Berlin Travel Forum

Hi All,

I'm traveling to Berlin on a business trip for 2 weeks, from India to Berlin via Frankfurt.

Can you please kindly let me know the the immigration process.
I know only English, will it be difficult for me not knowing German ? Can you please let me know any tips to know the common general words to know...

I'm planning to stay at hotel near to my workplace. Kindly add suggestions.

I'm looking at these forum, are most of them are related to tourism, so could not find any relevant information. Any kind of information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,
Ravi

> Can you please kindly let me know the the immigration process.

You want to check with the local German embassy if you need a working permit.

> I know only English, will it be difficult for me not knowing German ?

Unlikely, though many Berliners learned Russian at school - not English.
It's always a good idea to buy a phrase book.

> I'm planning to stay at hotel near to my workplace.

And this would be where? :-)

> I'm looking at these forum, are most of them are related to tourism,
> so could not find any relevant information.

What exactly do you miss?

You really will need a phrasebook for signs and menus, so buy one which suits you.

Most people will understand at least a bit of English, but try to learn basic phrases for please, thank you, sorry, how much, where is etc. This page will help:


http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa091498.htm

As a citizen of India you need a visa for a business trip to Germany.

> an you please kindly let me know the the immigration process.
As long you have your visa for Germany there is not much process to talk about.
We also call the "immigration controls" just "entry controls" or "ID controls" (translated).
You show your passport with the visa and that's it. No language problem here. Guess the officers there would be rather confused if you start throwing some German words on them. In this case better stick to English.
Generally:
- some German phrases like for no, yes, thank you etc. will be appreciated (and you can't do much wrong)
- at places which are used to tourists/business travelers you can easily survive with English (airports, bigger railway stations, hotels, tourist offices, ...).
- keep in mind that your counterpart is not a native English speaker. And has learned in first place "English" English. Not exactly the derivatives of English you can find on the streets of India or Texas.

Dear All,
I'm really THANKFUL for all those prompt replies.

I have a TYPE C Visa.

I booked my hotel, (as this was 6km from my work place) at
ART OTEL BERLIN CITY CENTER W
LIETZENBURGER STRASSE 85
BERLIN, 10719

I would buy a phrase book as suggested..

THANKS SO MUCH,
Ravi.