Family reunion with German spouse or child

If you are married or will get married to a German citizen, or if you are a parent of a

German child and wish to seek gainful permanent residency in Germany (or staying in Germany longer than 3 months), it is required to obtain a residence permit in the form of a visa.

A visa in order to live in Germany is a national visa and does also entitle you to enter the other Schengen countries for the duration for up to 90 days for tourist purposes.

Upon submission of ALL the required documents, the application will be forwarded to the competent German authorities. Permanent residence visa applications take up to 12 weeks to be processed. After the application has been approved, the German Embassy will issue a residence permit in the form of a visa with the duration for the first 90 days. A final residence permit will be granted in Germany by the Aliens Authority. The Aliens Authority requires all residence permit holders to register upon their first arrival.

German language skills:

In order to facilitate integration, applicants must prove basic German skills when applying for a visa.

Competency in the German language in this case means that the applicant has the ability to communicate in German on at least 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 which performs testing in accordance with the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) are accepted. These requirements are only met by the Goethe-Institute. For information on language tests at the Goethe-Institute, please visit their webpage: https://www.goethe.de/ins/ro/ro/index.html

Exception:

- If the applicant shows sufficient German language skills by the time of the visa application at the consulate, no further proof would be required.

- If the applicant seeks a family reunion with a German child

Other exceptions may apply. This can only be determined after reviewing ALL documents during you appointment.

- Valid passport (issued within the last 10 years and valid for at least 6 months after leaving the Schengen area with at least two empty pages)

- Valid resident card, duration covering at least the visa duration procedure

- Application form fully completed, duly signed

- Passport size picture, not older than three months with a bright background and frontal view of the face (please do not attach the picture to the application form). Digitally-altered passport pictures will not be accepted

- Copy of your passport’s data page

- Copy of your resident card (both sides)

- original marriage certificate, when applying for a spouse reunion visa and

copy OR

original birth certificate long form of your German child and copy, OR registration of marriage appointment in Germany and copy

All above mentioned documents have to be presented together with a multilingual form, according to the CIEC-agreement, or depending on the country an Apostille or legalization. Certified translation into German might be necessary.

- Proof of German language skills, at least level A1(see requirements above)

- Proof of housing in Germany, including full address and postal code (e.g. renting contract, hotel reservation, OR invitation letter in case of private accommodation, with name and passport copy of the inviting person)

To be provided after the approval of the visa:

- Flight reservation to Germany, rail tickets, bus tickets, or others