working in germany. please help?

Question

i live in south africa.
my ancestors on my fathers side moved here to Escape some war that happening the early 19th Century. our surname had to be changed from krause to crouse. i was in germany on holiday for some time and have a swiss girlfriend. now i want to work there. i wont qualify for a work visa there. i wanted to know if its worth looking into as it was several generations ago. we have some Original Documentation but its spread out through my family.
would it be worth my time to follow up on this.
i do have family there but have never contacted them.
should i try to look into getting hold of them?

thank you any info is greatly appreciated.

ibu guru · Accepted Answer

Too long ago to be relevant.  Your parents needed to be citizens of Germany at the time of your birth for you to have German citizenship.  Grandparents, etc, are irrelevant.  Germany is very strict about citizenship, immigration, employment, etc.

See your other Qs - you have no qualifications for employment visa anywhere.

SAMIAM · Answer

you definatly need to contact your family living in germany. they would know answers more than we could find for policies change every day. They would know your best way to handle your problem. legal/or not. Would it be better to try to get reinstated as a german? or would it be easier to get other means. Questions that only a insider can answer.because your father changed your last name doesn't mean you wanted to.  see where i'm going with this. also, since 1/1/2000 the natzi riech law was abolished and it is now easier to get in. check witipekia (german law on citizenship)

working in germany. please help?

2 Answers