Migrants facing German bureaucracy | DW Documentary

the waiting and the way people speak to you don't make you feel welcome yon from Cuba is one of many migrants who feel this way German bureaucracy doesn't make it easy to build a new life here there are long wait times for appointments challenging language courses and constant setbacks even so many like Catalina from Colombia are taking the leap and moving here I want to try living outside my country away from my family to see if I can handle it we'll be following their experiences as they deal with German bureaucracy and finding out how immigration authorities are responding to [Music] [Music] criticism very good very good Catalina fadoo wants to work in Germany as a kindergarten teacher to get a work permit the Colombian needs level B German in other words an acceptable standard of reading and conversation skills but it's not an easy language learning it as a foreign language is complicated there are lots of structures and sometimes when you're learning a foreign language you forget the grammatical rules Catalina is doing an intensive language course in bogatar run by a German placement agency it starts at Absolute beginner level and lasts 7 months students must study several hours every day and they're not allowed to work on the side in return they receive a stipend of around €300 in Colombia Catalina studied pedagogy and psychology she's qualified to work as a kindergarten teacher in Germany she's looking to improve her career prospects I think Germany with its multiculturalism is the perfect place for me to work and do the things I want to do it feels like a unique opportunity for professional development Catalina and her classmates will soon take the B2 level German exam if they don't pass the language course will continue with a reduced stipend not everyone passes first time the goal is that everyone succeeds but it's very difficult to reach B2 level until Catalina passes she won't get her visa and she can't move to Germany the pressure is on of to sex Cuban Yan montejo has lived in Germany for for around 8 years right now he calls Berlin home but he still doesn't have permanent residence does is this is my face every year when I have to extend my Visa at the immigration office I don't know what to expect I could get one more year or 6 months or maybe no Visa at all that's the feeling I'm trying to express here Yin came to Germany because he fell in love with a flight attendant in Cuba they both got married there and wanted to live together in Germany but despite the marriage getting a Visa was not easy in order to come to Germany me and my then wife had to prove that we were together and for how long we had to print out photos to show the authorities even if you're married if you don't have good proof proof of things like that you might not be allowed to travel in Germany the love didn't last and the couple didn't want to stay together purely for immigration reasons for 3 years Yen has had to renew his Visa annually that's meant dealing with Germany's immigration office again and again that's been bad because it takes a while a long while to get an appointment at the immigration office during the co 19 pandemic it took so long that his residents permit officially expired he even lost his job because of the delay the size man sometimes it means you don't have a job for one or two months because the Visa takes so long I've even lost my apartment before because if you can't work then you can't afford it for y it's a stressful situation you never know what to expect at the immigration office you don't know how long you'll have to wait or whether the person you need to speak to might not be there or if it will turn out that you're missing some document or other things work differently in Germany now is waiting to be given an appointment at the immigration office in Berlin it should result in him finally getting a German permanent residence permit after 8 years in the country that's if everything goes according to plan about a month later yon is preparing for his appointment I'm definitely anxious but I've got a confirmation from the immigration office so everything should really be okay and it shouldn't take too long it's only a few minutes drive to the immigration office once there yyan first has to register at the gate Berlin's immigration office has a large security presence and there are lots of people waiting for appointments yin's conversation with the employee at the gate lasts a surprisingly long time I have to come back at 12:45 qu to one because they changed the appointment time and the reason for this change they just said that they changed it and that I should be happy because now I have some extra time so yyan has a few more hours to wait for the all important permanent residence permit he just has to hope the appointment will actually happen for many people scheduling problems like this are hard to Bear but why is the system so unreliable like many others around Germany Berlin's immigration officials didn't want to talk on camera but the immigration office in remite in North Rin West faia agreed to let us film 38 employees currently work here more than double what they were around 8 years ago department head Dima murak says that since 2015 demand for appointments has skyrocketed of course 2015 saw the surge of refugee arrivals that everyone remembers a great many people came to Germany including to remite around 2013 2014 there was something like 17,500 immigrants in remite now it's 24,000 authorities aren't just struggling with increased numbers of migrants and refugees they're also underst staffed the office in remite sees High staff turnover because the pressure is too much for some claraa lyster is one of those with an extreme workload after my training the first thing I had to learn was that I'd never get through all the work on my desk that's pretty much impossible it's really stressful including the decisions you have to make that's not always easy either having to say to people I'm sorry I can't extend your Visa you'll have to leave the country the emotional strain is one thing then there is the lack of digitization which makes working in Immigration offices more difficult it's pretty full here but in the other office where my desk is there are so many that sometimes we have to put them on top of the folders We have to put them there because no more will fit in here the lack of digitization is a widespread problem in Germany there are increasing calls from government workers for politicians to take action back in bogatar Catalina has passed the language test on her second attempt she now qualifies for a work permit she's been recruited by a placement agency to work in Germany and she's looking forward to the move I want to try living outside my country away from my family to see if I can handle it and to see whether I'll decide to stay before setting off Catalina spend some time with her older brother a she's the youngest of three siblings and the first to immigrate I want her to enjoy it to travel and make the most of it her brother wants to visit her soon too this is hanau in central Germany Catalina will be working in a kindergarten like this one in Germany there's a shortage of almost 100,000 kindergarten teachers that's about 80 missing employees in hana's daycare centers alone skilled workers from abroad can at least help the city fill some gaps so far it's working well we have the feeling that people deciding they want to work overseas is a really big motivating factor factor Daniela NAIA is also from colia she's been in now for about a year things haven't always been easy for her that's better that's the weather is tough we don't have seasons in Colombia so winter here was very hard for us and the language too those who have the support of an agency and a job offer have an easier time dealing with German bureaucracy it's different for those who are doing everything themselves like yen montejo in Berlin after yet more waiting he's on the way to hopefully finally collect his permanent residence permit I'm definitely nervous but hopefully everything will work out this time there are still lots of people waiting in front of the office once again Yen has to check with security before entering okay this time he's allowed to go into his appointment after a few minutes he's back yes it worked it took a while but it worked and I have the card with me this is my old one and this is my new [Music] one finally Yan montejo has permission to stay in Germany indefinitely after 8 years countless appointments and lots of problems it's a huge relief feel I definitely feel better I won't have to come here anymore this I can get on with my life get the next possible step for Yen acquiring German citizenship but that too will likely be a long road with a lot of hurdles and surprises along the way

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 238,185

Keywords: Documentary, DW documentary, full documentary, DW, documentary 2023, dw documentary, documentaries, Documentaries, Immigration, germancitizenship, cuba, colombia, germany, migration, RhineRiver, RobertHabeck

Id: 6etSCFwqMY8

Length: 12min 26sec (746 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 06 2023