Hi, May be this topic has been discussed a million times already but my case i dont seem to find. I am an Indian citizen married recently an Indian woman. I have a Niederlassungserlaubnis according to §9 however during the application i had crossed-Highly qualified since i am also pursuing phD.After going through the rulebook, it seems to me that they are doing a very good job of scaring people to come here.My questions are many...
1.) Does anyone have any experience with mumbai consulate? I already had a bad experience in that we were told that one doesnt need any appointment to come to the embassy and when we ended up before the gates, they told us that since 30 april 2012, rules have been changed (which the guy on phone didnt deem necessary to inform me when i had called to take an appointment. Instead he just dismissed saying you dont need an appointment. And obviously they do not want to carry any responsiblity...). Money wasted, time wasted, energy wasted...
2.) As per language requirements, can one show that the wife is pursuing german language course and then apply for visa simulatenously? She has her appointment on the 23 of May.
3.) Name change: She has taken my name after marriage but her passport still has her maiden name. Its been not all that long since she we got married. So does one need to apply for a new passport? Any experience in this area?
4.) Someone told me that they have a special category for spouses of PhD students where they might relax the language requirements. Is it true?
Any help in this regard, i would be very grateful for experiences.
Thanks

1) Mumbai consulate is supposed to be the easiest one :-)...In Delhi normally waiting time of appointment is upto 4 weeks..also regarding the new appointment system, it was mentioned in the website of German cosulate Mumbai.
2) If your wife is having a Master degree, it should be easier...other thn that it depends on the convincing power, will be good if your wife can even speak a bit of German :-)
3) Name change: No idea, so you have change of name in marriage certificate?? I hope it should work as it is understable..
4) It always better to have German certificate, otherwise have seen some delays..

also after your wife submits the paper, it wil be best for you to meet the case worker here in Germany and provides all the documents provided that accessiblity is easy..

All the best and I hope a smooth visa process for ur wife :-)

punar80 : Thanks a lot. That was very quick and i am very grateful
Regarding the change of procedure, it did come on the website but it was if i am not mistaken updated on 27 or 28. I got married on 30. And the last time i took printouts was on 25.
She has started learning german. I went to the ausländeramt yesterday and they want an attested and translated copy of my marriage certificate. Any ideas who can do that. I enquired at the goethe institute. They dont do it apparently. I am back in Germany. Any sources info in Germany in BaWü region?
Thanks again

punar80: Sorry forgot to respond to your question. Yes her name has been changed. Someone who applied in Kolkatta told me that he got the entire passport changed. I am wondering if everything need be so complicated.
Thanks

But it's not mandatory to change the name of your wife, if the original name will ease things a lot, isn't it??

Hi, I am not sure if your task is done. If it is can you please put updates ?

Unfortunately it is still not done. They have cited rulebook as was expected.
They didnt mention a word regarding name change and since we have already
submitted our application in her maiden name, which was suggested by the consul,
we cannot get a new passport.

My wife did not get her name changed, so I might not be aware about
exact procedure. In our case too, we wanted to avoid unncessarily

paper work and waste/kill time in applying for her new passport that could come along with the changed name.

1. Mumbai counsal is better than Delhi at least as far I have heard. "Money wasted, time wasted, energy wasted..." Sorry but is normal if you apply to German embassy (especially for family reunion) in India.
2. In Delhi they expect one to pass the exam and show them the passing certificate on applying (at least in 2009). So I doubt if it is possible to apply simultaneously.
3. If her passport in still with median name, then I do not understand how you wrote earlier "that she took your name"? Did she got her name changed on her Indian ID-card, voter ID card etc..(which does not matter much for consul, untill you dont show them) Is her changed name mentioned on marriage certificate?
4. Never heard of some special category, but yes if your wife has done Masters, then the chances of excemption from German course wer high in 2009 in Delhi.

All the best!! Do not lose patience and keep struggling. Its matter of time (unfortunately runs in weeks)

Hi,

My wife got her name changed and we told hte consul officer. She however said to apply
in the maiden name because that is the name carried on her passport.  Confusing i know.
We asked them if we should get it changed on her passport, the consul officer simply
said if you apply on her maiden name then it should be ok. We just have a certificate
stating her name has been changed. She hasnt yet got it done on her passport or something...

Patience is what one needs at this time dealing with these people. I cannot imagine their
unsympathetic attitude towards us. To me it is clearly racist. Why ask us to produce
marriage certificate if they dont believe it anyways. Secondly, they are incooperative.
We are law abiding people atleast i know of that, I just want my due respect as would
be given to a german citizen. But clearly on the one side this country says they need
qualified workers and on the other hand, they formulate policies on the contrary. I guess
if anyone asks me in the future if they should come to germany, i would advise them against
it. I understand they need to verify, but if it was the reverse case, they would have accused
the Indians of having stupid rules and what not...

No offend meant, but why are you so strongly insisting on name change? I would suggest let it be what it is. Its unnecessarily paperwork. Anyway, your next generation will get your name as surname. At least in North in India, till last generation it was never a tradition/culture to get name changed of wife. Yes the children got father’s name.
 
