This is one of those public service announcement posts that really needs to be searchable on the internet because bureaucracy is piece of work.

This post is most likely relevant to you if:

• You are a foreigner based in Germany,
• you have applied for a residence permit for your child who was born in Germany,
• and you are wondering when and how you will receive the permit.

The short answer is: you may have to collect the residence permit from the Bürgeramt that you applied it from. It should be ready for collection around 5 weeks after you’ve submitted your application.

The longer answer is… it may depend on which Bürgeramt you applied at. My experience is based on applying at the Bürgeramt Rathaus Mitte at Karl-Marx-Allee 31, 10178 Berlin. I’ve read on Facebook groups of parents having a different workflow. It seems to differ from Bürgeramt to Bürgeramt.

A quick shoutout to the floor operations supervisor at the Rathaus Mitte office - a wonderful guy called Ali who speaks English and German and a little bit of other languages. We got talking a little and it’s clear that he empathises with the people, saying things like “People are not here for fun. They are taking time off work to get something serious done. We must help them” and “We are the Bürgeramt that tries to be flexible.” If you haven’t already applied, I recommend trying to do it there just to know that you are surrounded by people like that. (My experience with the administrators there haven’t been as positive, though.)

TL;DR:

• The process takes roughly 5 weeks
• I collected my daughter’s Aufenthaltstitel (Residence permit) in-person without an appointment at the same Bürgeramt from which I applied
• I did NOT receive any form of notification of the outcome of the application. I just went down after 5 weeks (specifically, because I hesitated, waiting for a notification via email or post that never arrived, I went down after 10 weeks) and asked the floor staff to point me in the direction of the collection room
• There is a document collection room, at least in Bürgeramt Rathaus Mitte

Good luck, and take care!