Why are grandparents so much gentler with their grandchildren than they once were with their own children? Probably because grandchildren come along at a point in life when a person is no longer so consumed by work, politics, or friends. And they finally have the time to realize how little time they gave their own children — so now they try to make up for it with their grandchildren.
Most of our readers are people who came to Germany from countries of the former Soviet Union. Many of them left children and grandchildren behind in their former home country, whom they would love to see more often — but that isn't always possible.
Appealing a Visa Refusal
A refusal to issue a German visa can be appealed in court — it's important to meet the procedural deadline and prepare a convincing justification of the purpose of the trip.
A man came to our law firm — let's call him Arkady. His story is as follows. His wife had died back when they were still living in Russia, and Arkady was left with a daughter who was already an adult by then. When all their relatives moved to Germany permanently, Arkady decided to submit his documents too and try his own luck, so to speak. His daughter, at the time, had just started a new job and was about to get married, so it was decided that the father would go alone and they would see what happened next. Arkady obtained all the necessary documents and set off for distant Germany. Having known German since childhood, he adapted fairly quickly. Life among relatives and new acquaintances wasn't dull, but he still wished he could see his daughter more often, and his health problems were starting to catch up with him. A year after her father's departure, his daughter — let's call her Irina — also decided to apply for late-resettler status. Unfortunately, this did not succeed, since she did not meet all the necessary conditions. By that point, Irina was already pregnant, and decided not to create unnecessary stress and problems for herself and her future child. By the time her son was born, Arkady was already ill and could no longer move around quickly on his own, so trips to Russia were out of the question for him. His one and only wish was to see his daughter and grandson. When the boy turned 7, Arkady's daughter finally decided to travel to see her father together with her son. Arkady sent them an invitation, and Irina, as required, applied at the embassy for a visitor visa to visit her father. All the documents were in order, but... she was refused. She was simply in shock: she had come to terms with not living in the same country as her father, but had never expected to be denied the chance to even visit him. She tried several more times to find out the reason for the refusal, but got nowhere and simply gave up. She suspected the refusal was related to the fact that she had previously applied for permanent residence and been refused, and that officials may have feared that, once in Germany on a visitor visa, she would take steps to stay there permanently. There was, in principle, some basis for that concern, since her father was ill and living alone in Germany.
Irina called her father. She was very upset, and worried that the refusal might harm her father's health. Arkady, on the contrary, tried to comfort his daughter, saying that he very much wanted to see his grandson and his daughter, and had no intention of giving up. He turned to our law firm for help. After telling us his story and describing his daughter's difficulties, Arkady asked us to help her obtain the visa. Our lawyer explained to the client that he would need a power of attorney from his daughter, since we would be representing her interests specifically. Once we received that power of attorney, we contacted Irina by phone, found out all the details of her situation, and explained what steps she needed to take and what documents to send us. Once we had the necessary information and documents in hand, all that remained for the lawyer was to gather any missing documents and file a petition with the embassy.
The lawyer prepared an application to the embassy on our client's behalf requesting a visitor visa, along with his own supporting statement. Under the law, applying for a visa is not an entitlement but a right that still needs to be earned — an embassy's refusal to grant it is, in substance, a final decision. But there are cases where a refusal decision is not entirely, let's say, objective, and in such cases, this needs to be pointed out. And not merely pointed out, but argued — explaining why this particular individual should not raise this or that suspicion. In his supporting statement, the lawyer pointed out that his client had never previously violated the terms of a stay abroad. Furthermore, the refusal of permanent residency in Germany that Irina had received several years earlier had no bearing whatsoever on the current trip. The client had not attempted to challenge that refusal or taken any other steps to unlawfully obtain permission to stay in Germany. The purpose of this trip was not to live in Germany or obtain any kind of residence permit, but to visit her father and other relatives living in Germany whom she had not seen in several years. The lawyer also pointed out that his client was married, and since the trip was planned only for her and her son, it made no logical sense to conclude that she would not return — after all, her husband would remain behind in Russia. The lawyer attached to the letter a duly certified copy of the client's marriage certificate, which confirmed that she had been married for more than 10 years — indicating a stable marriage, and giving the German embassy's consular section in the applicant's country no grounds to assume that the woman had decided simply to leave and abandon her husband in another country. The thrust of the lawyer's argument was to demonstrate that the client had plenty to lose in Russia, and would certainly return. He pointed out that Irina worked as a deputy director at a reputable company and had a stable, good income that she had no intention of giving up. A certificate from her workplace, provided by the client, was attached to the supporting statement, stating that she had been granted regular annual leave for the period of the trip. All of this pointed to the trip being planned only for a specific, limited time. The lawyer also provided information showing that the client owned real estate in Russia and had no intention of selling it. In this way, the lawyer put forward several circumstances (arguments) all at once, pointing to the haste with which the embassy had reached its conclusions in refusing our client a visa. That said, our client still had to meet certain additional conditions to be granted a visitor visa, and the lawyer noted her compliance with those as well in his supporting statement.
At the end of his supporting statement, the lawyer pointed to certain legal steps the embassy could have taken to confirm that our client would return to Russia, and that the sole purpose of her trip was to visit her ailing father. Any authority is entitled to make decisions based on the documents submitted and at its own discretion, which is often fairly subjective. But in our client's case, the decision, in our view, had been made too hastily, without the documents being thoroughly examined. After reviewing the lawyer's supporting statement, the authority reconsidered Irina's application. She was granted the visa and was able to visit her father in Germany, and Arkady finally got to meet his grandson. Our clients were, without exaggeration, overjoyed.
No matter how complicated the situation you find yourself in may seem, and no matter how hopeless your circumstances may appear, it's never too late to try to find a way out. If you can't solve the problem on your own, entrust it to someone who can handle it professionally — a qualified lawyer who not only knows, in theory, what rights and options are available to you, but who, thanks to their experience and knowledge, can actually help you.
We would also like to note that our articles are of a general, illustrative nature. Some readers, having read our publications and found their own situation similar to one described here, may be tempted to treat them as a step-by-step guide to follow. You are, of course, free to try to resolve your own problems using the material drawn from our publication. But... it's worth remembering that no two situations are ever exactly alike, just as no two life stories are — each one is, by its very nature, unique. So please remember the golden rule: do yourself no harm.
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