Hi All,

I have worked 7.5 years in Germany and have Niederlassungsearlaubnis since 4th Oct 2005. Now I have a job in Switzerland from April 2008 onwards and move to Geneva in 2-3 months. Can I still apply for German Citizenship? DO I have to give up my residence permit and work permit immideately after getting the same in Switzerland. Anybody has some experience in this or any Lawyer to recommend in Munich to clarify these things

cheers

@djinns

Were you sleeping all this time? We have discussed million times that you are eligible for german passport after 7 years in Germany and it takes around 2 months.

After 7 years only if you have "Deutsch Zertifikat" and you did orientation course.

Also from 01.08.2008. even if you are 8 (or more years) in Germany you will need both things that I mentioned upper (told to me by "Einbürgerungsamt" in December)

Ya I was kind of sleeping but need to do whatever possible now. Does anybody know if I can give B1 test in a state other than where I am residing? for example I am resident of Munich but can I give B1 test and do orientation course from Berlin etc.

Do I need a German Contract to apply for citizenship or I just need to maintaion residence in ´Germany but can have job in Switzerland

you need to job and residence in Germany to apply for citizenship together with other mandatory requirements such as B1 etc.

If you got a good job in swiss, then just move on. Because having good job and experience matters most than just having citizenship and not having a good expereince profile. Its your expereince which speaks most for you. to my understanding citizenship just gives you additional mobility.

on the other hand if you really want to try for citizenship with current situation, try to register as 'freelancer' and maintain your apartment till the time you process for citizenship.

@djinns

Glad to see you woken up but its too late, in order to avail german citizenship after 7 years you need followings:

1. Deutsch Zertifikat (B1)
2. Orientierungkurs Zertifikat
3. Integrationskurs Zertifikat from BAMF (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge)
4. Official german translation of your original birth certificate.
5. Certificate from your current employer that you are currently employed and since how long.
6. Last 3 months salary slip of current employer
7. Your handwritten CV
8. Fully completed Einbürgerungsformular
9. One passport size photograph

...and you have less than a month time to get all these documents!!

Thank you all for your valuable advice. Most probably I am going to engage a law firm to handle this issue. I will let you guys know my experience with that. But keep on posting any new information or way you might come to know which could help in my problem

Sorry, I dont think any law firm can give you short cuts or substitute for not having the required documents or status.
All the best and let us know if there exists an alternative, most of us on this forum keep on getting some good offers from outside Germany. In those cases we have no option but to opt one and leave other i.e wait for citizenship or move on...

@djinns

Subir is right, why would you need a law firm for? If you want to pay money just to hear the same what Subir told you then you might as well pay Subir ;-)

You need a minimum of 2 months to acquire all the documents and 2 more months for citizenship application to process......forget lawyers....only a divine intervention might help ;-)

you guys might be right but I had spoken to the law firm suggested by this site only and they told me even if I have job in Switzerland it is possible to get the citizenship by keeping the residence here.

I am using the same lawyer company suggested by this site

Visa
We are delighted to announce an alliance between trust7 and a eminently respectable group of attorneys in Berlin VPMK! VPMK offer a range of service packages for anyone needing to obtain a visa for the Federal Republic of Germany.

The lawyers specialize in both alien law and corporate law, and have acquired many years of experience in both areas.

@djinns

Some words of wisdom......

1. If you want to stay away from germany for more that 6 months then you need NE-Daueraufenthalt EG.

2. There is no way you can avoid the list of documents I mentioned previously. And, if you apply after 1.9.2008 then you need to appear for Einbürgerungstest.

3. You can't apply for german citizenship while earning in a different country and paying taxes there.

4. You can register yourself as freelancer and maintain your residence in Germany and pay taxes here in Germany. Do you really want to pay 50% income tax compared to 22% in Switzerland? Not the mentions the full contribution of health insurance for your entire family.

5. There is possibility of getting Cross-border commuter permit (G-EC), that means you can work during the week in Switzerland and go back to Germany on weekends. Sadly, Geneva is not exactly on the german border.

http://www.zurich-relocation.ch/content/work_permits.html

Thanks Akshay for your great advice

What is your opinion on the following situation...will this work??

1. I get a B permit of Switzerland
2. I already have Dauérhaft EG permit for Germany
4. I have unlimited contract from the Swiss company
4. I maintain my residence in Germany and pay full taxes in Germany till I get the citizenship (I see it as cost of getting citizenship). As a resident of Germany I will have to pay the taxes in Germany.
5. Since my German salary is matched by the Swiss company at least I will not loose too much)

Do you see any holes in it which can be taken care of or this idea is just bullocks and wont work

Hi djinns,

I donot think Switzerland is a right option to get to work and live. It was my own experience sometime ago along with few other colleagues. Trust me! You'll regret after sometime getting into that country. You may think you make money, but it is'nt true. You may think they would like strangers, that is'nt true either. Therefore the social life would snck. If you are rich already (like few germans live there already) then they might like you to live there to pay everything. I know it not just me, many colleagues lived and live there from past years. So think about it. You may pay little more tax in germany, but have at the same time socially secure, good healthcare and better treatement than swiss people treat you. Remember, in switzerland there is a far-right govt. in power and many things are changing. You need 13 years to live there to get NE and Citizenship! As i said, you'll remember my words couple of months or years later. Just think about it and here is the link from the RUNING Swiss Nationalists : www.svp.ch

So good luck!

Cheers,
Perfekt!

