Dear friends,

I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the warm weather finally.

I had a question related to Spouse Visa Application at the German Consulate in Mumbai. After going through the threads, I see that in addition to the requisite documents, one also needs to submit the Marriage Certificate translated in German (translation done by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai for example). Is this document an absolute must? And is it also necessary for the marriage certificate to be attested by the Ministry of External Affairs and whether this attestation can be done either in Pune or Mumbai?

Moreover, has anyone recently applied for a spouse visa in Mumbai? How long does the Visa process generally take at the German Consulate in Mumbai? Do the papers on submission at the Consulate in Mumbai sent to the local foreign office in Germany and when? Would be of great help if one could inform with the details/preparations of the same.

Hoping for a prompt reply.

Wishing you all a nice week ahead.

Regards,
Monty

1) Translation and attestation is not necessary. However, the birth certificate has to be in English. Marriage Certificate MIGHT :-) be verified (which could take 4-8 weeks).

There have been cases where translated and attested document have been sent for verification.

2) I applied in Chennai. Once you submit your application. The application would be forwarded to the local office in Germany on the following Friday.

In the best case, your visa would take 3-4 weeks and in the delayed case upto 4 months!!

Good luck

@Monty,

During my wife visa process, she applied from Chennai.

We submitted the following important documents.
1. Marriage Certificate original copy notaried and duly attested and verified by our State department we called Secretariat. This was accepted by German Embassy, Chennai.
(No need for me to submit German translation in Chennai)

2. German Language Attendance Certificate for A-1 from Goethe Institute. I have not submitted any offical German Course Certificate which we say "Start Deutsch-1 A-1". Also I have notaried this one as well.

In Auslanderbehorde, Germany.
I have to translate my marriage certificate in German by a German translator. Auslanderbehorde has not accepted my German translated copy from India.

I hope my experience may help you.
feel free to ask more details.

Cheers,
hereshaik

Hi hereshaik,

Attestation by secretariat is compulsory and asked by chennai embassy???

i planned to submit my documents in VFS, bangalore.

Documents are,

marriage certificate translated in german,

Goethe institute certificate

birth certificate,

invitation letter,

my job and house contract, visa, salary slips and letter from my company.

After submitting in vFs, bangalore i will get a interview appointment. This is my understanding.

Is it ok? Or do i need anything more??

Do u have a copy of invitation letter(german). Can u pls give us by email or Post??

Any help would be nice. Thanks.

Hello Monty,
I stay in Heidelberg and my wife applied for a visa from Chennai.We did the following

1)Provided translated/attested the wedding certificate by the Indo-German commerce chamber.

2)Provided Goethe A1 certificate.

3)Provided other required documents as asked by the German consulate.

These details were enough in our case and my wife got a visa issued in 1 month with no marriage verification.

Ultimately it depends on your Visa status in germany and the local foreign officer in Germany handling your spouse's application concerning the speed/style of processing.

Best Regards
Dev

Attestation is not required by Secretariat is not required.. On diplo.de website it is mentioned that there is no standard procedure to verify Indian official documents, so they might send the document to their lawyers for verification.

Dear friends,
I thank you all for all you replies and the requisite information.

@Hereshaik,
Where did you get your marriage certificate in India translated from? I have read through the threads here and have noticed that generally a marriage certificate translated from the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is accepted at the Consulate and also by the Ausländerbehörde. So was just wondering as to why wasn't your translated certificate accepted by the Ausländerbehörde. Did they gave any genuine reason for not accepting it.
Also, where did you then get your marriage certificate translated in Germany?

Sorry for having bombared you with further questions but would highly appreciate your help for the same.

Wishing you and everyone a nice weekend.

Regards,
Monty

@Monty

I had applied in Mumbai for my wife in April 3rd week.(Just after 2 weeks of marriage) What I have observed is thatthe local foreign officer in Germany handling your spouse's application is the important person. We submited all certificates in English only. They did not ask for language certificate.(This it is compulsory for now. Got visa approval in exact 4 weeks. I submited house rent agreement and salary to show that I can support her and I hand written request for my wife visa and marriage cartificate.


Best of luck !!!

Cheers
MM

Hello everyone,
@Mannemohan,
I thank you very much for your reply and for the information.
I however have a question for you. After handing over all your papers at the German Consulate in Mumbai, were you also called up by your local foreign office to show your original documents again? The reason for me asking you this question is because I intend to submit my wife's papers in the first week of December 2008 at the Consulate in Mumbai and then myself come down to Germany in the first week of January next year hoping that she gets her Visa before I fly and that she can join me directly. Could you kindly inform me in detail in this regard.
Moreover, my fiance has already passed the German Exam (Level A1) from the Goethe Institute and so the language certificate aspect has now been solved.
If it is not a problem for you, could you please kindly let me know your contact number (landline as well as mobile) so that I can get in touch with you or even your mail so that I do not disturb the others here in the forum.
Sorry for my questions but would highly appreciate your prompt reply.

Wishing you and everyone a nice day and a pleasant week ahead.

Cheers,
Monty

you can mail me at crmvamsi@yahoo.com

@monty,

you can mail to hereshaik@googlemail.com