Here I am moments after receiving my unlimited, all-you-can-live-and-work permit, clutching my passport and beaming with a due sense of victory. It is 7:19 a.m. on a Friday in February and I have finally conquered the Kreisverwaltungsreferat.Hard to believe that this moment was over 8 years in the making! How many times had I imagined this day - the last time I would ever set foot in this district administration authority building (well, at least until I have to get a new passport in 2017!).
Flo accompanied me to the appointment as the dutiful husband he is. Apparently he really enjoys coming here - at least that's what he told the clerk. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that one. There were also some laughs when the clerk asked if I had taken a German language course. Hallo? I have a degree in German, that is enough! Secretly, I wondered if my Bavarian class would count. Flo's big moment came when he vouched that we are indeed living together as a married couple and that divorce papers have not been filed (whew!). Then the clerk carefully swirled her stamp carousel and stamped "ungueltig" "void" right across my temporary permit picture.
The technical term in German for the permit I received is "Niederlassungserlaubnis" which literally translates to the "permission to settle down". Now that I'm 30 that seems pretty fitting.
