Roger moved to Germany two years ago to proceed with his masters degree. The following fictional WhatsApp Chat is based on his struggles with the residence permit issuance confusions that occurred during the pandemic.
By Roger, 27, who had a lot of time to read, learn and cook during Corona.
22-2-2020
hey bro, wt’s up?
not bad, u?
exhausted, going back to Egypt on April 1st.
well, enjoy it there
thnx bro, wt abt u?
No way, not before I extend my visa. It expires on April 1st too.
Ayyyy, wt r u gonna do abt it?
today I was in the Ausländerbehörde, waited there from 5:00am, they gave an appointment at 10:00am.
then?
they told that u r on private medical insurance, then the contract should cover at least one year starting from the extension date and they gave an appointment on March 17th.
best of luck, bro
hope so, c u around.
c u
17-3-2020
hi, Hru?
fine, thnx
not bad
how was ur appointment today?
I extended my student visa for another six months.
u should’ve applied for a job-seeker visa
yea I know. The problem is I have not received my certificate yet. It’s on the way from the UK. Normally, I should have received it 2 weeks ago, but, u know, this corona thing.
yes. My flight to Egypt is cancelled. Now, I can’t neither go to Egypt nor cancel the holiday, apparently, I will spend it at home.
yea, tell me abt it!!!!
8-5-2020
hi, I need ur advice.
tell me.
the company i’m working at, they suspended my salary.
why?
they said that I’m on student visa while I have finished my degree, so, for them I’m not allowed to work until I change my visa or I bring a document from the ausländerbehörde that I’m allowed to work
seriously, that’s not correct. Even if, it’s very difficult now to have an appointment at the Ausländerbehörde these days.
so, wt to do now?
I don’t know.
25-5-2020
hey, I found a new job
Niiice, wt?
a warehouse assistant, but they gave only a three months full-time contract because of my student visa. They will extend it once I provide them the job seeker visa.
It’s really difficult these days. The office is not even open
Yes, I know. A few a new days ago, I got another job offer more related to my studies, it was rejected at the end because I’m on student visa these days. They told me to get back to them once I switch my permit.
25-8-2020
hii, how r u these days?
not good at all
why so?
my 3 months contract ended a few days ago. I registered several times in the auslanderbehorde for an appointment. in the end, they gave me an appointment on 15-9-2020, only one day before my permit expiry date. So, for this month, I can’t work until the visa is renewed. Also, other few offers were refused because of student permit.
how will u survive?
my savings
if u need help, let me know
yea sure, thnx bro
16-9-2020
Hi wt’s up?
I’m really pissed off
why so?
my appointment was yesterday. They will send the job seeker permit via post and it will take at least 6 weeks.
u don’t have a permit!!!
the employee gave me a fiktionsbescheiningung until I receive the card.
that’s not bad
not really
why?
it Is considered as a student visa extension. It will be difficult for me to find a job with it. I will have to wait for another 6 weeks until I can start working again.
Oh no!!
wt’s even worse, they gave only 1 year extension instead of 18 months to find a job.
why?
because the job seeker visa starts from the certificate issuance date.
And the dilemma still goes on …