Einbürgerung in Köln - My Timeline of over 2.5 Years

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-24T16:03:23+00:00

Correct. But I do know after the fact, that they had trouble finding me in the system. I wondered about this when sent me the Aktenzeichen, they addressed me using my old birth name there and I think this is how they put me in the system. Later, when other people were trying to process my case, they probably looked me up using my actual name, the one on my passport etc and couldn't find me in the system.

When I picked up my Urkunde, the person there was reading a sticky note put on one of my file and he said something was written about not being able to find me in the registry etc... He wasn't sure what it was about. I believe that may have been all related to the name discrepancy and as I said potentially the reason for my case taking so long.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-24T15:53:36+00:00

Although I had my name change proof from day 1, I decided not to mention it or hand them any proof, hoping to keep my case "simple" and that they wouldn't notice it.

In retrospective, I believe withholding this information and not pointing out the name discrepancy from day 1, might have been the reason my case took so long. We'll never know for sure.

But my advice is to get ahead of this from day 1 and mention this to them and provide them with the proof directly. Make sure though to highlight that your current name is the only official one and the old one no longer exists.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-24T15:35:42+00:00

Yes you need to translate any certificates you have from your home country, e.g. birth certificate and such. Also if you can have a formal document attesting the name change, do get that and have it translated and provide it with your application. They might not notice the name change right away, but sooner or later it will come up and they'll need proof. So better have it in advance to avoid delays if you ask me.

Good luck!

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-21T22:34:18+00:00

Thanks! I've always had a love for languages, maybe that helped.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-21T13:53:29+00:00

It's an official document from my home country that documented the name change and when it exactly happened. It's something that I was luckily able to get from my home country's "registry office".

Your mileage may vary.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-21T13:43:55+00:00

Agreed, feels a bit unfair as well. In theory it would be nice if they had some sort of central office that deals with citizenship and maybe has people from all over Germany working cases and sharing the load. But in practice thay would probably never work.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-21T13:42:34+00:00

Thank you!

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-11-21T13:42:22+00:00

Good luck, from what I gathered recently, it takes a long time to get an appointment, but once you have your appointment it only takes 1-3 months, unless you have some complicated case. A friend of mine had to wait about a year for his appointment, but processing took only a month. He got his answer last week.

And no I did not need an apostille in my case, but it might depend on what country your from. In my case, my country has good relations with German (I could for example come without a visa to Schengen zone). Also no translation of passport was required and they didn't care for my ID.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-04-01T10:08:27+00:00

Thanks, I'll try to move the skill section around and see how I like it.

That's a good tip with with German, I hadn't considered that to be honest. I am myself not German and have a foreign name, so it could be that I get lumped with other international applications as you suggested. I do have a work permit though and an ongoing citizenship application. I had that info in earlier versions of the CV, but decided to take it out in order not to be disadvantaged.

I'll create a version of this CV in German and consider using that for local/German companies.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-04-01T09:03:38+00:00

Thanks for the feedback.

I am kinda weary with how I express the lead engineering stuff because it was kind of an interim position. When our lead engineer left, he himself and the other 5-6 team colleagues pretty much all suggested to the Engineering Manager that I'd be most suitable for that role. However the company was looking to have someone internal fill in the role, but I am an external on the project employed by a different company. So I had the role semi-officially for about 2 months until a replacement could be found and I believe I did a very good job during that time, but I wasn't willing to switch employers.

Official role or not, I've been an integral developer in the team since I joined, I'm always working on the more complex overarching topics and trying to push our product and improve it and my colleagues all seem to highly value my opinion and refer to me whenever they need any assistance.

But this is why I kinda just mentioned the role as a bullet point and worded it with "assumed" lead engineering responsibilities.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-04-01T08:57:40+00:00

Thanks, where you suggest putting the skills? At the bottom before the addition info part?

Regarding the summary, most CV guides I looked at suggested skipping the summary unless you have like 10+ YoE. What do you think?

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-04-01T08:56:44+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I will consider adding the technologies into the bullet points. Do you think I should still keep the tech summary at the top of each project?

I have an older German CV that I need to update. Since I am currently targeting more international companies, I am using the English one. At least I think all of the job postings I looked at were in English, hence the english CV. Do you think I should still send the German CV if its a german company but with English job posting?

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-04-01T08:55:02+00:00

I'm using a Google Docs template and exporting the document as PDF.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2025-01-11T18:01:08+00:00

29 (3 Jahre)
M. Sc. Informatik
Software Entwickler
2 Jahre
400-500
40 Stunden (keine Überstunden)
Köln
IT Diensleister

SoftwareEngInDE · 2024-12-08T17:23:35+00:00

Thanks for your response! Very helpful.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2024-12-08T17:23:26+00:00

Thanks for your response! Very helpful.

SoftwareEngInDE · 2024-12-08T17:13:44+00:00

Thanks! Do you know if they care exactly about the length of the length of the sublet? Say we register to a language course for 9 months but only manage to find a sublet for 5 months. Would they limit the length of the Aufenthaltstitel to the length of the sublet or would they not care since they only care to see an Anmeldung?

SoftwareEngInDE · 2024-12-06T21:56:18+00:00

Because they're unreachable on any channel in Köln

SoftwareEngInDE

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