Registered as a Berliner…

I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien…
I thought it would be inconvenient and complicated. Registering yourself in another country is normally a hassle and a half and it takes hours if not days. Not so in Berlin. And it is all done with a smile and a giggle.
The image of German bureaucracy is people in suits. Everything must be in order. Problems are not tolerated. I could not have been more wrong.
You have only one week to register yourself after arrival in Germany, otherwise you face a fine. This afternoon we popped into the local Bürgeramt (Local Registration Office), immediately received a ticket number and went into the waiting room. In the UK this is not a good sign. It means you are going to be in a room surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of other customers. It is always hot and stuffy and everyone is angry and impatient. You will wait for hour after hour after hour. Then you probably won’t have all the required paperwork so you will have to stand in line again the next day…
Not here though. We were called through within ten minutes and the laid back guy in jeans and a T-shirt was über-friendly. He quickly went through all the paperwork. It’s only a two page form, in complicated German so I was struggling a little, but he was very helpful. Luckily we had our signed apartment contract and passports with us and we had already put our name on the door.

He seemed surprised we had given up living in London to come to Berlin and we even had a little chat. It took less than ten minutes and when we were done, he stamped the paperwork and gave us a massive smile and said “Willkommen in Berlin”. I definitely felt very welcome. Now not only do we have to carry our passports but we also have to keep the stamped sheet of paper saying we have registered to live here on our person at all times (it’s the law). Hopefully everything will be this easy. Now to get a bank account set up…