I'm from Latin America and signed a contract with a German company in February. Since then, the company has been handling my relocation to Germany.
I'm still waiting for the pre-approval of my work from the Federal Agency of Employment; This is because I don't qualify for the Blue Card. The problem is that my start date has moved twice because my visa takes forever to process. The relocation agency in charge of this is very unresponsive, including the employer.
In the meantime, the company I'm working for offered me to relocate to Spain, and I'm pretty advanced in the process. Right now, I just have to go to the local Spain embassy and apply for the visa.
This got me thinking. The first alternative was always to go to Germany. Still, due to the uncertainty and unresponsiveness from both the employer and relocation agency, I rather play safe and stay with my actual company.
This is why I want to terminate the contract with the German company before the start date (well, I don't have an official start date now). The contract doesn't say anything about not being able to quit before the start date. I have the usual probation period of 6 months, but there is a clause that says I need to repay the amount of €3500 for the cost of relocation if I quit before 12 months of commencing work.
The repayment obligation is reduced by 1/12 of the relocation costs for each full month of continued employment after the start of work. The repayment claim may be offset against remuneration claims arising from the employment relationship, subject to the garnishment exemption limits.
Keeping in mind that I'm not in Germany right now, what can the company do in my case? I don't have a problem paying them the cost of relocation. I would instead prefer not to and finish this with mutual agreement.
Thanks in advance.