German family Reunion / Dependent /
Spouse Visa
If you want to move to Germany to join a family member who is working or living there, a German family reunification visa will allow you to move to Germany with an eligibility to work in Germany.
Certain relatives or partners will qualify for a family reunion visa to Germany if they meet certain requirements. For the purpose of family reunification in Germany, your visa conditions will depend on the status of your relative or partner in Germany.
If you are a citizen of the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA, EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or Switzerland, you don't need a residence permit to enter and work in Germany. However, any family member who is not from the EU/EEA or Switzerland should apply for a Visa from your respective home Country in order to enter Germany.
Requirements for Family reunion - Spouse Visa:
Please note that in order to apply for a Spouse Visa it is important that your marriage is officially registered in your Home country. The spouse can apply for a dependent or a Family reunion visa only when the partner living in Germany meets the following criteria:
- The Spouse living in Germany should be a highly qualified person (E.g. Engineer, Doctor,..) holding a Blue card
- A Researcher having a copy of the letter confirming your scholarship or work contract
- Self-employed or a Freelancer
Basic German language skills is required only for the Researcher's Spouse. For the Blue Card Holder's spouse, the German language skills are not mandatory.
Requirements for Family Reunion - Children Visa:
- Children younger than 16 years can join their parents without fulfilling any conditions.
- If the child is between 16 and 18 years old, they will need to be either fluent in German or be able to integrate easily into German society (which is judged by the German embassy/consulate at the time of processing the application) in order to get a Visa permit for Germany.
However, the requirement differs if the parent holds a Blue Card or a Residence Permit.
Visa Application Process:
The Visa application process is sectioned as below:
1. Make an appointment in the Embassy
2. Documents Needed
3. Application Submission
4. Document Verification by Ausländerbehörde in Germany
5. Approval Email
1. Make an appointment in the Embassy:
Select an Embassy and book an appointment in Online. The date and timing of the appointment can be selected by you according to your convenience. There are chances that the Embassy's might be overwhelmed by rising number of the applications, so it is advisable to make an appointment in prior. In my case, I got an appointment only after 30 days from the date of booking.
In India, we totally have 5 Consulate as listed below, each Embassy's area of consular jurisdiction covers different states.
- Delhi Embassy covers the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Minicoy and Amindive. The German Embassy in New Delhi also represents the Federal Republic in Bhutan.
- Kolkata Embassy covers the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura
- Chennai Embassy covers the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the Union Territory of Puducherry
- Bengaluru Embassy covers the states of Karnataka and Kerala
- Mumbai Embassy
Once an appointment is booked, you will receive a confirmation Email. Never forget to take the Hardcopy (printout) of the received confirmation Email, Make sure to reach the Embassy atleast 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment.
2. Documents Needed:
The below mentioned documents should be provided by the applicant and the Spouse living in Germany
- Original Passport of the applicant
- Application Form & Declaration (can be downloaded from the reference link below)
- Personal Covering letter by the applicant explaining the exact purpose
- Inviting letter by the Spouse living in Germany
- Copy of applicant Passport
- Passport Copy of Spouse living in Germany
- Proof of residence (“Meldebescheinigung”) of the spouse living in Germany, not older than 6 months
- Copy of spouse’s residence permit (Blue Card or Permanent Residence), if applicable.
- Proof of marriage -
- if the marriage was performed according to the Hindu Marriage Act:
- Registered Marriage Certificate (I have done an Apostille)
- several photographs showing that the essential rites have been performed
- if the marriage was performed according to Shariat Law:
- Nikahnama
- Marriage certificate (registration)
- conversion certificate, if applicable
- several photographs (i.e. bridal couple signing Nikahnama, Kazi, witnesses)
- if the marriage was performed according to Special Marriage Act (“Court Marriage” , “civil marriage”):
- Certificate of Marriage according to Section 13 Special Marriage Act
- if available photographs of marriage or function
- if the marriage was performed according to the Christian Marriage Act:
- marriage certificate issued by licensed Church
- conversion certificate, if applicable
- Birth certificate issued under the “Births and Deaths Registration Act”, 1969
- Matriculation Certificate or Middle School Board Certificate or school leaving certificate including the date of birth
- Proof of Residence in India (Ration card of the applicant covering the past 4 years or Aadhaar Card (unique identification card) or Voter’s ID
- Academic degree certificate, if applicable
- Proof of German knowledge (A1 level)
- Copy of the valid employment contract and salary slips of the last three months of the spouse living in Germany
- 4 passport pictures according to biometric specifications, not older than 6 months
- Demand Draft for verification of documents
Prepare two identical application sets consisting of copies of the above-mentioned documents and bring all your original certificates along. DO NOT staple any documents. In case a document is not written in German or English, it has to be submitted together with an English translation.
Please note that the German Missions reserve the right to ask for additional documents or, in rare cases, further investigations of certificates, for which additional fees would be charged.
3. Application Submission:
You will need to submit your family reunion application form to the German Embassy or consulate in your home country. Please note that the visa applications will only be accepted by the Embassy from applicants residing in the respective states. Keep the 2 set of documents arranged in the order mentioned above.
4. Document Verification by Ausländerbehörde in Germany:
Generally, the submitted documents are initially scrutinized by the German Embassy in India and then the documents are forwarded to Ausländerbehörde in Germany. Once the documents are received by the Ausländerbehörde, they will verify the received documents and an Email or Post will be sent to the Spouse living in Germany asking for the below documents
- Wohnraumnachweis from Landlord
- Arbeits- und Verdienstbescheinigung from the employer
- Other documents, if needed (varies from city to city in Germany)
5. Visa Approval Email:
Once the document verification has been completed by Ausländerbehörde, a report will be sent to the German Consulate in India. Based on the report you will receive a Visa approval Email or Verification (Marriage - In case of Spouse visa/ Birth - In case of Child visa) Email.
In my case I first got an Email which says that my Marriage verification has been triggered and I need to submit my original documents along with a DD. After doing so, I received an Approval Email after a week. It is mandatory to submit the original passport for Visa stamping along with the mentioned documents
- Travel Insurance
- Ticket Copy (Blocked or Original)
The Passport can be collected back from the Embassy after a week time. The Visa processing duration might vary from person to person. In general the complete process might take 8-12 weeks.
The information given here is personally from our experience. Hope you will find this blog useful and please feel free to contact us for further queries or drop your feedback in the below comment section.