Experience moving to work as a programmer in Berlin (part 1)
Good day.
I present to the public the material on how I received a visa in four months, moved to Germany and found a job there.
It is believed that to move to another country, you must first look for a job remotely for a long time, then, if successful, wait for a decision on a visa, and only after packing your bags. I decided that this was not the best way, so I went the other way. Instead of looking for a job remotely, I received a so-called “visa to look for work”, drove to Germany, found a job here, and afterwards applied for Blaue Karte. Firstly, in this case, the documents do not travel from country to country, and the waiting time for a visa is significantly reduced. Secondly, finding a job on site dramatically increases your chances, and this also speeds up the process.
On Habré already have material on this topic. This is a good source of information that I myself used. But this text is quite general, but I want to list the specific steps that need to be done to move.
')
I applied for a visa to Germany on June 10, 2014, a week later I received a visa, and on October 1, 2014 I entered a new job. I will give a more detailed timeline in the second part.
In general, I can not say that I had a brilliant experience of programming. Until May 2014, I worked for 3 years as the head of the web development department. But I came to the managers from the project management side. Since 2013, I have been doing self-study. Studied javascript, html and css. He wrote prototypes, small programs and "was not afraid of the code." I am a mathematician by education. So, if your experience is greater, you have a good chance. In Berlin, there is a shortage of strong programmers.
You will need a diploma at least close to computer science, which is accepted in Germany. This is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa and Blaue Karte. But when making a decision, German officials interpret the proximity fairly widely. For example, my math diploma was enough to get permission to search for a job in Javascript specialty Entwickler (Javascript developer). To see how the Germans accept your university diploma, use this site (more details can be found on the Internet).
If your diploma does not even remotely resemble an engineer, you can still move to Germany. For example, the author of the material Job-Tourism used the services of the relocator company.
To move you will be enough tolerable English. This means that you will have to understand well what is being said to you and, maybe, with difficulty, but you will be able to convey your thoughts to the interlocutor. I had the opportunity to practice my English a bit before traveling to Germany. I advise you to take private lessons with a tutor on Skype to restore conversational skills.
With English, you can feel free to look for work primarily in Berlin. In this city, almost all IT speaks English and a lot of companies to generate enough job flow for you to look for work. In other cities, the percentage of English-speaking companies is noticeably lower.
German for relocation is not required. In Berlin, English is spoken not only by the IT community, but also by many “mere mortals”, landlords, vendors, and others. However, at least the initial level (for example, A2) will markedly increase the comfort of your stay, inscriptions and announcements will not seem like a Chinese script. Before the move, I studied German for about a year, but not very intensively (I focused more on development skills) and knew him at A2 level (see explanations on the levels here ).
You will need about 6-8 thousand euros. To begin with, to confirm solvency in obtaining a visa. Then on the initial costs, mainly related to renting an apartment.
You need to be motivated enough to decide on a move. And if you are married, it will be psychologically difficult for your wife to move to a country with incomprehensible career prospects. For example, with my wife, we initially decided that we were moving for 2 years, after which we would decide whether to continue or not. And then it depends on how you adapt to the new environment.
If you have no problems with the previous points, then you have high chances to move to Berlin quickly and relatively seamlessly.
For some reason, a visa for getting a job in Germany is rather unknown in the Russian-speaking community. Maybe because to find information about it on the website of the consulate is unrealistic, if you do not know where to look. The list of documents is here , and here is a page with a link to this list (see the section “Labor activity”, item “Visa for the purpose of finding a job”).
I filed:
I did the translations here. Do not count for advertising, made a certified translation there several times. No problem.
In general, there is nothing extraordinary on the list, and any sane engineer is able to cope with this work. All this is reminiscent of obtaining a tourist visa, but with a slightly modified list.
Consideration of documents takes about a week. If all is well, you are issued a national type D visa for six months. Mine was ready in 4 days. After obtaining a visa, buy air tickets, adjust hotel reservations and fly to Berlin.
Your initial task is to find accommodation in which you can register with Bürgeramt (analogous to the passport office). After that, you can open a bank account, get a social number, pension number, etc. Many initially try to look for long-term housing and get into a kind of deadlock: in order to be chosen you need to have a bunch of documents, including a good credit history, and for that you need an account in a German bank, and for this you need a registration, and for that you need a lease agreement, and this needs a credit history ...
