Family Reunion Visa – joining German spouse
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Family Reunion Visa – joining German spouse, fiancé(e)
If you are married or plan to get married to a German citizen, or if you are a parent of a German minor child and wish to seek gainful permanent residency in Germany (or staying in Germany longer than 3 months), you are required to obtain a residence permit in the form of a visa.
The German Embassys tell the following story: "Once all required documents have been submitted, the application and supporting documents will be forwarded to the appropriate German authorities at the applicant’s intended place of residence and employment during his/her stay in Germany. The processing can take up to 12 weeks. As soon as the application has been approved by the German authority, the Embassy/Consulate will issue a national visa for the first 90 days of the intended stay. A final residence permit for a longer period (usually the first year of studies in Germany) will be issued upon arrival by the Aliens’ Authority."
Due to all kinds of reasons, this procedure - especially the time line - is not reliable.
Frequently the visa-procedure takes a lot more time.
Therefore it may be helpful to get assistance by a lawyer.
Although the family reunion visa is called a “national visa”, please note that it does also entitle its holder to enter other Schengen countries for a stay of up to 90 days for tourism purposes.
Usually the following documents need to be submitted
- original marriage certificate, when applying for a spouse reunion visa or
- original birth certificate of your minor German child, when applying for family reunion to join your minor German child or
- proof of filing a notice of intended marriage with the appropriate Registrar’s Office (“Anmeldung zur Eheschließung”) in Germany, when applying for a “fiancé(e)s visa” in order to marry a German national
- proof of German language skills at least level A1, original and two (2) copies when joining spouse or fiancé(e)
Applicants must prove basic German skills when applying for a visa. Competency in German means that the applicant has the ability to communicate in German on a basic level, i.e. holds a certificate of successful completion of a German language course level A1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Certificates issued by an institution, that performs testing in accordance with the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), are accepted. However, these requirements are only met by the Goethe-Institute.
Exceptions to the proof German skills:
- If the applicant shows sufficient German language skillswhen applying for the visa at the consulate, no further proof isbe required.
- If the applicant seeks a family reunion with a German minor child -
- If the applicant joins his/her spouse in Germany temporarily (please submit documents proving that only a temporary stay is intended)
