Hello everyone!
I was offered a position in munich about two months ago and I applied for the preliminary green card via a management firm in germany. This was applied on 9th october and was accepted on 19 october.
My impression was that the green card is a straight forward process. After the pGC is approved, u go to the embassy and in three days they stampp it. then u go to germany, start working and within three months the GC is done. Voila...

However, looks like the process sucks right from the start.

Since October 21, I have applied at the pakistan embassy to get this green card / work permit stamp on my passport so I can travel to germany, but its been five weeks now and they are still "processing it".

VCould anyone tell me what is the internal process for these guys in order to allow a person to come in the country / issue this visa?

I was of the impression that the visa itself takes 3 days to stampp or a maximum of ten days. But this does nt seem to be the case here.

The problem is, my prospective employer is not going to wait for another six months for this stupid embassy folks.

I am debating should I withdraw my visa pplication and and do somethnig else or wait longer for this processing to complete?

Did you get contract and "Antrag auf Arbeits-
genehmigung" (application to work permit)
together in a letter from the company?
Have you signed them and sent them to the
company in Munich? Which papers did you get?
Which papers did you send back, after you have
signed them?

I am from Turkey, I am also a GC candidate.
The procedure of my company is as follows:

My company in Germany made an offer in October,
then they sent the contract and "Antrag auf
Arbeitsgenehmigung" to me. I have signed them
and sent them with express post. They applied.
to Arbeitsamt with them. The Arbeitsamt will
send approval papers to them and they will send
these papers to me. I will apply for a visa
with these papers.

They applied to Arbeitsamt (national work
office, which approves work permit). For
IT-ArGV (Greencard Law) it must take about
1 week. But normal work permit take about
6 weeks for approval. Maybe officials are slow
these days, because Christmas is coming and
everyone is a litte slow because of holiday
expectation!

I think you have not received any paper like
"Antrag auf Arbeitsgenehmigung" but directly
applied in the embassy. That's why they might
be so slow.

In the emergency cases, a German Embassy can
give a visa in 1 day.

Don't panic. But please follow both sides
frequently. Try to tell the embassy about your
entry date of work and so forth. Talk to your
company as soon as possible. Ask them how they
will apply to the Arbeitsamt, or how you will.

Regards,
Klenze17

Hi Klenzi17!
I am not sure about the nomenclature of all these papers. However, I do have

A job offer in form of a contract that is signed

The employer has gone ahead and received initial approval called "preliminary green card" / pGC

I took this singed contract and preliminary GC paper to to the embassy, with the intention to get the three month visa that allows me to work in germany, while the full green card can be processes.

And obviously I payed fees too.

I was told earlier that the stamping is just couple of days, but this does not seem to be the case.

Now, this is what sucks.
I am qualified. (many people r)
I have a job offer. (some people get it)
My preliminary GC was approved in two weeks. (means I should be all set)
The firm is waiting for me to come join them. (waiting for two months now!!)

and the beauty is...
the embassy is sitting on the visa....

I have worked in several countries and this is my first experience for germany. Now that i have started to read more about conditions there and beaurucratic hassles, I am double minded about this whole process.

Just wanted to check if anyone else has seen these visa delays at the embassy and how does this process really work? (what is the embassy doing sitting on my application for five weeks?)

Obviously, the embassy is the best place to ask questions, but as i said, i am new to this german paperwork and just realized that it sucks... really

You said:
"Just wanted to check if anyone else has seen these visa delays at the embassy and how does this process really work"

This is not normal, the all beauty of GC process is that it makes the whole work-permit/residence-permit process faster.(all should be done in max 2 weeks and you should be able to work in Germany in 2 weeks after the first application was filed)

In my case, I had some experience in the German Embassy in Turkey. The guy who was processing my visa application told me at first, that the process may take 3 months.. I asked him whether he has ever heard the German Green Card.. surely he didnt..(That was a Turkish Officer working in the Embassy) then he talked to his Chef(who was a German Officer). He suddenly came back to me and told that I could get my entrance visa in 2 days..

so my advice to you.. try to talk to a German officer in the Pakistani Embassy who has an idea about GC.. by the way, what is the prelimanary GC you got ? is the titel of that paper smt like "Zusicherung der Arbeitserlaubnis" ?