Therefore, use the following life hacking: instead of looking for long-term housing, look for housing for 3-4 months. The Germans are trying to save and often, if they leave for long trips, they retake their apartments. There is a whole market for such offers. Also, this housing has a number of advantages, the main for you:
To search for an apartment, I used the site wg-gesucht.de , which is specifically designed for the short-term housing market. I filled out the profile in detail, wrote a letter template and created a filter (mine was, flat, more than 28 m, less than 650 euros).
On the first day, I sent about 20 letters, on the second, somewhere else 10. Then I received notifications about the appearance of new ads by filter and immediately answered or called. You can buy a prepaid SIM card at Dm, Penny, Rewe, Lidl and other stores, register online at the hotel. I bought myself a sim card from Congstar.
In two days I received 5-6 responses and arranged to view three apartments. Since I was looking for temporary housing, I had no special requirements. In total, I managed to see two apartments, the second one suited me perfectly.
It should be borne in mind that good offers are closed quickly anyway, so that we must act without delay. For example, the announcement of the apartment, which eventually took off, I responded a couple of minutes after its appearance. On the same day I went to look at the apartment. And when I arrived, it turned out that there are already a few who want to see the apartment the next day. As a result, we had a good conversation, and that evening he agreed to give it in to me and refused to the others. I cite this story not to show how good I am (although it's too modest), but to make you understand how important speed is in this matter. Do not be this someone who arranged to see the apartment the next day.
And another important detail: the owner rented an apartment for five months and wanted to pay three months in advance, plus an insurance deposit, for a total of about 2,700 euros. Add the cost of food, transportation, etc. - about 500 euros per month. Therefore, 6-8 thousand euros in the account will not be exactly redundant. You can focus on finding a job without thinking about finances.
Once you have agreed, you sign a rental contract and nothing else. You need a rental agreement to register with Bürgeramt. No gray schemes, in Germany you are a law abiding person).
A couple of words, what is a deposit. This is a special account that gets you, but you can not withdraw anything from it. And the landlord also can not remove anything only if he sues you for broken property and the court will win. After the end of the lease, you again go with the landlord to the bank and close this deposit (transfer money to your account). Such a scheme is perhaps the safest. And quite common.
There is another subtle point. Strictly speaking, in order to open an account, a German bank needs to be registered in Germany. But when you come to the bank, most likely you will not receive Anmeldungsbescheinigung (Registration Certificate). However, bankers often meet their potential customers and open an account on the basis of a lease agreement (and you sign it). A certificate of registration, they ask you for an honest word to bring after receiving. I had it like this. The bank was Deutsche Bank, because my landlord had an account with this bank. But if you in advance, from Russia, open a blocking account, you will not have this delicate moment.
Simultaneously with the deposit, ask to open a regular account in order to deposit money on it and not be afraid that they will be stolen from the hotel by chance. You will also pay the rent.
All passwords, attendances and bank card will be sent to you by mail. Mail in Germany works a little more than perfect, so everything is sent in exactly this exotic way for us. Immediately get used to start receiving a bunch of letters. Registration is needed for other more important things, like work and insurance, but more on that later.
I registered in Bürgeramt like this: I found the address amt on the Internet. Came, defended the queue, but instead of registering received a record (in Germany it is called Termin) the next day. I was also given a form to fill out. Here is an example . In general, there is nothing complicated, the main thing, remember that in the "church" section you should indicate "I am not a member" in order not to pay an additional tax. In addition to the form, you will need a rental agreement and a passport. They give you a certificate right there, they do it in 15 minutes. Entry to Bürgeramt can also be done via the Internet, but you will most likely receive Termin only next month. So go to the very discovery of Bürgeramt and say that you are very urgent.
Everything, you rented an apartment, registered and opened an account. Congratulations, half the work is done, you are in Germany with one foot.
In the second part, I will talk about how I was looking for a job, signed up for insurance, received a tax class and received Blaue Karte.
I present to the public the material on how I received a visa in four months, moved to Germany and found a job there.
It is believed that to move to another country, you must first look for a job remotely for a long time, then, if successful, wait for a decision on a visa, and only after packing your bags. I decided that this was not the best way, so I went the other way. Instead of looking for a job remotely, I received a so-called “visa to look for work”, drove to Germany, found a job here, and afterwards applied for Blaue Karte. Firstly, in this case, the documents do not travel from country to country, and the waiting time for a visa is significantly reduced. Secondly, finding a job on site dramatically increases your chances, and this also speeds up the process.
