HI,I have a question that in spite of an extensive research on this topic, I have not been able to find an answer on yet. 

My wife, son, and I currently live in Berlin, Germany. We are all US citizens and we moved to Berlin last year. My wife and my son moved  first, after my wife accepted a job offer from a local, Berlin company, and  got a EU Blue Card. She moved to Berlin in  July of 2014 and has been living here for 16 months now, and working for the same company. I moved to Berlin a few months later , and upon my arrival I was granted Aufenthaltserlaubnis (Erwerbstätigkeit gestattet), paragraph 78 Abs 1 & paragraph 30 Abs S1. I have started working in Berlin only a few months ago. 

A couple days ago, my wife accepted a job in the US,  which she will start in March/April of 2016 and move at that time. 

What I am interested to find out is the following: Since my residence permit/work visa - Aufenthaltserlaubnis (Erwerbstätigkeit gestattet) - is tied to my wife’s legal status in Germany, what legal options are there, if any, to prolong my son’s  and my own stay here in Berlin until the end of the school year once my wife has left Germany (my son is  in the third grade, elementary school). If we had to, we would all move to the US at the same time in March/April timeframe, but ideally, my son and I would stay in Berlin through July 20th (the last day of school), and I would keep my job and continue working in Berlin until then.

So, I am not sure what could be done to accomplish this. There are other possible scenarios where for logistical reasons (shipment of our goods, and similar)  I would perhaps be staying in Germany for only a month or so longer after my wife (current EU Blue Card holder) leaves.  

I would appreciate if anyone had any suggestion, or could offer any advice on this. 

Thanks,
DM

Hi Denis,

you are right, if you take it 100% correct, your work permit/visa expires when your wife leaves. But I am quite sure that nobody will take care if you just stay a little bit longer!
If you want to be very sure, you can ask the foreigner office for a permission. But if you have bad luck, you will wake a sleeping dog ( I am not sure if there is anything like this in English, in Germany we say... schlafende Hunde wecken).

You can ask Katja ponert@ vpmk.de  from VPMK Rechtsanwälte Berlin www.vpmk.de for her advice.

Anyhow, good luck
Detlef

Staying in Germany wouldn't be a problem, however working at the same time is a different issue. I'd consult a lawyer on this matter actually. It is true that your work permission is tied to your wife, nevertheless Germany has family protecting laws and a lawyer might find a way to argue "not to intervene with the education of the child & supporting the family/child in said time" etc. Again this is all speculation but I find it conceivable that there is a way to keep your job and residence in Germany for a few months more. I hope that will be the case, best of luck.