Hello All,

I am rather new to German Immigration rules. So some of my question may seem very elementary. If one of you can provide me with the answers, that will be great.

I am working for a company in the US who has a German branch in Munich. Currently, they have a position open in the Munich office which is the same as what I am doing in the US.
I would like to apply for that position and request a transfer over to the Munich office.
My questions are:

1. How does the German GC for IT professionals work? Is that something I would have apply for once my company agrees and procures the becessary work permit?

2. Apparently, the provision for getting the German GC for IT professionals is available only till the end of 2004. Does that mean that from the 2005, we cannot apply for the German GC at all?

3. How long is the GC valid for?

4. Is it like the American GC where once I get it, I can work for any company in Germany? Or is it tied to a specific company? Which would mean that if I loose my job with them, then I have the leave Germany?

5. Once I get the approval to join the German branch, what type of visa should they procure for me and how long does it take?

6. How long does it take to get the German GC?

Sorry, I am just quite confused about the German GC. I have a US Green Card and I know the regulations in the US pretty well, but the German GC seems to be a bit different.

Any help in answering my Qs will be great.

Thanks - Bhawna

Hi Bhawna,

I'm gonna try to answer your questions as better as I can.

1. "How does the German GC for IT professionals work? Is that something I would have apply for once my company agrees and procures the necessary work permit?", yes, as soon as your company agrees, the German branch has to apply for your GC which will give you a 3 months visa you can come over with and ask for a 5 years one.

2. "Apparently, the provision for getting the German GC for IT professionals is available only till the end of 2004. Does that mean that from the 2005, we cannot apply for the German GC at all?", you're right, unless they change it again like last time, which is very improbable to happen.

3. "How long is the GC valid for?", 5 years top chrono.

4. "Is it like the American GC where once I get it, I can work for any company in Germany? Or is it tied to a specific company? Which would mean that if I loose my job with them, then I have the leave Germany?", that's the dilemma, some are tied to companies, others (like mine) are not. But if it's tied to a company, you could have hard time if you loose your job with that company but some down here were able to manage that well.

5. "Once I get the approval to join the German branch, what type of visa should they procure for me and how long does it take?", see part of the answer to question 1.

6. "How long does it take to get the German GC?", a couple of months, 3 maximum I could say, but I had mine in less than 3 weeks.

"I have a US Green Card and I know the regulations in the US pretty well, but the German GC seems to be a bit different", better stick to it if you can, don't be fool by the term "Green Card" for the German one, it's not really a GC in the US terms, just a name they wanted to give to attract more people.

D.

I totally agree with NoBody

and more with the Last Paragraph

regards
Jackal.