Good Luck

Lacrima

> Hi Klenzi17!
> I am not sure about the nomenclature of all
> these papers. However, I do have
> A job offer in form of a contract
> that is signed The employer has gone ahead and
> received initial approval called "preliminary
> green card" / pGC

I didn't understand this. What is heading of
the papers you have? Write them here, also
in German, and we might help you, what it means.

I found the term "preliminary green card"
awkward. The company does not have right
to send a paper like greencard. It's the
public office, Arbeitsamt (Germany Employment Center)
who has the right to send Greencard.
There is no Greencard actually,
there is only Zustimmung der Ausländerbehörde
(approval of alien office) for IT-ArGV (Greencard
Law), but we call it Greencard, a paper that must
come to you to apply for a visa, or must come to
the Embassy so that they can give a visa.

Which signatures do exist on that paper?
Is there any place where you have to sign?

> I took this singed contract and preliminary GC
> paper to to the embassy, with the intention to
> get the three month visa that allows me to work
> in germany, while the full green card can be
> processes.

In my sense a contract is sent after the offer
is made and accepted by you and the company,
and it must be signed by the employer first.
Then you must sign it and send it back to
the employer. Thus employer will have evidence
in its database that you have an agreement
with the company.

But you seem to have gone directly to the
Embassy. I doubt this way works. But I don't
know the way of the employer that made an offer
to you, for your procedure.

> And obviously I payed fees too.

It's clear, a visa application requires
a payment to apply. No question about it.

> I was told earlier that the stamping is just
> couple of days, but this does not seem to be
> the case.

Is it the Embassy that says that they will
stamp your passport for work permit?

> Now, this is what sucks.
> I am qualified. (many people r)
> I have a job offer. (some people get it)
> My preliminary GC was approved in two weeks.
> (means I should be all set)
> The firm is waiting for me to come join them.
> (waiting for two months now!!)

As far as I understood, the paper the company
sent is just a contract, and you went to the
Embassy with this contract. I suspect this
way of application for a visa works. Please
correct me if I have understood wrong.

> and the beauty is...
> the embassy is sitting on the visa....

Maybe they don't know what to do with the
papers you have given.

> I have worked in several countries and this is
> my first experience for germany. Now that
> i have started to read more about conditions
> there and beaurucratic hassles, I am double
> minded about this whole process.

Germans are slow, but believe me, they have
a working system. But it is slow. It can take
up to 6 weeks of time to get a work permit
if you directly talk to the Embassy. If your
company had talked to the Employer Office in
Germany, it would have been much faster.
Because Embassies and Arbeitsamts (Employment
Offices who give approval for work permit)
are in different companies, and geographical
distance + beaurocracy plays a big role in
the slowness.

> Just wanted to check if anyone else has seen
> these visa delays at the embassy and how does
> this process really work? (what is the embassy
> doing sitting on my application for five weeks?)

From my experience, it takes weeks of time
if I apply for a work permit from the Embassy.
I know that from a summer internship (training)
in Germany years years ago. They said to me,
if I apply for a work permit (which is required
even for a training) from the Embassy, they
said it takes several weeks or even months
to get the approval. After the employer had
work permit directly from Germany, they sent
to me and I applied it and they gave me the visa
in 3 days.

> Obviously, the embassy is the best place to ask
> questions, but as i said, i am new to this
> german paperwork and just realized that it
> sucks... really

Your thinking is sensible, but you know too
that Embassies are a little unrespectful even
to answer simple questions.

I strongly recommend you ask your company
to apply for your work permit in Germany, instead
of applying at Embassy in Pakistan.

Regards.

Hi Lacrima!

I have the company contract and this document called "Zusicherung der Arbeitserlaubnis .....three lines in germany, but mentioning IT-ARGV"

I think this is the initial work authorization that should be good enough for the embassy.

The people at the embassy r really nasty. would not give any information at all, just mentioning to wait and they cannot give a date when the processing will finish.

