“My name is Fatih. I was born in Turkey and hold a degree in Business Management, among other qualifications. I’ve been working as a software developer at TraSo since November 2021. I started out working remotely from Turkey. I’ve been living and working in Leipzig since February 2022, and my wife Merve has also been living here in Leipzig since March 2023. We’ve been married for 6 years, and my wife is an English teacher.

I started developing software as a hobby when I was a child. Now I’m a software developer with over 10 years of experience. I applied for the software developer position at TraSo via LinkedIn. Our interviews began in July 2021. Before that, I worked at the Turkish branch of Generali. I quit my job and started working at TraSo in November 2021.

Since Turkey is not a member of the European Union, I applied for a work visa.

Since I didn’t have a visa yet by the time I was supposed to start work, Daniela Gerdes from TraSo came to Turkey and we met in person. She brought me my laptop, introduced herself, and explained the first steps at TraSo. I began working remotely.

I was given an appointment at the German Consulate in Ankara for November 15, 2021. The appointment lasted a total of three hours, and I was interviewed by two different consulate staff members. They asked me questions that were similar to those asked in many police interrogations, and I found some of the questions to be very naive, such as:

• How did you find a job in Germany? (When I told them it was through LinkedIn, they asked me what “LinkedIn” was.)
• Why did TraSo hire you? Aren't there any software developers in Germany?
• Do you know who owns TraSo?
• Did you pay someone to hire you?

The staff weren't interested in documents such as my professional background or signed letters of recommendation from companies. However, I was given a five-page English test in which I had to demonstrate my English proficiency. My visa application was denied for about a month because I had studied business administration rather than computer science.

I applied for a visa again, and the whole process repeated itself. In early February 2022, I finally succeeded, and on February 26, 2022, I arrived alone in Leipzig, Germany. TraSo provided me with a furnished apartment for the first few months; although I quickly felt at home there, I naturally missed my wife.

My wife was a teacher at a public school and couldn’t quit right away because she was under contract. At the end of my first year in Germany, she wanted to apply for a family reunification visa and join me once the process was complete.

I’m glad to be living in Germany and working at TraSo since I arrived, but we’ve encountered some difficulties caused by German state and municipal institutions. Here are a few examples:

– I wanted to receive my residence permit at the end of the sixth month; I had submitted the necessary documents to the Immigration Office. But my father, who has cancer, had to undergo surgery. For this reason, I wanted to travel to Turkey for one week. Since my six-month visa was about to expire and I hadn’t yet received my residence permit, I was unable to travel. I needed what is known as a “provisional residence permit.” When I asked about it at the immigration office, I was told that no such document existed and that no one had ever been issued one. My colleague from TraSo’s HR department then called the immigration office on my behalf and explained the situation to them. The immigration office said that such a document did exist and that they could send it to me by mail. The only difference is that I spoke to them in English and my colleague spoke to them in German.

– When schools in Turkey were on break, my wife wanted to come to Germany. She applied for a visa to do so. Since she is a tenured teacher, she also submitted all the necessary official documents. However, her visa application was denied. The reason given was that there was a possibility she might not want to return to Turkey.

– My wife applied for a visa again for the upcoming school break. She gathered the same documents and submitted them once more. The result was the same: her visa application was denied.

I traveled to Turkey because my wife was unable to join me during the school break at the place where she would be living in the future. I planned to return to Germany a few days after school started. But on February 6, 2023, a major earthquake struck Turkey, affecting the city where we lived and 10 other cities. Our house was destroyed in the earthquake; we lost everything. The school where my wife taught was also severely damaged, and people we knew lost their lives.

A few days later, I sent an email to all German consulates in Turkey. I explained the situation to them and told them that I wanted to come to Germany with my wife. The German Consulate in Izmir said they would help us. TraSo’s human resources department contacted the immigration authorities, who expedited the process. As a result, my wife was granted a family reunification visa.

On March 25, 2023, my wife and I arrived in Germany together. So, while the earthquake was a terrible tragedy, it was also the reason my wife was able to obtain a visa quickly and was told that she could live in Germany permanently.

My wife is currently reviewing her professional background so that she can work as an English teacher in Germany. She is also taking a German language course and learning German.

“We are very happy and grateful to be here, but it would be better for migrants like us if some of the procedures were simpler and faster.”

We are very happy to have Fatih on our team. He is not only an outstanding developer but also a wonderful person who enriches our team in many ways. He is working hard to improve his German, and we hope that his wife will soon find a job as an English teacher in Leipzig.

– Haiko Gerdes, Managing Partner, TraSo GmbH