When I returned to Germany from visiting Ireland earlier this month, I had a tiny bit of trouble re-entering the country. After checking my passport, the border guard asked, "Do you live here?" I told him that I did, and he asked me if I had an Aufenthaltserlaubnis (residence permit). I smiled and assured him that I did, and he re-examined my passport. After examining my permit, he informed me that I needed a new one because mine had expired on August 30. Naturally, I was very confused. I'd looked at the permit at least 100 times, and I knew it was valid until July 2007. Furthermore, August 30 was the day that I had arrived in Germany, and I hadn't received the permit until September.
I somewhat nervously explained this to the guard, and he once again examined the residence permit. This time, he noticed something which greatly amused him. He nudged the other border guard and showed my passport to him, exclaiming "Es ist falsch getippt!" ("It's mistyped!") Apparently, the officials at the Worms Ausländeramt had entered the information on a permit in a non-standard way. I have no idea whether I should expect this to be a problem every time German officials check my passport, but it sure did create a bit of excitement that night.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment