Hello everyone,

I have a NE and working in Germany. My wife has Aufenthaltserlaubnis and currently in India.
We are expecting a baby soon and since the baby will be born in India, we have to apply for Visa to the baby. In this regard, i have couple of questions. Hope you guys can answer.

1. Baby Visa application type is Long-term Visa ?
2. We expect to be ready with Baby's passport when the baby is around 3 weeks old and then apply for the Visa. The general rule for long-term visa applicants to my knowledge is that the applicant is mandated to appear for Personal interview at nearest Embassy(in our case, Chennai) and give biometric thumb impressions. Does the same rule also applies to Newborn baby applicants ? I wish not since it would be difficult travelling with the baby from our home which is farther away from Chennai. So considering this practicality issue, are new-born baby applicants given any exemption or relaxation from appearing for personal interview ? May be application by post or any other person besides mother or baby can submit the application ?  

Your inputs are very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.   

Hello lerninfo15,

I can tell you the following from my experience.

1. Your visa type is Family Reunion.
2. Personal appearance to submit the application is mandatory in all case. Application by post or by an authorizer person is not possible.
3. The rules for bometric information is not applicable to kids below 6 years of age. But you still need to provide a photograph which meets the biometric specifications. All that is needed is the kid must have his/her eyes open. You can put the kid on your lap and get the photograph taken. The photographer can crop the photo to remove your body out of the picture. There is another way which worked for us when my kid was 10 days old for the passport application - I put my left palm on my kid's bottom and I put my other hand through my kid's dress on the back side to support the backbone and head with my index finger. The photographer then took the photo and my body parts were not at all in the photo.
4. You must present the original birth certificate and pay the verification fee. You can then expect their lawyer to come to your place for verification. Once that is done, they will issue the visa after sending the report to the ABH. Since both of you have residnce permit, ABH will send their approval straight away.

I hope this helps.

Hello gsg,

Thanks for your quick reply.

1. You have mentioned that Lawyer verification to verify the Child will be made where-in their Lawyer will visit our home. Will this verification be conducted mandatorily on all applicants ? Since Baby's Birth certificate and Passport will already contain Father and Mother names and since both me and my wife already have German Visa, is this Lawyer verification still needed ? How much application processing time can we expect with Lawyer verification AND without Lawyer verification if at all such case exists ?

2. The checklist for German national visa - family reunion for children, asks for the following document:
Certificate of acknowledgement of paternity, if applicable. 
Is this certificate needed and who issues it ? And again, Birth certificate and Passport already contains Father and Mother name. So this extra certificate is really needed ?

Hello again,

1. If you apply for a visa for any other country, then your argument is valid and we all know that. But the Germans think that Indian public documents (birth, marriage, school certifiates etc) have no face value!!! They think you can buy these certificates in India. So this verfication is mandatory. Unless you are very very lucky (which I don't know), unfortunately you have to go through this proces. Their lawyer normally comes one month after you pay the verification fee. After that visa process can take 1-2 months depending on how quicky the consulate sends the verification report to ABH and how quickly the ABH responds to it. It varies from one ABH to the other and also depends on how efficient file manager at the ABH who deals with your application. HAVE PATIENCE AND DO NOT PANIC. It will happen, but will take hell lot of time. 

2. I have never heard of it. I do not think it is necessary to get the certificate of acknowledge of paternity, as long as you have a birth certificate. I guess it is needed only when only one of the parents exists, the othe one does not.

But it does not matter what I think or what I guess!!! This document seems to be in the checklist for South Indian applicants. I don't find this document in the North Indian checklist. So I recomend you to contact the Chennai Consulate for a clarification, without relying on people like me or anyone else here. If the consulate says it is needed, then you have to get it. Just call them or send an email and ask. 

All the best.

@lerninfo

Detective verification is mandatory and takes between 3-4 months depending on whether you live in a city or a remote area. In past their were some fraud cases reported, thats why German authorities want to make sure the authenticity of your parenthood. The deteive lawyer will visit your home, the Hospital where the Baby was born and will also investigate the local registration of the child.

Me and my wife are both German citizens, our baby was also born in a non-EU country, it took almost six months from the date of application to the issuance of Passport.

If you have any possibility I will personally advice you to plan Baby's birth in Germany, or else be prepared for anywhere between 3-4 months.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regards, Raj++

P.S: this is not a legal advice