Residency

My German green card expires in 2 weeks. I have had to renew twice since moving here, because German green cards expire every 3 years. I was really excited to hear that after living here 5 years, you can apply for permanent residency. Aaahh, that sounds lovely. I would be so happy to be a permanent resident! Life would be great! So, I asked about it 2 weeks ago, when we went to the Rathaus (town hall) to renew my residency permit.
I can apply, but am required to give them all sorts of documentation to support the fact that I am basically a good person :)
The same night, I quickly gathered all my documentation to hand in to the authorities. Only thing that I would need to get, biometric passport pictures. Those lovely new passport pictures in which you are not allowed to smile, which I find extremely upsetting, because my smile is a part of me :)
Well, here we are on January 20th, and I still do not have a biometric passport picture! It is the one thing we keep forgetting. To make matters worse, we´re getting down to the wire now with my residency permit! Argh!
We´ve decided to go back with the short-term permit, because we`re kind of out of time! I do miss not having to renew residency status at home. Alas, I will never take citizeship or residency for granted again!!