Getting a Job Visa in Germany

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I moved to Germany around August 2013. I did a semester abroad in Germany a couple of years prior, and without any other plans after getting my bachelor’s degree, I decided to move to Germany and try to find a job since I liked Germany (You can walk around on the streets with a beer in hand and enjoy it! How cool is that?). I have had many people ask me about what it took to move here, so in this post I will go over the basics of getting a job visa in Germany and then relate my experiences getting my initial visa and getting it renewed.

The Basics

The most important part of finding and getting a job in Germany is getting the permission to work here. Otherwise, you can travel here for vacation, but it is not permitted to work. That pretty much goes for every country in the world, so there should be no surprise there. It can be a bit daunting to get permission here, though. Continue reading →

Semester Abroad in Germany—More Adventures

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For spring break during my semester abroad, a few other students and I decided to go to Munich and then Berlin. We more or less went individually or in small groups and tried to meet up as we could while in both cities.

I took the train to Munich and met up with the others, and we went on a tour of the city the following morning.

The legend behind this church is that the architect made a deal with the devil, and the church was built in only 2 years. The deal was that there were not allowed to be any windows, so from the following footprint of the devil, no window is viewable due to the pillars.

Apparently, the devil wears a US size 11 shoe

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Semester Abroad in Germany

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While I was at the University of Wyoming, I toyed with the idea of doing a semester abroad. I had just recently come back from South America and my Spanish was okay, but I was interested in improving it further. I looked into doing a semester abroad in Central or South America as well as Spain, but I quickly realized that I would not be able to afford a semester abroad. Not only would it mean that I wouldn’t be working, but I would have to pay for additional costs like an apartment, the flight, food, and any other fees. Since I barely had enough money to go to University as is, I dismissed the idea.

At some point, I got an email that was sent out to all the students in the College of Business (CoB). The email explained that the CoB and Hochschule Pforzheim had an exchange set up and that the CoB was sponsoring students to go there. One just had to apply, and if you were selected, then your flight would be paid for as well as lodging, plus a little bit of spending money. I applied, and as luck would have it, I was accepted along with 3 other students.

My job would let me resume working once I returned, and my landlord in Laramie was fine with me not paying for the half-a-year I would be gone, so I got to keep all my stuff stored in my room in my absence. It all worked out quite well.

The time came for me to leave, and I flew to Frankfurt.

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