# EU Citizen with non-EU wife



## Hoopz (Aug 17, 2015)

Hey guys! Hope you are all well. 

My wife and I currently live in the US. I'm an EU citizen (UK), she's Canadian. We are considering temporarily moving to Europe to work and live closer to family. Germany is our 1st choice since my wife's sister lives there. We are thinking of staying either 3 months, 6 months or 1 year, but no more than 1 year.

According to the research I've done, living and working there shouldn't be a problem for me. And according to the EU laws, my wife should be allowed the same rights as me when we enter the country. But this is where it gets a little fuzzy for me.

Does that mean my wife can start looking for work in Germany immediately? I couldn't find a solid answer anywhere. I hope you guys can help.

Thanks in advance!
- H


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

To answer the simple question, your wife can indeed look for work immediately. She should probably have a work permit sorted out before she actually begins working, however. 

A few things to consider:

As a Canadian, she does not need a visa to enter Germany. To stay beyond 90 days, she needs a residence permit, to which she is entitled as the spouse of an EU national, provided certain conditions are met. I think these conditions are that both of you be living at a registered address, have means of financial support, have health insurance etc. I don't know all the details of this but I think those are the basics. 

The length of your stay may present various issues:

If it's only 3 months (90 days) that might not be much time to find a job and get the paperwork through. She only needs the residence permit to work legally, not to stay.

After 6 months (183 days) you could be considered tax-resident. The details of this are not always clear, certainly not to me. If you were working for a German firm you might be tax-resident from the first day. If one of you is working remotely for a US job, that's potentially quite complicated. So bear in mind that your stay could have tax implications. 

You will need health insurance of some kind to obtain residence permits. This would mean either entering the public system if one of you had a regular job with a German company, or private German insurance, or bringing over some sort of good travel coverage that met the minimum standards of the foreigner's office. 

I think that's about it.


----------



## Hoopz (Aug 17, 2015)

Thank you for the info. That certainly clears it up for me.

It's great to know that she can look for work immediately. Now I just need to figure out how long it takes to get a work permit.

Ideally, we'll be there for 6 months to 1 year. In that case, we want to avoid a scenario where she's sitting around for several months, unable to work, waiting for a permit.


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

It might be relatively easy in your case, as she's applying as the spouse of an EU national, with the right to live and work in Germany provided you meet certain criteria, not having to go through the labour-market test and all the other hoops that apply to regular non-EU job applicants.

That being said, I'm not familiar with the details of this particular process, so I don't know what the full requirements are for you as a couple. Certainly a registered address, proof of financial means and health insurance, but it's possible that you may need to have a job first before she can apply for a residence and work permit. (As a non-EU citizen, her being married to you means that she has the right to live with you in Germany if you are "established" there, however that is defined, not that she has the same rights as you - an important distinction.) I would keep doing more research.

They key things to speed the process are to do your Anmeldung right away, even with a temporary address, then go to the Ausländerbehörde as soon as you can. (Get in touch with the one where you'll be living, set up an appointment online before you leave if that's possible.) Be really well prepared and bring every piece of paper you think you might need, plus some you think you won't. Also it doesn't hurt to point out that you're on a temporary visit, I've found them to be more lenient when they know that you intend to return home.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Hoopz said:


> Thank you for the info. That certainly clears it up for me.
> 
> It's great to know that she can look for work immediately. Now I just need to figure out how long it takes to get a work permit.
> 
> Ideally, we'll be there for 6 months to 1 year. In that case, we want to avoid a scenario where she's sitting around for several months, unable to work, waiting for a permit.


Have a look here:

https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/324282/en/

Basically, her right to stay/work first and foremost depends on your exercising EU treaty rights = working in Germany (at least 16 hours/week) or studying full time.

Within 90 days of your arrival, you can apply for her residence card without needing to show health insurance or financial/employment documents and if you are lucky, the Ausländerbehörde will grant the residence card right away.

Unfortunately, as per EU law, they can take up to 6 months for processing he application and I have heard several times now that the authorities keep the application until 90 days have passed and then get back to you asking for proof of exercising treaty rights.

There has been a bit of a change in attitude since early 2014, it seems.


----------

