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Red Tape Translation

Category Archive: Moving to Germany

Registration Office appointment in 14 days?

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The days of waiting weeks for a Registration Office appointment are over! Almost…soon…we hope…

Senator Iris Spranger told the Berliner Morgepost that they plan on opening 5 new Bürgerämter (registration offices) in the city. Typically, Berlin requires that you schedule a registration office appointment within 14 days of moving or else receive a fine. Thankfully, due to the complete lack of timely appointments, enforcement is rare. Many of us are familiar with the “refresh-button” game, hoping to snag a last-minute cancellation. Friends, those days are soon behind us!

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The Seven Deadly Sins of the Berlin Newbie

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Moving to a new country is scary. But then you realise you’ve just violated an unspoken cultural rule and now everyone is judging you. If you’re in Germany, it’s not even silent judging, it’s excruciating public directness. Here are seven of the most common mistakes made by first-timers in Berlin and how to avoid making them!

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The Kita Crisis – where we’re at in summer 2019

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Back in 2014, I visited a handful Kitas while 5 months pregnant. I signed up at a few. I emailed my desired Kita every 8 weeks for a year after the initial meeting. I applied for a childcare voucher (Kitagutschein) 9 months early, the earliest possible date you can apply. When it arrived, we emailed it directly to our Kita of choice. It was a full-time voucher (7-9 hours). It seemed we ticked the right boxes, for a day after doing this, my daughter got an offer for a full-time spot. In the weeks that followed, we were offered a place in three other Kitas for the upcoming summer. I patted myself on the back for my superior organisational skills and that was that. But that was then and this is now.

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A guide to rental contracts in Germany

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Translators get to see a lot of rental aparment contracts. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, vague ones, long ones and horribly restrictive ones. From preposterous airing regulations to antiquated quiet time stipulations, from cold rent to hot water, here’s what to expect when you’re presented with a tenancy contract for a flat in Germany. We’re also happy to help in more detail if you really want to know what you’re getting into before you sign on the dotted line.

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The Six-month Myth: Exchanging your foreign driver’s licence in Germany

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You registered in Germany. You stayed a while. You’re still here. Now you want to exchange the driver’s licence from your home country for a German one. But… oh my… more than six months have gone by since you moved to Berlin (or Frankfurt, or Munich, or wherever). It says you are supposed to exchange it for a German one within 6 months of taking up residence in Germany. So will they refuse to exchange it?

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Summer in Berlin

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Happy summer, everyone! Here’s an update of what’s going on around here.

Nachwuchs

I’m expecting to welcome a baby girl into the world in late August or early September. This means I’m out of action from the beginning of July 2018 until … some time in the autumn, and then part-time after that. Luckily for you, the wheels will all keep on turning even while I am away and all services will still be available.

Life Admin

Our newest service is proving popular with small and medium-sized business owners who want support communicating with authorities for their employees, people who have to deal with the unemployment agency and people who receive letters they don’t understand and don’t quite have the mind space to figure out on their own. Additionally, we’ve helped people try to track down paperwork for long-lost relatives, organised specialist medical care in situations where clear communication is crucial and wrapped up affairs for expats leaving Germany (contract terminations, deregistration, etc).

The Best Ice-Cream in Berlin

Hokey Pokey

Cons: If you can’t stand long lines, Prenzlauer Berg parents and 1.60 EUR scoops, don’t go.

Pros: if you want truly sensational flavours, just give in and go. Be that Prenzlberg mum. I know I am. Now in Pankow and Prenzlauer Berg.

The Berlin Summer Card for Swimming Pools

This is an absolute bargain if you think you’ll be visiting the outdoor pools. 70 EUR (60 EUR earlybird price) for 20 pool visits. It’s a laminated card, it’s transferrable, and the best bit is that you get to jump the queue. In my opinion,  even if you and your family don’t quite make it to the pool 20 times over the summer, it’s still worth it to jump the queue. This card is only for the outdoor pools – you can find a list of them and more information here.

Wishing you all a sensationally hot summer in Berlin! This is the season when all the tourists fall in love with the city and desperately want to stay. Are you one of them?  We’re happy to help you find a way to stick around in Berlin.

My bank needs a statement from a court-sworn interpreter for my loan approval

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This type of request has been popping up with surprising frequency. Here’s how it usually goes down. A customer who doesn’t speak German gets approval for a loan from a bank, either alone or as part of a joint purchase, and everything is ready to go except for one thing: the bank sends the loan documents with a requirement for a statement from a court-sworn interpreter. The statement should declare that the interpreter has read out the terms of the loan to the client in English and that the client has understood them. Why is this requirement from banks causing such waves of panic in the interpreting industry?

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