Congratulations! You got a job offer and you are ready to go. You have dealt with the company and they are happy to work with you. The whole process starts with your company sends 2 signed papers of the original job contract with mail.
As soon as you get the job offer, supposed to get an appointment from the embassy.
The documents that are demanded by the embassy,
- Visa application form. Can be filled online from here (2 copies)
- The job offer (2 copies)
- Biometric photo (2 copies)
- Original passport
- Photocopy of the first page of your passport (2 copies)
- 'Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis' document which summaries job description. Ask the company to fill it. (2 copies)
- University degree, must be English or German (2 copies)
- Equivalence document for your university and department from Anabin (tutorial for anabin) (2 copies)
- Resume (2 copies)
- The document that shows your employment history. In Turkey, It is called SGK long term document (2 copies)
- Health insurance until the job's starting day
Do not forget to need these as 2 copies. They keep all of them and do not give them back to you (The passport is given back after the embassy approves the application). Also, you pay 75 € cash to the embassy. It must be euro, not another currency.
Corona Attention
Incase coronavirus, the embassy demands an employer letter which is about "Why your travel is important economically and must happen as soon as possible". You need 2 copies of it like other documents.
You got the visa, congratulations again! Before coming to Germany, I would like to get your attention at some points.
Keep in mind, that's not easy to find a house than where you are coming from. To make it easier and less stressful I highly recommend booking a house from a serviced apartment or Airbnb for the first month. It can be extended every end of the month until to find a house.
SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE: ASK YOUR LANDLORD IF YOU CAN DO "ANMELDUNG" WITH HIS/HER HOUSE
Anmeldung: The address registration process that you have to do in 2 weeks from the date you arrived in Germany. I will explain the details about Anmeldung in the next section.
Have a look at your office's location on Google Maps before booking a place. It provides you to think about transportation from home to the office or visa versa.
Recommended to have the job contract and employer letter to show to the border police.
You settled up your home and ready to start a new adventure. Don't forget that almost all stores including supermarkets are closed on Sundays and holidays. Here are the things you are supposed to starts as soon as you come.
You can easily buy it from any metro station from a machine or via the mobile app, ios, android. I suggest you to use the mobile app since there is no chance to drop it somewhere like a physical ticket. It's recommended to buy at least monthly to use for U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Tram and Bus. Be careful about the transportation zones because you buy a ticket by the zones. For example, you are traveling from the M zone to the 1 zone, you are supposed to have a ticket that covers either M and 1 zones. Some stops might cover multiple zones such as M or 1(showing as M/1). M or 1 zone ticket works for this stop.
It is an address registration you have to do firstly. The whole other processes are related to Anmeldung. You can select an appointment date from here by tapping "Meldeangelegenheiten" and selecting 1 for "An- oder Ummeldung - Einzelperson" if you are applying only for yourself. The papers that are required for Anmeldung,
- Registration Form: You can download here in the "Downloads" section at the bottom. You just need to fill the registration form("Vollmacht zur Vorlage bei der Meldebehörde" in German). Don't forget to print it.
- Wohnungsübergabe Form: You just ask your landlord and he/she provides for you. Must be his/her signature on the document.
- Übergabeprotokoll: It is a protocol that shows you entered the house. Again, you ask your landlord and must be his/her signature on the document.
- Passport
When the Anmeldung is done, you will get the document that includes your Tax ID, by mail. As soon as you get it, tell the Tax ID to the employer to be able to get your salary.
There 2 options to open a bank account, neo banks or conventional banks. I suggest you have at least 1 account from each of them. They are 2 kinds of Debit cards in Germany, GIRO and EC. Some small shops don't accept EC card. On the other hand, some online stores don't accept GIRO card.
They are fast, usable, global, and modern. You can even get the salary with them. N26 and Bunq are the most known ones and they are free. Since N26 is a German startup, I am using it. Both of them provide only EC card. Also, N26 has integration with Transferwise to make international money transfers with affordable a fee. If you would like to use N26, you can use my referral code, yusufd4557 or create account here.
They are old-fashion and slow but you need them. Somehow you might need to provide that you live in Germany for some reason such as registering a system, company, etc. You can use your bank statement for that. Also, it is helpful to your credit score in the future. Because they have branches and ATMs, you can easily deposit / withdraw money. They also provide GIRO card which is accepted in everywhere, despite EC card. Some of them are Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse. I am using Commerzbank and happy about it.
Most of the countries have tax agreements with each other. Once you move to Germany in July, which means you will live in Germany more than your previous country in a year. That status allows you to apply for the tax return. With it, you will get some of the taxes back as cash. The application is started from the March in the next year that you moved. If you moved to Germany in 2019, you can apply from 2020 March. I used Taxfix instead of filling paperwork. You can start the application here.