Can I Stay In Austria?
We had a fabulous sleep last night. All 4 of us went to bed at 9pm and as I write this now the kids and Ben are still in bed asleep (it is 4:30am Austrian time). It’s like my body knows that this is going to be my normal working time in 1 weeks time so I am awake and alert and ready to go. I will be starting work at 5:00am Austrian time which is 1pm Australian time. I have already set up my computer and logged in and checked in with the team to make sure all the programs are still set up and running which they are, so that’s great!
Today we are going to re visit the Visa office to see what the requirements are for me to stay for longer than 90 days. Trying to find this information out while in Australia was a feat in itself. I was calling and emailing the Austrian Embassy Canberra (canberra-ob@bmeia.gv.at) but because Ben wasn’t officially registered as an Austrian citizen in Austria yet we couldn’t submit any paperwork. They couldn’t confirm for me the address of the office to submit the visa or even any details on requirements, I really had to do some digging and called the Austrian Embassy in Vienna who tried to assist me as best he could, he was the one who gave me the address of the registry office in Salzburg. The Canberra Embassy had explained to me I would need to go to Vienna to register. Now if I had of taken their word as Gospel we would have been getting on a 4 hour train to Vienna to do this, so it was very lucky that the Embassy in Vienna gave me the correct information. However, as this is such an unusual case and doesn’t fall into their typical check boxes they were also very confused what I would be able to arrange.
Before I left Australia I did some research and discovered there is a Bilateral Agreement between Austria and Australia where Australians can stay in Austria for a further 90 days (after the original 90 days has expired) so this will give me some time to sweet talk my way into staying in the Country longer.
I must admit it is daunting meeting the kids Dean and seeing how wonderful the school is and the kids are getting excited about their new school and classes, we are setting up a bank account and getting established in Austria, even looking for our next apartment and keeping an eye on jobs for Ben so if I can’t stay because of whatever strict policies that they have, my abandonment issues are definitely rising to the surface and I have to push them back down. I was brainstorming this morning some solutions. A good friend of Ben is Scotty and his girlfriend has a house in Prague so I could leave the country and stay there for another 90 days and then come back as Prague is only 5 hours away but we will cross that bridge when and if we need to.
This is what the Canberra Embassy originally emailed me:
The processing of an application for a residence permit for family members can take up to 6 months. If you decide to submit your application in Austria, I recommend getting in touch with the competent authority (Department MA35 in Vienna otherwise the Bezirkshauptmannschaft) as soon as possible to discuss the application process. Further information can be found on the website oesterreich.gv.at (Third-country nationals – Stay in Austria (oesterreich.gv.at)).
When I went to their website it just takes me round and round in circles. It is not clear when researching the exact details.
The exact address to register a Visa in Salzburg is (Amt Fur offentliche Ordnung, Schwarstrasse 44, 5020 Salzburg - email - ordnungsamt@stadt-salzburg.at).
It’s now 1pm and we have had a day of visiting the Visa office, the bank and the registry and I feel like I have been slammed against a wall 3 times…..each time harder than the last. I’m not sugar coating it, it’s been tough.
So first up we went to the Visa office to register myself and initially I was told I could sign a declaration that stated within 2 years I would learn A2 German. So off we went to get the passport photo and to photocopy all my documents feeling very happy that the process would be simple and straightforward. When we returned with said documents the same teller told me that he had looked into it further and actually in fact I had to have passed my A1 German to receive my Visa and I needed to have health insurance set up. I wanted to yell at the poor guy and say “why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place and do your job properly”but of course I didn’t but when I walked out of there I felt so angry and a bit sad but a part of me kind of already knew this would be the case. Luckily I have already been learning a tiny bit of German with my course but now I will have to study and learn the language. So I have come to terms with that and will put all my energy into understanding the new language.
We then decided to return to the bank and continue setting up our bank account. Again we were told that we couldn’t have a joint bank account (after being told we could on first appointment) as I did not have my Visa. Whatever….lets’ just set one up for Ben and I will just have a card, that truly didn’t phase me, but then we were told the original registry forms that we filled in and submitted to the registry office were incorrect as we had put our Australian home in Cessnock as our primary residence and we could only open a bank account in Austria if Austria was our permanent residence - SLAM 2!
Off we walked back to the registry office to try and rectify this issue but we were then told we needed to redo all the forms and have the landlord re sign all the forms. SLAM 3!! How do you think I felt then!!!!! Ben was taking it really well and being so calm about it all but it just infuriated me that nothing was going the way I had planned. We can still resolve it but I really wanted to have a bank account set up so we could transfer our funds into an Austrian account. So now we are waiting to hear back from our Lessor when we can meet him again to sign more forms.
The rational side of me knows we will be able to set up the bank account and I will pass my German and receive my Visa but I want things now now now and I want certainty and this whole change of life has taken away all my certainty and all my control and its something I am now trying to adjust to.
We met the kids at a cafe for lunch and had yet another lecker mittagessen. At home I generally wouldn’t even go out more than a few hours at a time and leave the kids at home as I would always be concerned if they were ok or I needed to be with them, but since day 1 here I have felt so comfortable and at home and safe that the kids go out almost hourly by themselves and they just explore the city or they go and buy themselves something generally from the bakery for 1 or 2 Euros and the Schallmoos area is truly beautiful and has everything at your fingertips and within a 10 minute walk you are at the Salzach river. The apartment is really homey too and warm and quiet and I am starting to get my bearings of where everything is in the city as we have been walking everywhere everyday.
I’m sure once I have time to process the day and systemise a new approach to these hurdles I will have more of a positive outlook again that everything will all fall into place, but considering we arrived here with only 2 bags each and we are trying to set up our new lives, emerse ourselves in the new culture and also enjoy ourselves I’ve got to understand that I need to be patient and realise of course Germany’s processes are strict and its just going to take time.
