I have been having trouble trying to release the lever under the hood on my 2009 Jetta. the interior lever seems to be working but when I attempt to depress the hood lever it won’t budge! I like to check my oil on a regular basis and I have never had this challenge before. any direction in a remedy would be greatly appreciated! I’m also worried that if I am able to release it that I will not be able to secure it afterwards, rendering my vehicle inoperable. I am strongly considering just taking it for an oil change and “springing” the dilemna on the garage 
I think there was a call from someone with this same program on Car Talk, in that case I think it was the cable that was stuck, and the guys said a mechanic would have put the car on the lift, and then could access the hood latch from underneath somehow. I think your idea of springing it the oil change guys has merit. They may have already learned how to solve this, since they deal with hood latches every day.
After opening the hood from the inside of the vehicle, grab the safety latch under the hood and then lower the hood slightly and move the latch.
Tester
On my cars you push the hood lever up, or pull the catch forward, to open the hood. This presumes you pulled the release inside and it popped up part way already. You might want to go to a VW dealership and play with the used cars to get more familiar with how things are put together so you can see where your car is different.