Raven vs. (dotdotdot)

Raven vs. The Free & Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Isn't it fun how old news becomes current news?

I dug up my old court ruling from that time where I had that legal battle to get my work permit. Now I need it because the federal employment agency here in Hamburg has taken going on 5 months to decide whether or not they want to renew my work permit (which is vital for my residency permit). I would very much like them to do so, but, as usual, they aren't making it very easy for me. Over the past few months, I've fretted over my future here in Germany and have even gone as far as researching and tentatively planning to elope with Frosty to Denmark (the Vegas of Europe) just to get these guys off my back. In the end, however, for all the benefits that marriage to a German would provide me -- the disadvantages for him marrying my foreigner-ass seem to be much greater at the moment. Add to that the gigantic hassle that is getting hitched in Germany (please explain to me why the hell a German ID-card or driver's license valid for many years, but why I need a copy of my verfickte birth certificate that's not older than six-months?! What?! Are they afraid that I'm some kind of zombie?!).

Anyway, right now, I'm gonna try to get my new residency/work permit via the Beschäftigungsverfahrensverordnung §9 (a long-ass German word for which I have no tidy translation). Long story short, Section 9 says that you can get a non-company sponsored work permit if you've been paying at least two years into the German social insurance system. This is what I will have been doing as of July 1, 2009. However, my whole court case slightly complicates everything because the court granted me permission to work in mid-June 2007, I started working July 2007, but my case wasn't over (i.e. the federal employment agency didn't condede to a settlement) until January 2008 (which is when I got the "official" stamp in my passport). However, I have been paying taxes on my income uninterrupted since July 2007.

Does your head hurt already? Because mine does. Such is the life of an immigrant. Not recommended for people who absolutely need to plan their lives ahead of time. I have files, huge files for someone who didn't grow up in Germany and who isn't an asylum seeker. It makes the simplest visit to the immigration office a gigantic pain in my ass. Not enough to make me leave, but enough to make me declare this shitty song as my official "Let's Go to the Ausländerbehörde"-Song:



Fine. I probably hate it just as much or as more as you do, but everyone needs a battle song. It just so happens that my name -- in addition to being a fucking awesome, giant, scary bird that will fuck your shit up -- is also a verb in German that describes a music genre/movement of people who are the love children of hardcore construction workers in neon safety vests and Super Saiyan warriors from Dragonball Z.


However, they do tend to make flyers that relate quite well to my personal situation, despite the fact that I'm not into their music:

A flyer from Frosty: "Raven against fools"

And...

Raven against Tuesday

On Tuesdays, you can only go to immigration office if you've arranged an appointment about 2-3 months in advance. So, yeah...I guess it's true. I'm not really down with Tuesdays either.

Are you in Germany, do you see signs/stickers about things that I should be against?
Hint: they usually start out with "Raven gegen..."

Make a picture and send it to me. I need to know what I'm supposed to not like.