If you are married or will get married to a foreign (non-EU) citizen with permanent residency in Germany, or if you are a parent of a foreign (non-EU) minor child with permanent residency in Germany and wish to seek gainful permanent residency in Germany yourself (or stay in Germany longer than 3 months), you are required to obtain a residence permit in the form of a visa.
Once all required documents have been submitted, the application and supporting documents will be forwarded to the appropriate German authorities at the applicant’s intended place of residence and employment during his/her stay in Germany. The processing can take up to 12 weeks. As soon as the application has been approved by the German authority, the Embassy/Consulate will issue a national visa for the first 90 days of the intended stay. A final residence permit for a longer period (usually the first year of studies in Germany) will be issued upon arrival by the Aliens’ Authority.
Although the family reunion visa is called a “national visa”, please note that it does also entitle its holder to enter other Schengen countries for a stay of up to 90 days for tourism purposes.
➤ Two (2) fully completed and signed applications including declarations pursuant to Section 54 Residence Act
➤ Two (2) recent biometric passport photos
➤ Valid and personally signed passport – issued within the last 10 years, with at least 2 blank (visa) pages
➤ Two (2) uncertified copies of the data page of your valid passport
➤ Residence permit in your country
➤ Proof of address, e.g. valid driver’s license, utility bill, lease
➤ Original marriage certificate, and two (2) uncertified copies, when applying for a spouse reunion visa or original birth certificate of your minor child, and two (2) uncertified copies, when applying for family reunion to join your minor child or proof of filing a notice of intended marriage with the appropriate Registrar’s Office (“Anmeldung zur Eheschließung”) in Germany, and two (2) uncertified copies,
when applying for a “fiancé(e)s visa” in order to marry a non-EU citizen with permanent residency in Germany.
➤ Proof of German language skills at least level A1, original and two (2) copies when joining spouse or fiancé(e)
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.
Exceptions:
- 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 minor child
- If the applicant joins spouse in Germany temporarily (please submit documents proving that only a temporary stay is intended Other exceptions may apply. This can only be determined after reviewing ALL documents during your appointment.
➤ Copy of the registration in Germany (“Meldebescheinigung”) of the spouse/minor child/fiancé(e)
➤ Two (2) uncertified passport copies of the spouse/minor child/fiancé(e)
➤ Letter of invitation issued by the spouse/other parent/fiancé(e)
➤ Proof of housing in Germany incl. full address (e.g. rental agreement, hotel reservation or invitation letter in case of private accommodation with name, full address and passport copy of the inviting person)
➤ Proof of adequate health insurance cover
Health insurance coverage is required at the time of entry into Germany. Usually statutory health insurance coverage provided by the person you will be joining only goes into effect when you take up residency.
If you enter before, an additional private (travel) health insurance in line with EU standards (covering the entire Schengen area, minimum coverage of 30,000 €, valid from the day of entry for the entire stay) must be purchased for the duration of time until health insurance coverage will be provided by the insurance of the person you will be joining in Germany. Please ensure that your travel health insurance does not exclude protection if a long term or permanent stay is planned.
➤ Adults: 80 EUR Children 0-5 years: free Children 6-12 years: 40 EUR Children 12 years and older: 80 EUR