On Habré already have material on this topic. This is a good source of information that I myself used. But this text is quite general, but I want to list the specific steps that need to be done to move.
')
I applied for a visa to Germany on June 10, 2014, a week later I received a visa, and on October 1, 2014 I entered a new job. I will give a more detailed timeline in the second part.
Necessary prerequisites
Experience
In general, I can not say that I had a brilliant experience of programming. Until May 2014, I worked for 3 years as the head of the web development department. But I came to the managers from the project management side. Since 2013, I have been doing self-study. Studied javascript, html and css. He wrote prototypes, small programs and "was not afraid of the code." I am a mathematician by education. So, if your experience is greater, you have a good chance. In Berlin, there is a shortage of strong programmers.
Education
You will need a diploma at least close to computer science, which is accepted in Germany. This is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa and Blaue Karte. But when making a decision, German officials interpret the proximity fairly widely. For example, my math diploma was enough to get permission to search for a job in Javascript specialty Entwickler (Javascript developer). To see how the Germans accept your university diploma, use this site (more details can be found on the Internet).
If your diploma does not even remotely resemble an engineer, you can still move to Germany. For example, the author of the material Job-Tourism used the services of the relocator company.
Tongue
To move you will be enough tolerable English. This means that you will have to understand well what is being said to you and, maybe, with difficulty, but you will be able to convey your thoughts to the interlocutor. I had the opportunity to practice my English a bit before traveling to Germany. I advise you to take private lessons with a tutor on Skype to restore conversational skills.
With English, you can feel free to look for work primarily in Berlin. In this city, almost all IT speaks English and a lot of companies to generate enough job flow for you to look for work. In other cities, the percentage of English-speaking companies is noticeably lower.
German for relocation is not required. In Berlin, English is spoken not only by the IT community, but also by many “mere mortals”, landlords, vendors, and others. However, at least the initial level (for example, A2) will markedly increase the comfort of your stay, inscriptions and announcements will not seem like a Chinese script. Before the move, I studied German for about a year, but not very intensively (I focused more on development skills) and knew him at A2 level (see explanations on the levels here ).
Money
You will need about 6-8 thousand euros. To begin with, to confirm solvency in obtaining a visa. Then on the initial costs, mainly related to renting an apartment.
Psychological moment
You need to be motivated enough to decide on a move. And if you are married, it will be psychologically difficult for your wife to move to a country with incomprehensible career prospects. For example, with my wife, we initially decided that we were moving for 2 years, after which we would decide whether to continue or not. And then it depends on how you adapt to the new environment.
If you have no problems with the previous points, then you have high chances to move to Berlin quickly and relatively seamlessly.
Getting a visa to find a job
For some reason, a visa for getting a job in Germany is rather unknown in the Russian-speaking community. Maybe because to find information about it on the website of the consulate is unrealistic, if you do not know where to look. The list of documents is here , and here is a page with a link to this list (see the section “Labor activity”, item “Visa for the purpose of finding a job”).
I filed:
- Diploma with certified translation.
- Employment record with certified translation.
- As proof of solvency, I provided an extract from the account of a Russian bank (in euros). If you do everything in advance, you can get stuck with a blocking account in a German bank (see instructions for example), then you can more easily solve the quest for renting an apartment.
- Insurance for a couple of months according to the type of thing you do when you go on a trip. After you find a job, you will arrange your local.
- Reservation from the hotel for 2 weeks, with the possibility of changing the dates / cancellation of the reservation. When submitting documents, I explained that I would rent an apartment upon arrival.
- CV (in my opinion, I did in English) in the 2-page format adopted in Germany.
- Photos, statements, translations, letter of motivation, copies, passport according to the list.
I did the translations here. Do not count for advertising, made a certified translation there several times. No problem.
In general, there is nothing extraordinary on the list, and any sane engineer is able to cope with this work. All this is reminiscent of obtaining a tourist visa, but with a slightly modified list.
Consideration of documents takes about a week. If all is well, you are issued a national type D visa for six months. Mine was ready in 4 days. After obtaining a visa, buy air tickets, adjust hotel reservations and fly to Berlin.
First steps in Germany
Your initial task is to find accommodation in which you can register with Bürgeramt (analogous to the passport office). After that, you can open a bank account, get a social number, pension number, etc. Many initially try to look for long-term housing and get into a kind of deadlock: in order to be chosen you need to have a bunch of documents, including a good credit history, and for that you need an account in a German bank, and for this you need a registration, and for that you need a lease agreement, and this needs a credit history ...
