Re: Working in Europe, citizenship, etc.

[Jack Shaw <jsh -at- SOFTWARE-AG -dot- DE>]

The EEC (or as it's now called, the EU) permits member citizens
to move about freely and work in whatever member country they want.
The fact that old labor laws and identity requirements exist and
are still enforced in some areas, is changing rapidly. Fact: if
you're not a citizen of an EU country, you'll have difficulty
getting the work permit unless you are "pre-hired" outside the
particular country you intend to work in...in the latter case,
you make darned sure that the co. hiring you goes to bat for you
to get the work papers.

But in this age of telecommuting, maybe that doesn't need to be
such a hindrance.

As for the seemingly "racist" nature of the German citizenship laws,
those who are of German descendancy do have a claim on repatriation
into what is now Germany...the "Romanians" who have this claim are
in fact descendants of the "Siebenbergen Deutsche" who settled
that area for 300 years. The same goes for the "Volga Deutsche" who
were invited to settle in the area of the Volga River by Catherine
The Great of Russia. Both of these German minorities preserved their
language and traditions as best they could and, like most minorities
anywhere, were eventually either assimilated or ostracized. Stalin
drove the Volga "Germans" into concentration camps in Siberia at the
same time that the U.S. was "interning" Japanese-Americans.

Both of these German-extracted groups are eligible for repatriation
"back" to present-day Germany under exceptions to the normal German
citizenship laws. You also have the right to German citizenship if
your ancestors were German and you have maintained your German language
and/or cultural heritage. An old family bible is usually all the
proof you need. And about one month's salary to cover the fees.

As for the morality of such "racist" laws, one could also ask how
moral a law is that lets you buy American citizenship by plunking
down $1,000,000 or being able to hit a mean tennis ball while everyone
else has to take their chances in a lottery. One thing sure--it isn't
"...tired, poor and hungry..." or "...teeming masses, yearning to be
free..." time any more. I don't see where self-righteousness is in
order, do you?

Cheers,

Jack Shaw