Permits for U.S. Americans married to EU citizens - Germany

I received a 5 year residence and work visa today from the Auslanderbehorder.

Since it's been such a pain the butt I took a law student with me. He didn't have to twist their arm or threaten them, he acted as a translator.

Take with you :

Originals of your(s) and spouses Registration and one copy.

Original Passport and one copy ( yours & your EU Spouse)

Three months of Paystubs (if your EU spouse already works in Germany), Alternatively if you don't work your bank statements showing your finances)

They asked if we had a letter from my husbands employer stating he worked there. We didn't have this, they didn't tell us we needed this - but in the end it didn't matter. Take it if you have it & one copy.

If your EU Spouse is already working they should have this : bescheinigung uber das gemeinschaftliche aufenthaltsrecht , which is a certificate for work and unlimited right to residence. I know alot of people on here make it sound like the minute an EU citizen pulls up you can walk in and get a job ( which is the case) but the employer has this certificate and should provide you would the original and the copy. You should take this with you to the appointment because they asked for it.

2 Passport Photo's of You. Make sure they conform to the required standards. They wont accept ones that dont.

Original Marriage Certificant and one copy. If it isn't in German or a national marriage certificate, they you will need to get it translated.

Proof you have medical insurance that is valid in Germany.

Take a translator if you do not speak German. I highly advise this as none of them want to speak English.

We took a copy of this, although we didn't end up needing it. http://bundesrecht.juris.de/freiz_gg_eu_20...R198600004.html
It states that people married to EU Citizens have the same rights as an EU Citizen... lots of other stuff, but they get the drift.

We paid 8 Euro's for the card. That was the only cost we paid.

Hope this helps someone...

I am sure this would probably apply for a canadian as well who is married to an EU Citizen.

Hi... thanks for the link of right of spouse of EU national! I'm Indonesian residing in Chicago. My husband is French and got a 5 year contract to work in Munich. We just had a bad experience in the German consulate. Their website doesn't have any info for spouses of EU nationals. I called them a month ago, and one of them gave a WRONG answer by saying I could simply apply for tourist visa!!! Today we were there, and they said I have to apply for a resident visa which will take 1-3 months!! While we bought already airplane tickets for 10 April! And yes .. you're right ... the requirement to show our spouse's work contract is not mentioned anywhere on their website ... but we have to show it to them! So much for German efficiency!

The answer was correct ... Indonesian citizens need a German (or Schengen) visa before entering Germany:

Table of countries whose citizens require/do not require visas to enter Germany

German residence and work permits are issued by the local alien´s office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany ... not by German embassies or consulates

Your French husband is an EU citizen and doesn´t need to apply for any permits in order to live and work in Germany ... but you´ll have to go through the full process

The "full process" is pretty straight forward for spouse of an EU citizen. They can not turn down your application. You need to show your EU spouse is working and that you are married, plus that you have health insurance and have registered with the city or town you live in.

That is very useful indeed, thank you. I do however have a question concerning what can happen if you partner is not employed. My husband is currently looking for work after completing a CELTA course this summer. Unfortunately, my german is not good enough to fully understand the Freizueg that you provided.

Thanks Pmohsgrl for your reassuring post.

I want to get a similar permit than the one you got. My situation is a little bit different though. For starters I'm a Colombian citizen married to a Italian citizen. We are both living in Germany because I'm studying a Master here which I'm about to finish. I obtained my resident permit because of my student statuts but now that I'm about to finish my studies I would like to apply for the Aufenthaltskarte.

I guess I should do the same as you did but still I have a doubt. Since my wife and I got married in Colombia I think that if I present my marriage certificate in spanish to the Ausländerbehörde people they won't accept it. So it would be kind if somebody could tell me which of the two options I have in mind would the best thing to do:

1) Put the "apostille" on the Colombian marriage certificate, have it officially translated to English or German and present it at the German embassy or consulate in Colombia so they could issue us a certified copy of it. This would be the document I would take to the Ausländerbehörde in order to obtain my residence and working permit.

2) Put the "apostille" on the Colombian marriage certificate, have it officially translated to Italian and present it at the Italian embassy or consulate in Colombia so they could issue us a certified copy of it. With this document I would go to the Italian embassy or consulate in Germany and ask for a EU residence and work permit.

Thanks in advance for the advice you could offer me.

Hi there,
Just read this interesting topic...Been sad to know that a lot of you had to go a lot of trouble obtaining visa or resident permit here in EU. I just wanna share my experience.
I am a Filipina and married to a German National. We were married last November 2007 in the Philippines and by January 2008, I applied for visa to be able to come here in Germany.
The German Embassy in the Philippines gave me Visum für Familienzusammenfuhrung with possibility to work in any company/office or to have a business in Germany. My husband at that time has no job here in Germany.

I just submitted as requirements the Original Certified Copies(obtained from the National Civil Registrar's Office) and translated copies of the following:
1. My Birth Certificate and our Marriage Certificate
2. Sworn Affidavit of Singleness before Marriage (Eidesstattliche Versicherung) signed by Notary Public (Lawyer)
3. Joint Affidavit of 2 Persons not related to you affirming your Sworn Affidavit of Singleness (Gemeinsame Eidesstattliche Versicherung)also signed by a Notary Public.
4. Machine Copy of Passport also confirmed and signed by a Notary Public.

Upon Arrival here in Germany last April 2008, I had to register to the Cityhall (Stadthaus) and then the Ausländersamt issued me an Aufenthaltserlaubnis for a year. Didn't pay anything at the Ausländersamt. This year, I renewed my Aufenthaltserlaubnis and was given another two years. Then after that I can apply for German Citizenship.

Hope these information can help someone who wants to go here in Germany or any EU Countries (though I am not 100% sure of the requirements from other EU Countries).

To Don Corleone,
If you already read my previous post, just additional Info. Your Marriage Certificate and other important Documents/Requirements should be translated in German and it is a little bit expensive. If I recall, we had to pay 500 Euro per document for translation. Perhaps your colleagues or friends here in Germany have some ideas where to get a cheaper Translations fee.
Good Luck!

It depends on the city and possibly the mood of the worker reviewing your documents, but all of my USA documents (in English) were accepted without a problem IF they had an apostille attached to them. In Munich, they accept documents in English provided they have an apostille attached.

I am not sure if this is the case everywhere, but only an apostille makes an American document valid in Germany.

Hmm, I had my birth certificate translated from English into German for 25€ - big difference from 500€!!

Does anyone know if you need an appointment to get the visa? We emailed them online using their over a month ago but have not been given an appointment and there is no phone number. Should we just show up? Thanks in advance.

I am a non EU citizen married to an Italian citizen, we are planning to move to Germany,I know that I can get a 5 year residence and work visa but we need to do the anmeldung in the city and to show our bank statements showing our finances (my wife has not yet a job),my questions are:

1- Will the Auslanderbehorder accept our anmeldung only with a hotel addresse ( I have read in another thread that we can do the anmendung even if we live in a hotel)?
2-How much money we must have in our bank statement to show that we can support our self and to be eligible for the 5 year visa?

Thanks,

100 views since i have wrote my message and no answer,come on guys if you have this information please share it,it's really important for me!!

Thanks,
mollom

Yes, you can "anmendung" with a Hotel Address.
Atleast 2k Eur per person per month you plan to stay.

Thanks Darkknaight for your clear replay! so for one year we need 48k Eur and for 5 years we need 240K Eur,wow!!!