In one of the issues of the newspaper "Law and People," in the column "Solving Your Problems in Russia and Other States of the Former USSR," we published an article titled "A Violation of the Law Occurred When Dissolving a Marriage (Family Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan)." In it, we told our readers how the incompetence of a registry office employee turned into an ordeal for our client — quite literally.
Let us recall this story. Yulia — as we called our client — married a German national and filed documents with the German Embassy, wishing to reunite with her husband. But officials suspected her of entering into a sham marriage in order to obtain a residence permit in Germany, and refused her application. Yulia turned to our law firm. While reviewing the client's documents, we discovered that her current marriage was actually her third. From her first marriage, she had a daughter, whom her second husband later adopted. And it was in dissolving that second marriage that a violation of the rules set out under the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan occurred: Yulia had sought advice from registry office staff at her place of residence, wanting to find out whether she and her husband could dissolve the marriage at the registry office or had to go to court. The question arose because Yulia's daughter was still a minor at the time. The registry office employee stated that they could indeed dissolve the marriage at the registry office, since Yulia's husband was not the girl's biological father, and — in that employee's opinion — the rule requiring a court-ordered divorce whenever minor children are involved did not apply to adopted children. Yulia and her husband filed for divorce at the registry office and received the corresponding certificate. A few years later, she married a German national. The staff at the other registry office in Kazakhstan that registered this marriage attached no significance to the fact that a violation of family-law rules had occurred when dissolving the previous marriage. The officials at the immigration authority in Germany, however, did notice it, and asked our client to please explain how that could be.
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).
It would be no exaggeration to say that we, together with our client, carried out an enormous amount of work in Kazakhstan — we had to have the civil-status record of the most recent marriage annulled, have the civil-status record of the previous divorce annulled, have her divorce the former husband all over again, and then have her marry her current husband again. We sent attorney inquiries to the relevant government agencies of Kazakhstan asking them to clarify how to fix the situation. The regional Department of Justice told us that we should apply to the court. We prepared a claim to be filed with the court at the client's place of residence — the court refused to accept the claim, stating that we should apply instead to the court where the registry office that had dissolved the marriage was located. We prepared a claim for the court where that registry office was located, but that court also refused to accept the claim, stating that we should apply to the court where the registry office that had registered the latest marriage was located. We prepared a claim for the court where that other registry office was located, but that court, too, refused to accept the claim, stating that we should apply to the court … at the client's place of residence. We filed a complaint with a higher court. The higher court indicated that we should apply to the registry office itself. We negotiated with the court and demanded a decision on who was actually responsible for annulling the civil-status records, citing the relevant provisions of Kazakh law. Finally, the higher court issued guidance to the regional Department of Justice, referring to our arguments on how to proceed in this situation. The Department of Justice prepared two opinions for the registry offices ordering the annulment of the civil-status records for the dissolution of the marriage between our client and her former husband, and for her subsequent new marriage. On the basis of these opinions, the registry offices annulled the records. Once she obtained the required certificates, Yulia tracked down her former husband, and the two of them filed for divorce again — this time they were able to dissolve the marriage through the registry office, since their daughter had by then reached the age of majority.
It might seem that all the obstacles had been overcome and the couple could get married again. But it wasn't that simple: to marry a foreign national in Kazakhstan, you must submit a so-called certificate of no impediment to marriage, obtained in your country of residence. In other words, Yulia's fiancé — let's call him Alexey — needed to obtain such a certificate from a registry office in Germany. And obtaining it required the document annulling the marriage-certificate record in Kazakhstan to be recognized by Germany's Higher Regional Court. Yulia sent Alexey the relevant certificate from the registry office in Kazakhstan, bearing an apostille stamp, along with other required documents. Alexey had them translated into German and submitted them to the court. And that's where new obstacles arose: the judge demanded to see the Kazakh court's ruling on the basis of which the civil-status records had been annulled. Alexey turned to us again. We prepared and filed objections with the court, supported by our own legal arguments, citing Kazakh law, explaining to the court that a civil-status record in Kazakhstan could be annulled through a non-judicial procedure, and submitting excerpts from Kazakhstan's Marriage and Family Code translated into German. The judge finally accepted our arguments, but then demanded that we submit the Department of Justice's opinion bearing an apostille stamp. We again submitted our explanation of Kazakh law regarding which documents in Kazakhstan are subject to apostille certification. However, that was not enough for the judge — he demanded official clarification issued by a Kazakh government agency. We once again sent an attorney inquiry to the Department of Justice of Kazakhstan asking for the necessary clarification. Once we received a reply from the Department of Justice, we translated it into German and submitted it to the court, noting in the cover letter that the Department of Justice's opinion was an internal administrative document and was not subject to apostille certification. The court finally accepted our arguments and the documents submitted, and issued a ruling recognizing the annulment of the marriage-certificate record as lawful. All that remained was to bring the court's ruling to the registry office and finally obtain the certificate confirming that Alexey had no impediment to entering into a new marriage.
When Alexey called our law firm again, he seemed to be barely holding back tears — the registry office was once again demanding some kind of confirmation, but he could no longer make out exactly what. We called the registry office to clarify the situation. This time, the registry office staff had come up with a new idea — they had noticed that the Department of Justice's opinion did not state … when it entered into force. Attempting to explain to the officials that, first, the document's legality had already been recognized by a German court, and second, that it was an internal administrative document which, as a general rule, takes effect from the moment it is signed by an authorized person, got us nowhere. The officials demanded a written justification supported by provisions of Kazakh law. Once again, we analyzed the relevant provisions of Kazakh law, translated the documents into German, and submitted them to the registry office. This time, the registry office staff were satisfied with the explanations provided and their supporting justification. Alexey finally received the long-awaited document and flew to Kazakhstan to be with his beloved. We soon received a letter from Yulia and Alexey — they told us that everything was fine and that they had already gotten married again. Naturally, we were delighted for the newlyweds — we congratulated them on successfully resolving and overcoming all the obstacles that had stood in their way, and wished them well in preserving their love and their marriage, which had come at such great cost.
But now there is one more task left to resolve — if that's even the right word for family reunification and Yulia obtaining a residence permit in Germany. We helped the clients fill out all the forms, prepare all the necessary documents, and submitted them to the German Embassy in Kazakhstan. We very much hope that Yulia will soon set foot on German soil not as a guest, but as the wife of a German national with a lawful basis to live here together with her husband.
All rights reserved. Copying or republishing this article requires a link to the original source.