“unsympathetic attitude towards us.. clearly racist.. incooperative.. law abiding people..”
Sorry for your pain, but it will be injustice to call them racist. They are rude and not cooperative though.
They have toooo stricter rules because many Indians came to Germany illegally, took asylum, social benefits, married Germans, many divorced them after getting a German passport, did multiple marriages in India etc. etc. Even many educated produced forged certificate (even from Goethe), showed engagement as marriage, registered at a Uni but came here to do labor etc.
Since I studied in India at good uni and school but paying taxes here rather than doing anything good for India, I am also responsible for the condition of these people who did anything to leave India and make career here. So no offend meant.
 
if anyone asks me in the future if they should come to germany, i would advise them against it.
I used to say the same when my wife had applied for visa but meanwhile I changed my mind like many.

All the best!!

@Strangerules

name change is not compulsory for a spouse visa. You made the situation complex and dont blame the consulate. Changing the name in the passport is the hasslefree way, as it will be good for future reference. Once in germany nobody will accept the name change certificate unless specified in passport.

We did the same thing ,applied spouse visa with the maiden name and got visa. Changed the name after coming to germany at the Frankurt embassy.

Patience is what need for a german visa process( spouse, study, visitor) . I have expirienced all the three visa processes.
Please dont come to conclusion like "racist behaviour". In some cases it make take more time in the process. I hope you get the visa approved soon.

Germany definetely need highly qualified people but at the same time they have to filer the fake applications, unfortunately which are more form inida.

@coolguy...
I am sorry but you seem to have misunderstood my mail. Please read the entire conversation in its entirety. 
I have never said that the problem has been with respect to the name change. And I am NOT blaming 
the embassy for that.
To me if they have different rules for people based on their nationalities that is racism for me.
I know that there have been cases of forgery and all by Indians and for that matter also
by people of other nationalities. Well I dont expect a different treatment or a special treatment
but if someone who has lived in Germany for so long and that i mean really long and has
an extremely clean record (please excuse me if i sound boastful), which i am sure many of us 
have been like that in their conduct, I would certainly expect them to consider that aspect
rather than putting us all in the same category. You jumped to their defense when i attempted
to call them racist, but the reverse is what they are doing with us: Treating all of us the same way.

Unfortunately, most of us accept the way they treat us. Most of us say it is ok for them to
keep us away from our families for so long.

@tonygill:

no offense taken
"Sorry for your pain, but it will be injustice to call them racist. They are rude and not cooperative though.
They have toooo stricter rules because many Indians came to Germany illegally, took asylum, social benefits, married Germans, many divorced them after getting a German passport, did multiple marriages in India etc. etc. Even many educated produced forged certificate (even from Goethe), showed engagement as marriage, registered at a Uni but came here to do labor etc."

They are rude to us and non-cooperative is what you say. But underlying this rudeness is the racist attitude that we are
not all equal. Might be many Indians came illegally, and they even know who came that way. It clearly reflects in their background,
their taxpaying status and where they work. I am sure they have the intelligence to set apart people who are working for
nicer companies here or for that matter doing research work at their universities. Clearly if they are able to work on par
with germans and other nationalities, there must be something. Here they have the system of past history where they can
even check the credit status of each individual. Surely that cannot be forged. 

"I used to say the same when my wife had applied for visa but meanwhile I changed my mind like many."

Well to be honest that is the problem. Just because your problem is solved does that mean their attitude 
towards us has changed? We let all these happen to us and think its ok for them to treat us this way.
Atleast adivising people against coming in the future would make these people think what they
are doing wrong with their immigration policy. It clearly reflects in their tone, come, work for us
and go back please. Obviously many humans will not do that. Anyways i might be rambling too much.
Thanks for your posts though. May i know how much time it took in your case? Was the verification done?
How long did they take to verify? 
Cheers 

May i know how much time it took in your case?
It took my wife few weeks (4 if I can recall correctly) after filing her application with German language certificate

Was the verification done?
Yes, verification was done. They saw wedding album even.

How long did they take to verify?
Can't say because I do not know what else they verify. Police verification etc.

By the way, the produre will be same for your wife to get visa even if you were a German. But if your wife is a French national (doesnt matter her race, can be Indian / chinese / African), the process will be different and she will not even need visa to fly to Germany. It all depends on her nationity and NOT RACE. Avoid using such heavy words for procedural set-backs. It sounds like "I am here because I am talented and qualified and my wife visa is taking time because Germans are racist."

All the best!

I get the point you are trying to make. But i guess your assumption behind that is that the world is an ideal place and everything works as it
is designed to be. An Indian having a french citizenship is obviously treated as a french citizen but obviously he/she cannot go to the No-Go areas
in Germany due to "racial concerns". But lets not get into a play of words and design some systems which are exception rather than the rule. An Indian from India is never treated in the same manner as Indian from France or even an Indian from the US. I never said that all are racists. Thats the bottom line as it appears to me. Why on earth they need 12 weeks of verification time in this day and age?

I also dont claim to be talented nor do i need preferential treatment. All I am saying is to be given the due respect. Nothing more nothing less. I like many others have worked hard for it and tell teh same story to germans regarding the visa procedures for foreign nationals and they will tell you you are not alone in being shocked.
Best regards