it's the other way round, only a few embassies don't issue an income declaration/affidavit (US, UK, AU). However it does affect most of the foreigners.
As a German citizen you might be able to get an income declaration from your embassy to extend your stay to one year. Then you don't need money in the bank.
Maybe others can tell you what visa is best to enter the country so you can extend your stay later.
for my yellow book they wanted the 'translation', but they meant transcription of my and my parents name, place and date of birth. I just transcribed them myself. They also asked for marriage certificate, which I don't have.