It is a thorny topic but at the heart of anyone intent on living happily in Germany with their spouse.

Often the language requirements for dependents wishing to join their spouse cause enormous headache and pose a significant impediment. A battle is raging whether these newly tightened requirements in the Residence Law conform to German Constitutional Law.

The Administrative High Court Berlin-Brandenburg has now confirmed that these requirements do neither infringe Constitutional Law nor European Law.

The plaintiff having married her spouse in India in 2004 applied for a dependent residence title one year later. The Authority rejected the application. The Administrative Court upheld this decision in late 2007 citing that the plaintiff was not able of demonstrating the required language skills as demanded by the Residence Law as of 2007. The plaintiff appealed to Administration High Court.

According to 2nd Senate of the Administration High Court Berlin-Brandenburg the demonstration of basic language skills prior to entry to Germany do not give rise to constitutional objections. Yardstick is the constitutionally enshrined protection of marriage as laid down in Art. 6 Basic Law. The Court states that language requirements are appropriate and commensurate to bring about the desired objective of the Residence Law, i.e to initiate, facilitate and advance the integration of the joining spouse to Germany.

The Senate has admitted the case to further appeal to The Federal Administrative Court.

Rechtsanwalt_Jain@yahoo.de

Hi,
I need some info regarding spouse visa. My wife applied for the dependent visa at Chennai in March. We have submitted all the required documents mentioned by the consulate. I saw some forum members mentioning that the consulate or the ABH may ask for verification of the marriage certificate if it is not attested by the home ministry. So we got that too attested by the Home department (which they do after doing a police verification) before it was submitted to the consulate. Last week my wife got a mail from the consulate saying that the local immigration office (at Stuttgart) has asked for a verification of the marriage certificate and for that we have to pay Rs. 8000 and have to wait for 12 weeks for the decision. I went to the ABH today, and the official there said the same thing. He said that even if it is attested by the President/Prime Minister they will still ask for verification as India is one of the countries listed by the relevant German ministry as a country where there is a possibility of fraud in documents submitted. So no matter who attested/issued the document, they will still ask for verfication (at applicants cost). Its nonsense, absolute insult of the country, its citizens and the institutions. Wonder what the Indian embassy is doing when such laws are floated under their nose. Do you know which law states such rules? Where can I find them? Will it help if I approach a lawyer? Thanks in advance.
Rajesh

@ Rajesh

Just cool down. This is normal procedure, which almost 95% ppl here are facing. So you are not alone. If ABH wants verification, then lawyer cannot help you. Just wait and let them do their work. Your wife will get visa in couple of weeks.

Good luck.

Rajesh,

Indeed it is the height of Bueraucracy.

you are right there are umpteen documents to demonstrate that one is married legally like Marriage certificate, Home ministry attestation, Passport Spouse details, Also perhaps DNA sample if couple has kids etc.

Take it in your stride.

Good luck
Truster

>>Its nonsense, absolute insult of the country, its citizens and the institutions.

Yes Sir, rise up, fight them and show us the way. You can also address your complaint to the following address
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Infoservice/service/AllgemeinesKontaktformular.jsp

>>Wonder what the Indian embassy is doing when such laws are floated under their nose. Do you know which law states such rules? Where can I find them?

Ask the same person who said about the rules. They would be able to guide you. Or you can read in this document and see if you can find your answer
http://www.konsularinfo.diplo.de/Vertretung/konsularinfo/de/05/download/Urkunden__Auslaendische__oeffentliche__inDeutschland,property=Daten.pdf

@rajeshs999

Certain women are deemed born genuine/intelligent as compared to those from poor third-world countries and therefore exempted from language-test as well as marriage fraud verification, provided she hails from any of following nations:

EU-Staaten,
EFTA-Staaten,
Australien,
Israel,
Japan,
Kanada,
Neuseeland,
Republik Korea,
Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika

Have a nice weekend ;-)