“At 7:58 a.m., a guy comes out and sticks a note on the door: "No walk-ins today due to system upgrade."
The woman with the thermos just nodded and packed up her puzzle book. Like it was a totally normal Tuesday.
After my move, I called them up. 47 minutes on hold. Then: "You can also deregister by fax."
I went into a pharmacy in Prague and asked if I could send a fax from there. The pharmacist looked at me like I'd asked to send a telegram. She ended up doing it anyway, probably out of pity.
So far, so good.
A week later, I call again. "The fax arrived. But we need the original signature."
So why offer the fax option in the first place?
"I can't tell you that."
So I drove back to Germany. Five hours. 6:30 a.m. outside the citizens' office. This time it worked.
The clerk types everything in, stamps it, prints out the deregistration certificate—perfect. I'm just about to get up.
"Oh, wait a sec. You've already been gone for three weeks. The deadline is two weeks. That's a violation, and I have to report it."
I explained to her that I'd booked an appointment on day one and the citizens' office just wouldn't give me an earlier slot.
She looked at me totally calmly and said: "That's not my problem, and besides, it's not my department."
Yesterday the fine notice arrived: 35 euros.
To my new address in Prague. Of course, they're super quick about that here.
This is the best Germany of all time.”
The woman with the thermos just nodded and packed up her puzzle book. Like it was a totally normal Tuesday.
After my move, I called them up. 47 minutes on hold. Then: "You can also deregister by fax."
I went into a pharmacy in Prague and asked if I could send a fax from there. The pharmacist looked at me like I'd asked to send a telegram. She ended up doing it anyway, probably out of pity.
So far, so good.
A week later, I call again. "The fax arrived. But we need the original signature."
So why offer the fax option in the first place?
"I can't tell you that."
So I drove back to Germany. Five hours. 6:30 a.m. outside the citizens' office. This time it worked.
The clerk types everything in, stamps it, prints out the deregistration certificate—perfect. I'm just about to get up.
"Oh, wait a sec. You've already been gone for three weeks. The deadline is two weeks. That's a violation, and I have to report it."
I explained to her that I'd booked an appointment on day one and the citizens' office just wouldn't give me an earlier slot.
She looked at me totally calmly and said: "That's not my problem, and besides, it's not my department."
Yesterday the fine notice arrived: 35 euros.
To my new address in Prague. Of course, they're super quick about that here.
This is the best Germany of all time.”