EXBERLINER Issue 163, September 2017

COLUMN — Ask Hans-Torsten
Bills, bills, bills
Hans-Torsten Richter gives you
advice on surviving and thriving in
Berlin. Send your questions to
hanstorsten@exberliner.com
Q
Dear Hans-Torsten: My partner is
a US citizen and wants to stay here
permanently, but he hasn’t yet sorted out
his paperwork to apply for a visa. His 90-
day tourist visa expires next week. Can he
just travel get to a non-Schengen country
and get his passport re-stamped for another
90-day stay? — Bibi
A
Dear Bibi: Short answer: No! Mid-length
answer: what the hell were you thinking?
You can stay in the Schengen area for up to 90
days within a 180-day period. Taking a weekend
trip to Istanbul (outside Schengen) for a
stamp won’t fly at the Ausländerbehörde. Long
answer: appreciate that your partner belongs
to a very small, privileged part of the world
population, i.e. citizens of Australia, Canada,
Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and
the USA. These are the only non-European
passport holders who are permitted to apply
for a long-term study or work visa after they
have arrived in Germany – with the exception
of refugees and asylum seekers, of course. All
other nationals must apply for their work or
study permits from their home countries.
So back to your partner: Achtung, on his 91st
day in Germany, he’ll be an illegal alien! While
Americans are treated much better than most
others and will probably be given some leniency,
depending on the mood and disposition
of the German state official who finds out
about his overstay, he could be fined several
hundred euros and lose his chances of scoring
a longer-term residency permit. So, don’t be
stupid – get him to the Ausländerbehörde to
apply for a German learning visa ASAP. Or
if you can afford it, consult an immigration
lawyer to review your options today.
Q
Dear Hans-Torsten: I recently got my
electric metre reading back and – praise
Jesus! – I’m getting money back! A nice sum,
actually. The problem is that the account is
under my old flatmate’s name and they want
to transfer the amount to a bank account she
doesn’t have anymore instead of sending it in
the form of Guthaben (credit). I’m afraid the
money (which I paid entirely myself) is now
being transferred into the ether and no one
will see it. Do you have any advice on how to
rectify this, and fast? — Joni
A
Hey Joni: Your ex-flatmate needs to
write a letter to the electricity provider
instructing them to transfer the money
to you under your IBAN number. Remember,
this being Germany, an email probably
isn’t going to cut it. A printed, signed,
mailed letter should do the trick.
Q
Dear Hans-Torsten: If you suspect
your gas bill is too high, is there somewhere
to check to see what the average bill
is for a flat like yours? And if it’s extreme, do
you have a claim to get your gas company
(Gasag) to come look at the system? — Liza
A
Dear Liza: There are two main reasons
for an incorrect gas bill. First, they made
a mistake when reading the metre. Go read it
yourself and compare it to the amount of gas
the bill claims you used. If this is the problem,
it’s pretty easy to write to the gas company
for a correction. Obviously several weeks will
have passed since the metre was read, but you
should be able to tell based on previous usage
whether the bill is wildly off or not.
Then there is the heating system itself. It
sounds like you get your heat and hot water
from Gasetagenheizung, which just heats your
flat, and not central heating for the whole
building. Gasag has an app on its site that estimates
your gas consumption, but there are
many variables – how many people live there,
how many hot baths do you take, how warm
and snug do you keep your place in winter?
Instead of calling Gasag, ask your Hausverwaltung
to come and check out your system.
It’s their duty to keep it in good working
order. Its settings might be off, or it might
just need replacing. Send your landlord a
(paper) letter requesting they deal with it.
This won’t help you lower the current gas
bill but will help you keep future costs under
control. Or you could just start taking cold
showers. Builds character! In this country,
the word for “wimp” is Warmduscher.
You are not alone!
Call 030 787 5188
or 01803-AA HELP
Meetings in English
www.alcoholics-anonymous-berlin.de
FBW Update.indd 1 06/10/16 13:
SEPTEMBER 2017