Yesterday, I received in the mail a most peculiar document. It stated that I had paid the semester fee twice. By filling out the attached form with my bank information, I could get the ~230 Euros back. I read the letter several times through. I know that I only made the payment once. Heck, I only had 250 Euros in my Sparkasse account when I made that payment. The only explanation I can draw is that CMU covered the charge. I have yet to find a paper trail, so I see some emails in my future. However, asking why I have gotten money is by far preferable to asking why I have to give money.
While submitting the filled out refund form, I decided to drop in on my dear friends in the Foreigner's Office (Ausländeramt). I have had a rather confusing time trying to figure out just what counts as financial support. My self written letter of parental financial support had been turned down. Then, someone in the office said my parents had to get a Verpflichtungserklärung for me from the German embassy in America. When my dad asked around, the American office said they did not give out said form for study reasons. I sent an email to the Ausländeramt stating that, and they said "um...that's new." Okay, not in those words, but effectively.
To make matters both better and worse, another student said that she just showed a statement from her American bank and that had bee sufficient. However, on the info sheet for students it had said that a simple bank statement was not sufficient! Otherwise, I would have just done that in the first place!
You can understand, therefore, why I felt ready to tear my hair out if I got another conflicting answer today.
After a 10 minute wait that felt like an eternity, the man I had emailed was free to speak with. After I made the whole situation clear, he said that I could show my bank statement, preferably along with the account contract. So long as my savings total about 7000 Euros, or 700 Euros per month of my stay, I should be in the clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment