Hello,

I hope this serves as good reference to many who are (or will be) in a similar situation as mine. The good news for spouses of Blue Card holders - spouse is not subject to mandatory integration course AND gets work authorisation right away.

1. I arrived in Germany in Jan 2013 on an employment visa, and subsequently received a Blue Card in Feb.

2. We were marriaed December 2012 through a court registered marriage in Mumbai.

3. After marriage my wife got her name changed on the passport. We also had a joint bank account.

4. Wife applied for a family re-union visa on 21.2.2013. Application was accepted. Officer said they'll reply within 3-4 working days if more documents were necessary.

5. My wife had already taken the A1 exam in 2012. However, the visa officer said specifically that it wasn't required as husband is a Blue Card holder.

6. No response for 2 weeks. On 7.3.2013, wife received an email asking to pay INR 9500 as marriage verification fee.

7. On 27.3.2013, I received a letter from the Aliens Office in Munich asking me to submit proof of salary and accommodation. The officer in Munich showed me his official documents indicating that spouse visa applicants in India are subject to a marriage verification process. He said that once the Consulate submits its verification report to him, he will approve and send it back in 2 weeks.

8. On 19.4.2013, an agent from the Consulate visited my wife's residence. He asked a few questions, verified the address, checked her documents (ration card, Pan card etc.), rang the neighbours to ask questions about the family etc. About half an hour later he departed, saying that he will submit the report in 1 week.

9. So 1 week after that and 2 weeks of approval time as promised by the officer in Munich, my wife got a call on 7.5.2013 that her visa is approved and ready for stamping.

10.  In Munich, more good news! My wife applied for a residence card. The officer said she doesn't need any mandatory integration course, plus she gets work permit right away with the resident card!

Voila! Less than 3 months and it was done. Nonetheless, it seemed to be a long wait during the process itself.

Thank you so much for a structured explanation of the process.

Is there a need to have Tax card number?
After working for 5months (Have Blue card) and getting salary, my office admin mentioned today that I dont have Tax card number yet. 

Is there any issue and will this have any impact on Family reunion visa?
Each month my tax are getting cut.

Thanks
Mani.

Hi Mani,

There is no link between tax status and family re-union visa of spouse. Even if you are married but your wife is not living with you in Germany, you can't claim "married" status for tax benefits. So don't worry about that.

About your tax status: I'm pretty sure you have a tax number and you are in Tax Class 1, else your company can't process your salary. In Germany taxes are deducted at source, quite like in India and hence my company asked me to send the tax certificate soon after joining. If they don't have it, they will probably fall into legal troubles. When your wife comes to Germany legally on a spouse visa and when you do the registration (Anmeldung) at your local district office, then you can send this Anmeldung as proof of married status to the tax office and get yourself in Tax Class 3. You will easily save 300-400 Euros each month with Tax Class 3 (but I won't comment about the additional expenditure as a couple

Hope this helps.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the details of application for Spouse visa. This thread is going to be my reference for next couple of months as my wife is going to apply for Family reunion visa in 1st week of Dec 2013. Considering your expereriences our best bet to get that visa approved is around 1st-2nd week of Feb 2014 (considering no issues with documents and marraige verification).

Thanks.

Good luck nox. Take it easy and be patient.

Hi
It was quite informative and helpful. I see that the visa website diplo.de is not that structured and I am having trouble finding link to Spouse visa application form.

Can you please help me with the link as you have already gone through the process and also can you please update me if you have approached any third party company for assistance with your spouse visa process.

In anticipation of an early reply


Thanks Much,
Fayaz

Hi Fayaz, the spouse visa is in fact called as family reunion visa on the diplo website. This is the link to the Mumbai Consulate. Usually the information provided on the website is exhaustive, including the documents necessary for application. http://www.india.diplo.de/Vertretung/indien/en/05__Mumbai/Visa/Visa1/Visa__Familyre-union__Visa__Seite.html

I did not approach any third party for assistance for the visa application, and I advise you to not use any other services because the Consulate does not authorise any private agents.

The only exception was that the HR of my company in Germany provided me a relocation agency for finding a flat, residence card and other admin work in Munich. After my wife applied for her visa in Mumbai, this agency tracked from time to time the status of the application at the Alien's Office in Munich. But this is was just informal status tracking as the agency had good relations with the visa officer here. Else, you can only apply and wait for them to come back to you.

Hi,

Could you please let me know how you send the invitation letter to your wife for family reunion visa. I mean, did you send a scanned copy with your signature or signed print-out via post/courier?

I asked this query to Mumbai consulate, but have not received any response from them.

The reason for asking this is: for my initial 90 days visa, the Mumbai consulate asked me to get the original signed contract from the company. So, the company had to send me the original signed contract via post/courier.

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Hi Nox, I sent a colour scan of the original. Additionally, I also faxed a copy of the letter directly to the Consulate on the day of the appointment. As long as you use a letterhead with home and office address and attach a copy of your residence permit, this should be enough. Asking the Consulate is useless, 90% times they don't reply and 10% their reply is a standard "check our website".

Well, and if you are not pressed for time then you can send the original by ordinary post from Germany. It will reach an Indian address in 12-14 working days.

It's different when you apply for your own visa and the original working contract is mandatory, they only check and return it back. Same happened to me.

Hi All,

My wife got the visa recently in one and half months. To speed up the process Be ready with the following docs in advance.

1) insurance proof of ur wife : its just a letter from ur krankenkasse specifying that after the arrival your wife will be insured. The line nach der einereise is important so specify that explicitly to the krankenkasse.
2) salary slips last six months
3)wohnraumerklarung : its a formular that your vermieter have to be filled.
4)aktuelle arbeitsbescheiningung: from ur employer that you are currently working there
5) arbeitsvertrag.

The marriage enquiry in india normally takes 3 weeks and then the ABH normally receives the complete file of your spouse from india per post and then they process it here and post you letter  to submit these docs which takes minimum of two weeks, to save this period you can in advance submit all the docs at the ABH.

Thanks

Hi Sunny,

How does (1) work? Should I go there to the insurance office and simply tell them that I need a letter stating what you mentioned? Should I pay/give any other documents?

And you simply took an appointment with ABH and submitted the documents yourself? Will they have correct reference?

Thanks!

Hi All,

I came to Stuttgart, Germay on an unlimited employment contract on 10 Jan 2014. I have also got a blue card here. I have invited my wife now on a Family reunion visa.
We applied for her visa on 06 Mar 2014. During the visa interview, she was asked for a tentative travel date and she informed it to be 20 Mar 2014, and the interviewer was OK with this.

Today, I enquired with the ABH (Ausledersamt) if thy have received her application and documents. I was shocked to know that they have still not received the online application from Bangalore consulate nor the document original/copies.

I would like to know if this is normal or I contact the Consulate in Bangalore and ask about the status. Its 2 weeks now and we have not yet received any word on the verification of any documents.

Please do reply with your valuable exprience and suggestions.
- See more at: http://www.trust7.com/forum/-/message_boards/message/778983#sthash.VlhQZLWL.dpuf

Hi Kod,

Just seen your post addressed to me.

1) if you are having a gesetz versicher then just visit them and ask i need a letter for my spouse stating that ' nach der einreise' ur wife will be insured . they are goin to ask you for the german transalation of your marriage certificate.you can get this translation from india as well from the indo german chamber of commerce. According to words etc it cost me apprx 2000 Rupees. You need not to visit them just contact them on telephone and send payment via draft.

2)The day your wife will apply visa from her home country, The responsible ABH gets that information online the same day. so i just them and say my wife applied for the visa and i want to submit the required documents in advance to you since i am going out of germany for some dienstreise. this will save at least two weeks in the whole process.

Thanks

Hi 10Dulkar,

May be i  am replying to the post too late but anyway, Thanks for the informative post.
I would like to explain my current situation and would like to have some sggestions from you and fellow members:
1. My current blue card will expire by 20th July 2015 and will be ready for extension.
2. I am gettng married on 19th of april 2015 and will be applying for Family reunion visa for my wife from New delhi cosulate.

My questions are:
1. Do i need to update to AuslaenderBehorde in Germany about my marital status before my wife apply visa in New Delhi or both the things can happen parellel.
2. Will consulate make any objections while accepting the documents, due to Date of Blue card expiration is approaching near.
3. When should i file extension of Blue card to avoid hassle

Hello Harsh,

Your blue card expires on 20 July , but you can now already make an application to extend your BC. My wife applied for extension 6 months before expiry and they accepted the application. This will ensure that you receive new resident permit before your wife starts her visa application. It won't matter to you if you extend your residency now or in July 2015. But with this, all other questions are answered.

Hope that helps.

Hi 10Dulkar,

Thanks for the reply, even i thought the same, but the lady at auslaenderbehorde told me that i should come in May, after my marriage. But that will put me in a very dicey situation.
I am tinking of moving to new place which come under different aslaenderbehorde.

Perhaps you could try once again explaining your situation to another officer, if possible. Even worst case there's no reason to worry. As long as you have a valid BC the Consulate will accept your wife's application. Then when you apply for extension you will receive something from the AB that you can fax to the Consulate or have your wife submit a photocopy to the Consulate.

Hi 10dulkar,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I just received my residence permit and it begins on 25th May 2015 as per the travel date I provided. 

I am now planning to have a court marriage. My question is - will this mean my spouse can only apply for family reunification 2 years after I have lived in Germany? Or can she do it in a few months time considering I would be married before I entered Germany. Did you have the court marriage AFTER your permit came through or before?

Would be really great if you could respond to this.

HI moshcreature,

Not sure if I understood your situation well. You are in India at the moment and your visa begins on 25th May, correct?  What you have probably received is a visa and the residence permit will be issued to you once you arrive in Germany. Anyhow, the date of marriage has little to do with when you enter Germany. Once you are legally married, AND you have a German residence permit, AND a place of residence able to accommodate your spouse in Germany, AND evidence of sufficient funds (eg. salary slips), then your wife can apply for her spouse visa. Bear in mind that once she applies at the Consulate in India, you will receive communication from your local Aliens' Office for a short interview on an appointed date to ascertain your status. But if your wife applies before you fly to Germany, I'm quite convinced that the process will get complicated and perhaps invite greater scrutiny by the Consulate. And even then your wife most certainly won't get her visa before your travel date. Usually applying for spouse visa immediately after marriage almost certainly involves a marriage verification process in the Consulate that takes a few months to finish.

FYI When I got married, I had already arrived in Germany on a visa, found a flat and got registered at the town hall office. But my marriage happened before I got a residence permit.

Hi 10dulkar,
My husband went to hamburg abh 3 weeks ago and they told him my visa has
been approved..when i called the karachi consulate
told me they hav not recieved my clearance yet...its been 3 weeks...my
husband visited abh 1 week ago and they are saying WE DONT ISSUE
CLEARANCE,ASK KHI CONSULATE!!!
Now thats really unbearable...the
office only opens every thurs...i dnt kno what to do..3 weeks are more than enough

Hi 10dulkar,

Thanks so much for responding - it has cleared out a lot. I am sorry if my previous post was unclear. Let me be more clear: I am currently in India and what I have received is the visa for 3 months starting on the 25th of May (the date I provided for travel). I thought this was a temporary residence permit so to speak. 

I am going to get a court marriage done in the next month and enter Germany on 25th May without my spouse of course. I'll then settle down for 4-5 months and only then ask her to apply once I've secured the accommodation, salary slips and the residence permit. So that shouldn't complicate anything. 

I have a couple of questions about the marriage verification. Would be awesome if you could shed some light:

1. I'm getting a court marriage so there won't be a marriage album as such. The checklist for spouse visa says that they should bring the marriage photo album along as well. Will this affect my spouse's chances? 
2. My spouse will be at her mum's place after our court marriage considering I won't be in the country. Will the marriage verification folks find that suspicious? 
3. Is there a salary cap as such they are looking at? To ascertain whether I can provide for my spouse?
4. I am a non-Blue Card holder. Will my wife have authorization to work if/when she is granted the residence permit?

Any other tips you can provide regarding marriage verification will be awesome. Thanks in advance!

Hello abx,

so your visa was approved by the authorities in Hamburg but not communicated to the local Consulate? It normally takes 2-4 weeks from the time authorities in Germany approve spouse visa until the time it reaches the Consulate. So you need to be patient. I didn't quite catch you when you said the ABH doesn't issue clearance.

Hi moshcreature,

1. We got married through the Special Marriage Act, which does not require one to get married through a religious ceremony apriori. While signing before the registrar, take several pictures which should be sufficient to show your married status at the Consulate. Plus if you had any social ceremony or engagement you could show those albums too.

2. No they won't. Just make sure that you provide the address where your spouse is likely to live in order to avoid complications. It happened to us that a Consulate agent visited my in-laws home uninformed for the verification and fortunately my wife was at home when he came.

3. I am not aware of salary caps, I guess it is defined by the local authorities where you are likely to live. For the flat size I vaguely remember about 15 sq.m. per person is required.

4. If you won't have a BC, your wife won't have work authorisation by default. Moreover she will not be exempted from taking an obligatory integration course in her first year which is typically a few hours per week in a German language course. If she finds employment then with some paperwork her work authorisation can be arranged for, that's not so much a hassle.

Thanks again 10dulkar. I was reading up on work authorization and most websites claim that as long as she has a job offer, she can present it to the ABH and she can work. So maybe that won't an issue.

I also read that your spouse got her name changed on her passport and you guys have a joint account. Was this deliberately done? Did it help with the verification process?

I suppose having the passport changed did help, the whole process took about 2 months and half which is quite less than what many people here have posted. We had it done thinking that it might help having more than just a marriage certificate as proof. 

Hi 10dulkar,
The visa lady at the consulate told me that they are waiting for clearance from german authorities and till that time i have to wait..the abh officer sent my husband a the receiving document from consulate that were recieved by them on 10th feb but they were saying they just receive the docs and dnt know anything else...now 2 months passed and no update regarding visa...

Hi 10dulkar,

Thanks for the reply, My wife has filled visa application from New Delhi exactly 4 weeks back. But so far no communication from Auslanderamt or embassy. Should i call Auslanderamt and ask them if they have received the documents or should my wife call embassy and ask them the status.
Can Auslanderamt people ask me some doucments to submit, once they receive my wife's application documents from New delhi.

Regards
Harsh

Hi all
My husband had applied for blue card as he got employment contract in Germany.we appeared for interview on June 30,2015 at Chennai consulate in India.His visa got approved within a week ,whereas my family reunion visa application has no response yet .its about 7 weeks now and no email has been received from consulate.has anybody faced a similar situation.? Pls share your experiences. What shall I do? Shall I wait for some more time or shall I contact the embassy?? Please help

Hello All,

This thread seems to provide lot of information.But still i have some more question based upon my situation.Hope i will get some best answer from you guys.

- I joined a company in Germany in March 2015.I have a valid Blue card (Residence permit),a two bed room apartment,salary slip from last 5 months as well as registered in rathaus.I have all valid document for me to live in germany.

- I went to india and got married in July 2015.The marriage happened in the court.One social function was organised and we have the album with all the photos.Now its time for my wife to apply for the Spouse Visa to enter to Germany.My questions are as follows:
   1) Do we need to wait for 2 years before my wife apply for the Family Reunification Visa?
   2) Do i need to announce my marriage status to anyone in Germany before she apply for visa?
   3) My passport pages are getting exhausted,so i am interested to change my passport from Germany.This is a good opportunity to add here name as my Spouse in my passport.Will it help us for faster visa processing?
   4) As i understood,there is some agency in India who verify the marriage.The guys will be visiting which particular address.The one mentioned in the Marriage Certificate or the address where my wife is currently living.
   5) There is a possibility that my wife may get an opportunity to work in another European Country.In this case,i think she will not be able to get a residenc permit from Germany.Ofcourse,she can travel to germany as the other country is part of Schengen.How to deal with the situation when she works in another country?Is it possible for her to still get a spouse visa for Germany?

Thanks to all of you..
This will really help me to plan her visa processing.
  
  

Hi kiran_1, I have at least 2 friends who applied together with their spouse and children in India and all were issued visa simultaneously. So your case is peculiar. I have no answer to that. Did you husband fly to Germany and has he received a BC already?

  Hi Suvendu, here's my reply to your questions:

1) Why wait for 2 years? You can apply as soon as you have a marriage certificate in hand and all required papers in Germany.

2) Annouce to anyone, meaning to whom? Formally speaking, you don't need to do anything before your wife applies for family reunion visa, in which case your local aliens' office will contact you in due course concerning her application. Once the visa is issued and your wife arrives, you begin all formalities- Anmeldung, health insurance, tax ID and residence permit...

3) You could check with the Indian mission, but I doubt they will accept only a marriage certificate and without the spouse already in Germany. If you can furnish further evidence of marriage e.g. notification in the Govt. Gazette, your name endorsed on your wife's passport, then it could work. But I suggest to check directly with the local Indian mission.

4) The verification is performed ad-hoc. It may or may not happen. This is the German Consulate's prerogative. But the address that is visited is the address that you provide in the visa application form as your present address. 

5) If your wife gets another Schengen country visa, she cannot apply for German residence permit. She has to be registered as a resident with a valid local address in Germany to convert her family reunion visa to a residence permit. But she can travel internally as you mention. Only if she is in UK, then there is a travel restriction. Technically you can still apply for German residence permit by registering her as your co-resident, but you don't want to get into legal troubles by holding residence permits of 2 EU countries. I would avoid doing that and instead use Schengen/UK visa to travel.

Thanks 10dulkar...Lot of questions are clarified..

Hi 10dulkar
My hudband is planning to travel in sep first week. I m still waiting for my visa approval.dont know what to do.since its stated that the processing time is 8 to 12 weeks,i have no option but to wait

Hi all, This is a great forum and i have been visiting it collecting important information for my spouse visa...I am in a tricky situation. Maybe somebody can shed some information for me...Thanks !
I am currently in germany with Blue card and staying in a temporary small apartment. My wife and daughter applied for visa today at bangalore and the lady at embassy said , the field " intended place of stay " is mandatory in the national visa application. My wife was forced to put my current address which is a small apartment (40 sqmt). I have found a new big house yesterday but yet to sign the contract.
Now my confusion is , the new house contract begins from October 1st and the current one expires on October 30th. The embassy lady was very particular and said some body will " physically " come and verify my current address mentioned in the application form.

1. Is this really true ? This is then first time i am hearing something like this !!
2. Would it create problem if i change my address in rathaus to new house from 1st october ? since the application has old address, would the visa get rejected ?
3. Alternatively i will be forced to stay in my old apartment (effectively paying rent in both places :-() . In this case would they reject her visa on basis of size of the apartment ?

Thansk in advance for your inputs !!!

HI Dayanand

Yes the intended place to stay is required on the application form, even if it is not going to be your permanent accommodation. I wrote originally that you get a letter asking you to visit the Aliens' Office personally. But nobody comes physically to visit your flat in Germany. I highly doubt it since the officers are already overloaded with visa work. Moreover all residential places are well identified and the occupants are required to be compulsorily registered at the town hall; this removes any need for additional verification. After reading some posts  in this Forum, I have the feeling that sometimes Consulate officers go overboard scaring visa applicants for no reason whatsoever, or they simply have a prejudice that Indians are law breakers by default.

There is no problem in changing your address. Just go to your local post office and subscribe to the "Nachsendeservice" and then all letters going to your old address are automatically re-posted to the new one. You can also request your previous landlord or the new tenant to secure all letters on your name. And try to visit your local Aliens' Office to explain your situation of the address changes.

Hope it helps.

Hi OMKAR,
Thanks for providing very precise information. I hope you can share some of your experiences with me for my case. I got a job offer from a company in Germany and now need to plan my move to Germany with my wife. After talking to the consulate of Germany in Malaysia and also a lot of research I was informed about the following process:

-I provide my documents including the job offer to the consulate here in Malaysia where we live and they give me a 3-month visa to Germany only to me.
-I will enter Germany, rent an apartment, and apply for my blue card (which I qualify for) and get it after 2-3 months. During this time I am not allowed to work. (Is that correct?)
-I will send an invitation to my wife and she will need to go through a family reunion visa process and join me within another 2-3 month.

So as I understood the whole process from the time I leave Malaysia till my wife joins me there it takes about 4-6 months. Is that correct?

Apparently this does not work for me and I need to either go with my wife together or at least take her there within maximum 2-3 months after I leave. I hope you can help me with your experiences. some possible ideas are: (please let me know if these are possible)

-Idea 1: When I am going to Germany with my short-term visa I also take her with me on a Schingen tourist visa and then when I get the blue card, I will send her back to our home country so she starts the process for her reunion visa.

-Idea 2: When I get to Germany with my short-term visa I immediately apply for the blue card and get back to my home country and wait for the blue-card process (2-3 months) to finish. Once I get the blue card I go to Germany and my wife also immediately applies for the family reunion visa.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks

Hi,

I have an offer from a German employer and now want to apply for Visas for myself and family. I am eligible for a Blue card. 
Which Visa type do I apply for ? Is it the Entry Visa for Blue card? 
Can I apply for myself and my Family at the same time? 
Is it possible for us to enter Germany together?

Thanks!

Hi David, my answers in your mail  below:

Not true. I have friends who applied with full family for visas in India and moved with their families to Germany. As long as you can prove that you earn enough and will be able to have accommodation for all family members, you can apply jointly for visas.
Not true. I started working within a couple of days of arriving in Germany. The temporary visa contains work authorization.Not required if you apply together.
This really varies from place to place. I got mine quite quickly. But people I know had to wait some months esp if you apply for the full family.

Hi,
I think you have no choice when you apply for a visa. It is usually a 3-6 month validity National visa which contains work authorization. When you arrive in Germany you can apply for a Blue card.

Thanks OMKAR for the information. I need to get in touch again with the consulate here and see if they can help.
My employer-to-be is kind of not taking any responsibility in the visa process. The main reason is because they don't have the experience. In other words I have to take care of the visa process on my own both now and in the future. This somehow scares me because I am not sure what happens throughout the process and whether I can do it alone.
What do you generally think about this? Are there anything specific they will have to take responsibility for? I mean other than providing the job offer. I want to delegate some stuff to them if possible just to also get a feeling how responsible they are about this visa process.
I have two more questions:
-Question 1: I heard other than the EU Blue Card, there is also a "work authorization" my employer is to get best in advance. here is more information: https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/web/content/EN/WorkingandJobSeeking/WorkinginGermany/Detail/index.htm?dfContentId=L6019022DSTBAI776745
any idea what this is?
-Question 2: After getting the 3-month short term visa I have to quit my job here and leave for Germany. Is this shor term visa also a guaranty that I will get my Blue Card? How can I reduce the risk of both losing my job here and also not getting the Blue Card there when I apply for it in Germany?

Thanks in advance. 

Hi Omkar,
Thanks!

I will be applying from Singapore. I have an Indian Passport but eligible to apply from Singapore. And I have been informed that there is a visa type called "Entry Visa for Blue Card" which I guess is a short term work authorization but based on the fact that the candidate is eligible for blue card. For this they have asked for an approval letter from Germany - which my employer will apply for and send to me. 
Once I get that I will apply for me and my family together. 

I have a specific query on the visa form. In the form they ask about adress where you are going to stay? What is expected here? most of us will not have anything confirmed until atleast the visa is approved, isnt it? Does any one have an idea?
Thanks!

For the address you can simply put the one from your host or employer coz it is quite obvious that you will find permanent accommodation only after moving to Germany. This worked for me.

Have any idea if I need to get a separate appointment for my wife and child when visiting German embassy for interview?