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1.11 Going to the government offices

Germany is one of the most bureaucratic countries in the world — Fact! Every aspect of your life in Germany is ultimately connected to a government office somewhere down the line, be it the passport office to get your residence permit, the local driving license authority for your driving license, the housing department, education, health, death and taxes you name it. Everything imaginable will inevitably have a department connected to it, so if you want to settle down in the Bundesrepublik, you must come to terms with this, and it’s not going to be easy.

To compound your misery as a foreigner, you will soon find out that every department contains a myriad of sub departments, and in turn these are divided into even more compounds, offices, corridors, booths, each and every one with its own area of responsibility. The tricky part is finding out who does what — and do not expect any help in figuring that out. Good luck!

To illustrate my point, I’ve included below a screenshot of a list of appointments, taken from the website of the transport department at my local governmental office. You are required to select the reason for your visit from this list — even though to the naked eye many of the options look pretty much the same.

Do not make a novice mistake of selecting something that looks more or less accurate, because if you do that, you run the risk of being promptly turned away. No pleading, arguing or crying will help you. You’ll have no choice but to go back home and make another appointment, one that exactly matches the reason for your visit. This also applies if you go without an appointment.