I wrote a letter to the german ambassader to compain for lack of customer service, but visa section said they r "improving theri service" and the same asnwer. WAIT...

I am kind of getting a general idea of why most of my collegues in my previous firm did nt like visiting germany!!

Anyways, worst case, atleast one is going to happen:

the embassy will refuse visa OR

the embassy will take another six months and my prospective firm will get tired of waiting and cancel the contract OR

i will get sick of the procedures and swear never to visit germany again OR

i will get the visa, go work in germany and curse every day why did i come here in the first place

:-)

"I think this is the initial work authorization that should be good enough for the embassy."

Definitely, "Zusicherung der Arbeitserlaubnis" and your work contract should be enough for your initial entry visa. I think your employer has done all his steps needed for your initial visa.
(he provided you the signed contract and your initial work-permit)

"Antrag auf Arbeitsgenehmigung"(what klenze17 was talking about) is smt that you can do after your arrival to Germany. This "Zusicherung der Arbeitserlaubnis" is actually a work-permit which is valid for the first 3 months of your residence in Germany. After that, you are supposed to get the real work-permit (when you are in Germany) and your real residence permit(which is 5 years, much longer than your initial 3 months visa

Another advice from my side, ask your company's lawyer(if there is one) to call the Pakistani Embassy.. and ask them why it takes too long to process the damned papers.. a friend of mine could speed up his process with such an attempt..

Good Luck

Lacrima

Hi jamnazar

I would add to the suggestion made by Lacrima that you call or mail to ZAV here in Bonn.

ZAV is the Central Placement office.

ZAV IT-Sonderteam
Central Placement Office (ZAV)
53107 Bonn
Germany
Phone: +49 228 713 1212
Fax: +49 228 713 270 1207
Email: Bonn-ZAV.IT-Experts@arbeitsagentur.de

This agency is the responsible of GC programm.

If you have this paper on your hand, you can consider yourself as a GC, so you can call them and they usually answer quite fast.

Take into account that your GC is maybe one of the last emitted by Germany, so maybe this is the reason for the delays: surely they are thinking is there is any sense of giving you now a GC or delay a little bit the things till 1.1.05 (personal apreciation).

But overall, is absolutely no sense to make anything more in the embassy in your land. Move you a little bit up and ask here in Germany.

My GC was a kind of tragedy because I receive the notification in another country other than mine (I was working not in Germany, nor in my land). But this "pGC" as you called, was a kind of magic key for me and three embassies interchanged faxes and documents internally and in three days my papers were ready.

So, don´t wait more, don´t waste time complaining here, just move yourself elsewhere in Germany via mail or phone because your GC is ready.

Regards

YO

In October 2000, when there was demand of IT-Specialist in Germany, it took just 1 week to get the visa(3 Months) from Islamabad.

But, the things have changed and especially when there is Christmas Holidays and December.

What you can do?
Only the company's Personnel-Dept(Hiring authority)(if too did not leave for Holidays :-)) can expedite your case, by direct pursuing Embassy to process your case.

Unfortunately, there is not efficient Processing timing in German Embassy Islamabad as compared to other places, leading to more delays.

But, this does not mean that they should delay upto 2 months.

But, if your Employer does not pursue, then you can try to talk to a German(Not a foreigner-German) employee(Beamte) and inform about your joining in the company date.

Again, initially, you will find a "GM" (in the Exchange :-) and now its your art to convince him to let you talk to some responsible person to hear your voice.

If not, then there comes "Complaint-mode", which you may explain/contact to:

Bonn-ZAV.IT-Experts@arbeitsamt.de
Tel: +49-228-713-1212
Fax: +49-228-713-1166

But, I would advise you to "Contact" for info and Explanation purpose and not to file any complaint etc.

Because, it would further delay. For Embassy people, its normal and they dont bother, whether this affects someone future.

I hope, this unfortunate delay should not be due to employment situation in Germany.

In that case, I would advise you to be patience.

GC

Hi,
Is it true, a GC can get CS in 7 years, instead of normal 8 years?

what are preconditions?

regards!

