998, I made this decision to retire from the military in Germany....and stay to work in Germany as a contractor on base. Naturally, the tax test came to apply, and I ended being forced to get a visa and become "Germanized". On day one of my decision....I walked over to the base personnel office and asked for the roadmap for this visa business. They just laughed, and said all they knew was the first step started at the local town-hall. That was it.
So I went to the town-hall and started step one. I asked about all the other steps. They laughed. They only knew step two....at the county court house where I'd actually apply for the visa.
I eventually discovered that no one had a roadmap. All of these little dealings....from the driver's license to getting your vehicle re-tagged....came from each person in the next step in the line.
I was kinda shocked. I thought Germans would have more of a process, but I eventually discovered that most Germans know almost nothing about the process, and have long since forgotten how they acquired their driver's license. After a while, I wrote down notes and had a 21-odd step process sheet. The curious thing was that it only applied to the local area of Kaiserslautern.
Complicated? I suspect that if Germans knew the hassle involved and how silly some of these forms are....they'd probably try to fix the system. Course, maybe I'm wrong....and they'd actually double the forms and the hassle.
What are the three things you should expect in this painful experience? First, have a sense of humor because none of this is really intentional. Second, don't worry....Germans won't offer any hugs or sympathetic feelings over your ordeal. Third, at the end of this mess....is the tax guy and then you realize the real mess that you've climbed into.
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