"Family is the most important thing there is in the world.
If you don't have a family, consider that you have nothing.
Conditions for Family Reunification
For family reunification in Germany, applicants generally need to prove sufficient income, adequate housing and, for spouses, a basic A1-level language certificate (§ 30 AufenthG).
Family is the strongest bond you will have in your entire life."
Johnny Depp
Germany's state order reveres and vigilantly protects the institution of the family, even where foreign nationals are concerned. Family reunification in Germany therefore remains one of the strongest grounds for immigration. But blood ties and family bonds are far from the only condition. Applicants for this type of residence permit must also meet requirements regarding language skills, means of subsistence, and adequately sized housing. These requirements apply even when the inviting party is a German citizen.
At the same time, the reuniting family member residing in Germany need not necessarily be a citizen of that country. It could also be a non-EU foreign national holding a permanent residence permit (a settlement permit, Niederlassungserlaubnis) or a Mobiler-ICT-Karte — the EU "Blue Card."
The conditions for relying on this ground for relocation are set out in detail in Section 6 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz of 30 July 2004 (the Act on the Residence, Employment and Integration of Foreigners, AufenthG).
Under the law, the right to a German residence permit through the "family reunification" program is granted to the following categories of applicants:
the spouse of a German resident, provided the marriage was entered into without coercion and not on a fictitious basis for the purpose of subsequent family reunification and the foreign national's move to German territory (§ 27(1a) AufenthG);
the minor, unmarried children of a German resident. If the child has reached the age of 16, they must demonstrate knowledge of German and the ability to integrate into German society based on their education or living conditions;
the parents of a minor, unmarried child residing in Germany;
other family members of the foreign national. Under § 36(2) AufenthG, other family members may claim a residence permit only where necessary to avoid extraordinary hardship — for example, to care for an incapacitated relative.
As the above shows, the family reunification procedure can seem both simple and complex at the same time. On the one hand, provided all statutory requirements and prerequisites are met, the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) generally has no problem processing the documents. On the other hand, those seeking reunification may, when preparing their documents, fail to fully grasp or correctly account for every nuance of the legal procedure, may fail to submit a complete set of documents, or may prepare insufficiently carefully and mistakenly submit contradictory information, which is likely to raise legitimate suspicions among the relevant authority's staff. Since any doubts in such cases can be interpreted against the applicant, this may result in a refusal of the coveted residence permit. A refusal on purely formal grounds is, of course, an extremely frustrating outcome for an applicant, since, given genuine grounds and a skillful approach to the case, the dream of moving to another country to reunite with a family member could otherwise have come true. In this article, we describe how we managed to help our clients achieve exactly that goal.
A young couple came to our law firm — Ilona and Andrei (names changed). At the time they came to us, Ilona was permanently residing in Germany on the basis of an unlimited residence permit, while Andrei was living in Belarus. The couple had met at a street festival in Berlin about a year earlier. Their romance developed quite quickly: after meeting, Ilona and Andrei spent three wonderful weeks together in Berlin, seeing each other almost every day. Besides visiting popular tourist spots, the couple frequently went to various restaurants, bars and clubs, and took several long bike rides together. By the end of Andrei's stay in Berlin, Ilona had even introduced him to her parents and her sister's family. Andrei then had to return home to Belarus, from where he stayed in constant contact with his new girlfriend. About a month later, after regular messaging and phone calls, Andrei invited Ilona to visit him. In Andrei's hometown, Ilona met his parents, relatives and friends. The couple felt very comfortable and happy together. Having settled matters with his own business, which he could also manage remotely, Andrei flew back to Berlin with Ilona and spent another month there with her. Toward the end of that month, he began saying more and more often that he loved Ilona, considered her the woman of his dreams and perfectly suited to be his wife, and even hinted that he was already ready to start a family. Over the following months, the couple took several more trips together — to Turkey, Spain and Greece. On one of these trips, Andrei proposed to his beloved in a romantic setting and gave her an engagement ring. Ilona, who felt the same way about Andrei and also dreamed of having a family, naturally said yes. They decided to register their marriage in Belarus and then hold a wedding celebration in Germany, inviting all of the couple's close relatives and friends. The couple then needed to resolve one of the key questions — where they would live going forward. As mentioned above, Andrei could run his business remotely, while Ilona had a permanent job in her field in Germany and her own two-room apartment. The couple therefore decided they would live together in Berlin. On the advice of Ilona's colleagues, the couple came to our law firm so that an attorney could advise and assist in preparing the set of documents for Andrei to first obtain a national visa, and then a residence permit under the "Family Reunification" program.
The attorney explained the particulars of the procedure to the clients and advised them on the list of documents needed to obtain the national visa, which had to be applied for at the German embassy in Minsk, Andrei's permanent place of residence. The young man gathered the set of documents and submitted them to the German embassy in Minsk. The attorney, having received the appropriate powers of attorney from the clients to represent their interests in handling the matter, sent them to the immigration authority in Germany (Ausländerbehörde) so that all information on the case would be forwarded to our law firm. About a month after the documents were submitted in Minsk, we received a letter from the Ausländerbehörde with a list of documents that Ilona needed to provide for the German authority to continue processing the case. This list included information on the young woman's income and mandatory expenses, details of the housing space available to her, a certificate from the social insurance fund showing her social security contributions, and other formal documents. In addition, the couple needed to conclusively prove that their marriage was genuine and not fictitious. To this end, a detailed letter was prepared describing the history of how the couple met and how their relationship developed, together with photos of the couple taken in various cities as their relationship progressed, as well as their correspondence and records of phone calls. All of these documents were carefully reviewed and analyzed by the attorney to ensure they met the Ausländerbehörde's requirements. Once the set of documents was fully assembled and thoroughly checked, they were forwarded to the immigration authority's staff for review. All that remained for the young couple was to wait for a favorable decision. Just three weeks later, word came that the matter had been resolved favorably and that Andrei needed to appear once again at the German embassy in Minsk to obtain a category "D" national visa. After moving to Germany, the young man had to register his address at his wife's apartment, arrange health insurance, and then obtain the corresponding long-term German residence permit, which was initially issued for a period of three years. Naturally, we supported our clients at every stage of this matter, through to its successful conclusion. We also explained to the couple that, after two years of living together as spouses in Germany, Andrei would be able to obtain a permanent settlement permit in the country.
The happy couple thanked us for a job well done, and we, for our part, added this case to our collection of successfully concluded matters and wished the young couple a long and happy married life.
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