Love is apparently in the air among the Expatica readership - suddenly everyone wants to come to Germany with their partners. Expatica's resident lawyer Csilla Ivanyi answers your legal questions.

Falling in love is the easy part - now try getting a German visa

Dear Andrew,

A Schengen visa can be issued for any time up to 90 days, mostly it's shorter. The time starts running from the day of your/your wife's entry and ends with her leaving the Schengen region.

Once it's issued, the German authorities are not willing to work on a long-time residence permit in parallel (which would be for instance the family-reunification-visa), so you lose valuable time.

But what about getting a Schengen visa at another embassy? Then it wouldn't be a problem to apply for the German visa at the same time. This procedure in fact takes a long time, because the local authorities have to give their consent to your wife's moving in. And mailing the documents back and forth alone can take several weeks.

You also ask for the effects of the residence permit - yes, it enables your wife to travel within the whole Schengen region.

As to the dogs: in addition to the rabies injection you need to prove treatment against tapeworm not older than two days before travelling. I don't know of any other general rule regarding import of dogs, but maybe there are special requirements regarding Vietnamese animals - maybe you should ask the people from the Embassy for such rules.

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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Dear reader,

As EU citizen you and your non-EU-spouse (and also your kids ) reap the benefits of a very generous body of regulations regarding residency and work in countries belonging to the EU. So once you're married it won't be any problem to visit or move to Germany.

Another question is the judgement regarding your wife's infringement of the tourist visa. If she got a judgement by court - in a criminal procedure - it's no problem at all, then she just has to pay the fine or whatever penalty she got. But if it's an "Ausweisung" (eviction order) by the authorities dealing with residence permits of foreigners (Auslaenderbehoerde) she has to clarify that beforehand, because she must not enter Germany before it's deleted in the registry.

So please approach the authorities after your marriage to find out what measures they took and also file an objection, if they issue such an order. The fact that she has a husband who is an EU citizen changes her rights considerably.

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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Dear Carrie,

Unfortunately it's not easy to just move over to Germany in order to work there.

Actually, it's almost impossible unless you
- are highly qualified with a job offer,
- are studying,
- have a German spouse or German kids,
- establish your own enterprise here (in the latter case you would have to present a convincing business plan).

Therefore I would recommend that you marry your boyfriend as quickly as possible.

Regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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Dear Erna,

Unfortunately German immigration law is very restrictive even with regard to Canadian citizens. They are welcome as tourists, but it's difficult to get permanent residence and work permits.

If you're young enough and speak German well you could study here, and as a student you're allowed to work three months per year. You could also stay as an au pair. But if you want to find a regular employment and apply for a residence permit on the basis of such an offer, you will only be successful if you have extremely high qualifications and can show a job offer with a salary higher than average.

Another possibility would be to open your own company, but be aware that business plans are being checked thoroughly. I was successful many times in such cases, but this course of action should be well-prepared indeed.

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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Dear Arun,

This certificate of "marriagablity" is issued when the German authorities have checked all Indian documents regarding your identity, bachelorhood, family relations etc.

What exactly it is that you need depends on your origin, nationality, and special individual circumstances. So please ask your girlfriend to contact a German "Standesamt" - which is the marriage registry - to get to know what you need to prepare.

These documents are then legalised in a lengthy procedure by the German embassy in India, which means that people from the embassy go to the local Indian authorities and ask whether they really issued the documents. Only then will you get this certificate of marriagability.

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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Dear Amy,

You may enter Germany without doing much paperwork, since you are entitled to apply for residency here in Germany. But without marrying your German boyfriend you won't be able to stay here legally more than 3 months, in fact. You aren't allowed to work either. So I would not recommend that you leave everything behind in the US--first you should determine whether you want to marry or not!

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi
attorney-at-law

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13 September 2006

Send a question to Csilla Iványi at germany@expatica.com. Please make sure to give all the necessary information about your particular situation.

This article contains information of a general nature and should not be considered as legal advice.

Although the greatest care has been taken in drafting this article, it is possible that certain information may have become outdated or inaccurate since its publication.

Copyright Expatica 2006

Subject: Life in Germany, legal advice, ask our lawyer, getting married in Germany, moving to Germany, marrying a German, German law, German legal advice, how to move to Germany