Therefore, use the following life hacking: instead of looking for long-term housing, look for housing for 3-4 months. The Germans are trying to save and often, if they leave for long trips, they retake their apartments. There is a whole market for such offers. Also, this housing has a number of advantages, the main for you:
- it is furnished
- instead of a credit history, certificates of salary, etc., you will provide the owner with a security deposit (I will write more about him below)
- there is an order of magnitude less demand for such apartments, so you have a lot more chances.
Apartment Search
To search for an apartment, I used the site wg-gesucht.de , which is specifically designed for the short-term housing market. I filled out the profile in detail, wrote a letter template and created a filter (mine was, flat, more than 28 m, less than 650 euros).
On the first day, I sent about 20 letters, on the second, somewhere else 10. Then I received notifications about the appearance of new ads by filter and immediately answered or called. You can buy a prepaid SIM card at Dm, Penny, Rewe, Lidl and other stores, register online at the hotel. I bought myself a sim card from Congstar.
In two days I received 5-6 responses and arranged to view three apartments. Since I was looking for temporary housing, I had no special requirements. In total, I managed to see two apartments, the second one suited me perfectly.
It should be borne in mind that good offers are closed quickly anyway, so that we must act without delay. For example, the announcement of the apartment, which eventually took off, I responded a couple of minutes after its appearance. On the same day I went to look at the apartment. And when I arrived, it turned out that there are already a few who want to see the apartment the next day. As a result, we had a good conversation, and that evening he agreed to give it in to me and refused to the others. I cite this story not to show how good I am (although it's too modest), but to make you understand how important speed is in this matter. Do not be this someone who arranged to see the apartment the next day.
And another important detail: the owner rented an apartment for five months and wanted to pay three months in advance, plus an insurance deposit, for a total of about 2,700 euros. Add the cost of food, transportation, etc. - about 500 euros per month. Therefore, 6-8 thousand euros in the account will not be exactly redundant. You can focus on finding a job without thinking about finances.
Lease contract
Once you have agreed, you sign a rental contract and nothing else. You need a rental agreement to register with Bürgeramt. No gray schemes, in Germany you are a law abiding person).
A couple of words, what is a deposit. This is a special account that gets you, but you can not withdraw anything from it. And the landlord also can not remove anything only if he sues you for broken property and the court will win. After the end of the lease, you again go with the landlord to the bank and close this deposit (transfer money to your account). Such a scheme is perhaps the safest. And quite common.
Score
There is another subtle point. Strictly speaking, in order to open an account, a German bank needs to be registered in Germany. But when you come to the bank, most likely you will not receive Anmeldungsbescheinigung (Registration Certificate). However, bankers often meet their potential customers and open an account on the basis of a lease agreement (and you sign it). A certificate of registration, they ask you for an honest word to bring after receiving. I had it like this. The bank was Deutsche Bank, because my landlord had an account with this bank. But if you in advance, from Russia, open a blocking account, you will not have this delicate moment.
Simultaneously with the deposit, ask to open a regular account in order to deposit money on it and not be afraid that they will be stolen from the hotel by chance. You will also pay the rent.
All passwords, attendances and bank card will be sent to you by mail. Mail in Germany works a little more than perfect, so everything is sent in exactly this exotic way for us. Immediately get used to start receiving a bunch of letters. Registration is needed for other more important things, like work and insurance, but more on that later.
check in
I registered in Bürgeramt like this: I found the address amt on the Internet. Came, defended the queue, but instead of registering received a record (in Germany it is called Termin) the next day. I was also given a form to fill out. Here is an example . In general, there is nothing complicated, the main thing, remember that in the "church" section you should indicate "I am not a member" in order not to pay an additional tax. In addition to the form, you will need a rental agreement and a passport. They give you a certificate right there, they do it in 15 minutes. Entry to Bürgeramt can also be done via the Internet, but you will most likely receive Termin only next month. So go to the very discovery of Bürgeramt and say that you are very urgent.
Everything, you rented an apartment, registered and opened an account. Congratulations, half the work is done, you are in Germany with one foot.
In the second part, I will talk about how I was looking for a job, signed up for insurance, received a tax class and received Blaue Karte.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/297822/
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