Hi there,
I am a non-EU doing my masters in Berlin, and I am here on a student permit. For my last semester, I will be writing my thesis abroad. (There will be no lectures in Berlin). My university allows me to de-register from my student status since I will not be here during the whole semester (and therefore I can save from not paying medical insurance and semester fee), and I still have the right to do my defense exam in September 09 after my thesis is done. So when I come back in September, i will be on a tourist visa since my student permit is no longer valid. I will then graduate in Oct 09. My question is: can I still apply for the one year "job search" permit right after I graduate while I'm on a tourist visa?
Thanks a lot for your help.

It does not sound very good. Better get a letter from Uni regarding the semester abroad and inform the Foreign office accordingly explaining the absence. But dont change it to tourist visa from Student visa in any case as it may or maynot give problems later for your job search visa. What happens if your Tourist visa gets rejected? How will you do the defense then?

Thanks Raj! Very much appreciated.
Anybody else who could shed some light, or maybe gone through the same situation?