# Step Children



## thechubner (Mar 8, 2016)

Hello, I am an US citizen married to a German citizen. We currently live in the States, but are considering options for moving to Germany. Everything I have read says that as the wife of a citizen I (and my children with my husband) will have no work / study restrictions in Germany. My question is this - I have a son from a previous relationship. Do minor step children (he is 13) get the same status as the natural children of the German citizen? Google was failing me on this question.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

thechubner said:


> Hello, I am an US citizen married to a German citizen. We currently live in the States, but are considering options for moving to Germany. Everything I have read says that as the wife of a citizen I (and my children with my husband) will have no work / study restrictions in Germany. My question is this - I have a son from a previous relationship. Do minor step children (he is 13) get the same status as the natural children of the German citizen? Google was failing me on this question.


Do your children with your husband have their German passports already? If not, it might be a good idea to contact the German Embassy and apply for those.

You and your son will need residence permits. As American citizens you don't need a visa to enter Germany for up to 90 days but in order to stay longer, work and go to school, you need to register your residence, get health insurance and an adequate place to stay before you can apply for a spouse/dependent permit.

In case of your son, the only issue I can foresee is that you will probably need to prove that you either have sole responsibility (court order) or that the other parent has nothing against an intercontinental move of the child. Which one it would have to be, you'd need to ask the German Embassy.

You might want to get legal advice from an experienced lawyer specialising in Ausländerrecht.


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## thechubner (Mar 8, 2016)

Thanks that was actually really helpful. We were going to have to make a trip to the consulate to renew my husband's passport anyway, so it looks like we'll have to get more ducks in a row as well. The idea of moving is still in it's infancy, but if that ends up being something we do it's good to be prepared. We've lived here in the US for years so if he wants to go back it's only fair (and if Trump becomes president maybe it would be good to get out while the getting is good anyway.... haha jk)


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