Hi Lacrima / YO1 / AT!

Thanks for your useful advice.

I just sent an email to Bonn with a copy of the pGC to see if they can do anything about it.

The people at the embassy have been useless.

This my experience.

Visited Embassy on 26 october.
Waited from 8.30 am to 12 am. Application refused, the embassy needs origional contract and work permit paper, not its scanned and printed version. Embassy also needs mandatory insurance.

Visited Embassy on 3rd November.
Waited from 8.30 am to 2 pm. Application partially accepted AND refused on the ground that the work permit document which came in mail had water marks on it coutesy of the post office. Embassy asked to contact employer in Germany and get another copy of this work permit.

Employer talked to Embassy on 5th november.
There is no " other copy of the work permit". The employer agreed to send a fax to the embassy to explain the situation in written fax format and the visa officer agreed to isse the visa If I would show up one more time.

Visited Embassy on 8th November.
Waited from 9 am to 4 pm. The Embassy had accepted the application. At 4 pm, they said they have written to germany and are waiting for and are waiting for answer.

I called them the week of 8th, the week of 15, the week of 22, and today...
The employer called them week of 8th, 15th, and 22nd...
wrote a letter to Ambassador to tell me what is going on, for which I received a reply that they are working on it.

The employer was expecting me to show up on November 1st, now its december 1st, and the embassy does nt say anything, just to wait, while they play with it. Well.....

Anyway, I sent a mail to this Bonn office and will see if they can do anything.

Frankly, I have worked in US for five years, have a resident status in canada, have a valid HSMP status for uk, have visited schenegen states several times, and worked in the middle east too, in the last few years..... and the treatment at the embassy is like I am looking for refugee status and welfare payments.

If this is how German is, no wonder they are in a recession.

Thanks freinds.

Just wrote this so that it might be a useful case for someone else falling in the trap.

I am also waiting for papers from Arbeitsamt
(employment office) for about 3 weeks.
I wish we both would not be victim of
transition from GC to ZuwG (immigrant law).

Christmas is approaching, and the law will
take effect on 01.01.2005. I wish officials
do not slow down the process to pass all
the applications for the next year.

Inform about the news. I will do, too...

As soon as I get my papers from Germany,
I will buy a champagne to celebrate...
Because my application progress is lasting
since spring of this year...

Best wishes,
Klenze17, http://www.klenze17.de

Just an update.

The good freinds here had provided the Bonn address which is very useful.
Bonn-ZAV.IT-Experts@arbeitsagentur.de

I sent an email there and received a prompt response in the morning. A lady from the Bonn office called the Embassy in Pakistan to make an inquiry. She was told that I had applied just last week (imagine the liars at the embassy) and that approval had been received from Germany, and they will stamp the visa and send me my passport via amex within the week.

The Bonn office sent me a mail back telling me the status, the file number and who to contact in the embassy.

This is very useful, so I wd suggest the same assistance request if anyone else has any problems

This forum is really useful!!!

Thanks everyone.
JNZ

Hey jamnazar

You are welcome!

You didn´t trust us did it?

If you thought you had troubles, better I close my mouth. All this process gave me about 6 kg more, about 100 years of age and the worst thing, I hadn´t Trust7 to help me!

Nice to hear good news from you and we will be waiting here to drink this coffee (in my case) or beer you will invite us

Regards!

YO

PS: Now be prepareded because all will happen really fast. Surely nexk week you can travel, your employer wants you yesterday BUT take care, because here almost all stops about 20th december and continues in january! Think twice before fix a date to comming

not to forget be prepared for German winter and Glu wine ... if you plan to take lufthansa then you will see winter inside the flight itself .. LOL ..

until then

@Jamal,

I am happy that you got an efficient response.

Here, I would add that you should be thankful to Mr. Detlef(Organizer of this forum) and helpful members(for me, every GC, who contributes/helps, especially YO1 in your case).

If you think, this Forum spared your time, then I would suggest you to start learning German.

For this, you may use the link on this forum "Deutsch lernen".

Wish you best of luck,


GC