Step Five: Moving to Cologne

When I returned the following morning to apply for my Residence Permit, the office was open only from 8 until 12 pm. I made my way upstairs and found a hallway with no front desk but several people sitting alongside the narrow corridor. I began to ask around what I was supposed to do as there was no box to take a number. The best I could gather was that I was supposed to knock twice on the door marked with the first letter of my last name, enter, give my passport to the lady inside and then sit quietly and listen for my name to be called. I waited for nearly two hours and watched them close the office doors while promising to finish with the rest of the applicants inside. Finally, my name was called! I presented the lady with all of my documents and she paused a moment, looked at me apologetically and gently informed me,

“You live in Sülz. This is the department for the downtown area.”
“I didn’t realize that. I was sent here by the registration office downstairs. Can I still make it to the Sülz office?”
“Unfortunately they closed a half hour ago. However, they are open Monday morning at 8 am.”
“That’s in three days.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

So I had spent the night in Cologne for nothing, but I knew I couldn’t give up because I was fast approaching the end of my 90 days of travel in the EU. I took the train back into Cologne bright and early on the following Monday and went to the office in Lindenthal (which serves both the Sülz and Lindenthal districts). On the 4th floor I snagged a number and waited about 45 minutes before my turn finally arrived. You will need a lot of paperwork for this appointment so be sure to have everything in order! There is a copy machine available at 10 cents a copy but I suggest bringing your own copies beforehand if possible. The application itself is about 5 pages and fairly detailed concerning dates you’ve lived or visited the EU before, information on your family and any previous addresses you’ve had. These papers will all be filed and sent to the office in Berlin; you will receive a confirmation letter with a PIN for you to take back to the permit office at a later time where they will provide you with your permit papers and German ID card. This process takes about six weeks so you might have to get a temporary permit to stay in the country until your new one is processed. Unfortunately, I had only brought 100 € with me to the office as I expected the permit to cost around 40-60 €. Because of the temporary permit cost added on, my total was 120 € (temporary permit and a one year permit). There was no ATM in the office and they didn’t accept VISA cards; I had to come back the next morning again with the right amount of money to pay my bill because they had locked the doors for the day and I would have been locked out once I left.

The whole process is very specific, somewhat complicated and operates within a very limited time frame so be prepared, be flexible and bring copies of everything. That is the best advice that I can offer.

The following documents are needed to apply for a Residence Permit in Cologne:

-a valid passport (with your visa, if applicable)

-1 biometric passport photo (35x45 mm)

-application form (you can fill this out at the office)

-certificate of registration with the City of Cologne

-certificate of enrollment of Cologne University of Applied Sciences

-proof of health insurance

-proof of financial resources

Visit the city of Cologne’s website for more details and updates for your specific needs and requirements: http://www.stadt-koeln.de/en/1/administration/00085/
 
There is also a new “one-stop service for foreign students who would like to clarify issues with their residence permit as well as the formalities of registration.” The appointment hotlines are:
+49 (0)221 / 221-93339 for students from Germany or an EU state
+49 (0)221 / 221-93450 for students from a non-EU state

Step Four: Moving to Cologne

The next two pieces of information that I will give you are by far the most crucial factors according the city of Cologne. As an American student and according to laws as they stand in 2012, you must register with the city upon arrival (as soon as you have a physical address) and apply for a Residence Permit. Because the US and Germany have a fairly open border agreement, you can enter the country with only a passport and apply for your living permit from within their borders. You will not need a visa to live here or to enter, but if you plan on staying past your 90 day travel limit, then you will need a Residence Permit. Depending on the length of your program this information may or may not apply to you.

The next step is registering with the city; for this step it does not matter in which district you are living as you can register at any of the offices around the city. However, you must apply for your Residence Permit within your own district so I would recommend doing both at the same time in your own district to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I did not know this when I started the process so I hit several speed bumps along the way.


I made my way on that first day in Cologne to the Kundenzentrum-Innenstadt (Inner City Customer Center); because of its proximity to the Dom and the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station). I thought I could pop in, get my papers and head back to Siegen without paying extra for a hotel as I wouldn’t be able to move in until the week after. I entered the building and found myself in a large room with no English signage and no one to greet me at the door. I have found that, in Germany at least, administration runs on self-initiative; this has been a valuable life lesson along the way, though a difficult one in terms of cultural assimilation. Thus, I presented myself to an official looking gentleman at a desk and kindly asked, “sprechen Sie Englisch?” His limited vocabulary soon had me standing alone in a waiting room full of people; I took a number and proceeded to wait for 90 minutes before my number popped onto the screen overhead. The process of registering was simple, quick and easy! Well, if the advisor spoke better English, it would have been. She asked questions by gesticulating and showing me examples through her broken English and slow, articulated German. After 15 minutes she had made copies and entered the necessary information. When you go to register, you will need:


-registration form (they fill this out with you)
-a valid passport
-the name and address of the landlord (the rental agreement/subtenancy agreement)

Afterward, I asked her where the office was to apply for my Residence Permit. She walked me to the door because she couldn’t explain in directions due to the language barrier; we both then discovered that the office had closed while I was sitting with her and would not take me even though I had been in their building for near two hours. She apologized and wrote down the opening hours for me to come in the morning.