By Anne Rieger
Germany is the country of bureaucracy and taxes. Or so I thought. Let me tell you the story of how I tried to get a part-time student job in Ireland as a non-citizen. After weeks and weeks of applying for what feels like a thousand different openings, I finally got a trial. I was so good (or I would like to think so, they probably didn’t even care that much) that they employed me after 30 minutes of work. I was over the moon, I could finally pay my rent AND go grocery shopping in one week, what a fantastic development. Goodbye to Aldi pizza and plain condiments, maybe I could finally afford to cook again. Or so I thought.
My first week of work came closer and closer and I was excited and happy and because I worked in Ireland previously, I could even proudly present my PPS to my manager. When I received the starter form I stumbled upon the first problem: I needed an Irish bank account. I was never really planning on getting one, but I guess it was time for me.
I googled my way around the world wide web and found out that it was impossible to get one without a proof of address. So far so good, I do have an address. But I have never seen or spoken to my landlord, as I rented my room from my flatmates and they certainly didn’t know how to prove that I lived where I lived (as if my constant sickness wasn’t enough proof that I was actually living in Ireland).
I finally got my bank account without the proof, because the guy working at the bank went for coffee every morning in the place that I worked at. My next issue was Revenue. Now, if you ever had to go into their office you know what I’m talking about. They deleted my account since last year so I had to get a new temporary password, which you can only get by letter without certain documents, such as an Irish drivers’ licence, a P60, or proof you’d paid tax before. So, I went in and asked if I could get my password there and they just told me to order it by post, which meant I would be emergency taxed on my first pay check (goodbye grocery-shopping dreams).
I will never complain again about getting a job in Germany, as these past few weeks went into the books as the week that I learned a lot about myself in stressful situations. I call this story ‘my often-romanticised time in Ireland’. Thank you for your attention and talk to you soon!