@djinns

What Mr.Perfekt suggested is perfectly right. I would never move to Switzerland just because of more money. Switzerland can never match the level of security and tolerance we enjoy here in Germany. But.... if you are to leave Germany then you might as well leave with german passport :-)

The best solution to your problem would be to continue your current job for 3-4 months and ask your new employer to wait (give an excuse like 6 months notice period or project is half-way or company would suffer huge loss if you leave now... etc. etc.)

Meanwhile arrange all the required documents and leave germany the day you submit your completed application (but don't unregister immediately, once you get your passport only then unregister).

Why do you want to leave Germany and move to Swiss?Good job or Good salary? What are your future plans? If you are young and like to travel and work in different countries then having passport first is good.

How is your german language skills ?
I guess a lot would depend on your German skills. Else assume that you need to attend some classes in crunch time, which can dent your citizenship aspiration.

Moving to swiss and still trying for citizenship!! I would only do this if my swiss salary is more than double what i get in Germany, so that i can pay double taxes and maintain residence and at the same time surrendering my pension contribution till super age of 60.
Also i would not do this if i am not planning to stay in swiss for good. Because time is also an investment. You have already invested 7.5 yrs here.
This idea would have been ideal if your offer come from one of gulf country so that you pay tax only in one place i.e in Germany ;-)

@Akshay,

what about police clearance if he immediatly move to swiss after submitting documents etc.
Also he needs to check his letter box every now and then for any unexpected requirement

@subir79

There are no such police check done during the application process, but you need to maintain the address for incoming post.

Please advice:

My family has completed 9 years in germany .
German language is not up to the mark.

I read something about a rule that will apply on the applications submitted after sept.2008.

what is the change as compared to the rules today.
is there a way to avoid german B1 test.

Please advice.

Dear Havehope

you wanna live here and get passport but wanna avoid B1 test? FYI: for people living in Germany since many years as in your case B1 is not at all an issue, should be a cake walk. AFAIK there are no short cuts for the citizenship affair.

Hallo All!1

I am going to marry a german girl in few days and then I will go to austria for work later my wife will also join me. Will I get any residence permit of visa from Germany as my wife is german?

Nk

Hello All,

Just wanted to inform you that I finally got my German Citizenship. Thank you all for your cooments.

cheers

Hello All,
I will be completing 7 years in Germany on 30th June 2009.
I will be taking Certificate Deutsch test in March 2009 followed by the orientation course. So hopefully I will get the Integration certificate from BAMF by May or June 2009 and I plan to apply for citizenship in June 2009.

Questions:
1. Has anybody applied for German Citizenship from Berlin after they introduced this einbuergerungs test? If Yes, please share your experiences.
2. Can one take this citizenship test now and then apply for the citizenship in June?

I shall look forward for your responses.
Thanks

1. Has anybody applied for German Citizenship from Berlin after they introduced this einbuergerungs test? If Yes, please share your experiences.
*** Yes, I applied to German Citizenship (in Berlin) and in parallel I made the test and provided the respective result to the Einbürgerungsamt.

2. Can one take this citizenship test now and then apply for the citizenship in June?
*** I think you would need to apply first for citizenship and afterwards the "Einbürgerungsamt" will trigger the citizenship test to the VHS (maximum one week after the application is accepted by the Einbürgerungsamt).Then you will have to contact the VHS to book a valid date to pass the test. It took in my case 1 and 1/2 month to have the test result.

Hi,
You can take einburgeruntest before einburgerungantrag. I did so. I cleared ZD & then applied for ET. After I got confirmation of both test from BAMF, I made Einburgerungantrag.

I did ZD & ET from VHS münchen.

Regards.

dilbir

@ endy01 and Dilbir,
Thanks for your responses.

1. Has anybody from Berlin taken the Citizenship test before applying for the citizenship? If Yes, please share your experiences.

2. What happens if a person looses his/her job during the time he/she makes an application for the citizenship? Can he/she still eligible to apply? Any links in this regard would be of great help.

Thanks

@endy01 and Dilbir

I also applied for citizenship in November at the Pankow office in Berlin.

When did you guys apply and have you heard anything from the citizenship office yet?

Cheers,
xarg

@sunilsm

1. I plan to do the test on Thursday but haven't applied yet, I think will apply when I get the results in 2 weeks, in fact, they don't really care if you applied already or not, as long as they get their 25 euros.

2. nothing.

D.

Hello dilbir,
Did you apply for Citizenship with 7 years rule criteria?
If yes, then from your mail I see that you only had DZ and ET. You would also need Integration certificate right, which you would have got if you show your ZD and your orientation certificate?
Please clarify.

Best Regards
Sunil

Hello Nobody,
Thanks for your response.
In your response to question 2, you stated as Nothing. Do you mean I will be eligible to apply for the citizenship while already unemployed?

Please confirm and any links with further will highly be appreciated.

Best Regards
Sunil

@sunilsm

will copy-paste the requirements for people who are unemployed if I get time this evening from home.

D.

Are there anybody applied for Citizenship in Bayern, especially in Munich?

My Question is Whether the student period is considered for Citizenship or not? in München.

Does this 7 year rule count 5 years (2001-2006)+ 2 yrs(2007-2009) ( been out of Germany 2006-2007)? Do they count my previous stay?

Deepak

Answer is a big No. You unfortunately lost your previous five years and have to wait another 5 years to be eligible.

@Nobody,
Just a short friendly remainder in case if you forgot to send me the info that you wanted to send from home.

Thanks
Sunil

Does any one know how long should be a Job contract valid to apply for German Citzenship ? I have a job contract till 31.03.2014 and i will be eligible for German Citzenship Aug 2013 (7 year). May i apply for it or the contract should be unlimited ?