# Moving to Germany - married to a Frenchman - passport or visa?



## a.r.m.h. (Aug 15, 2015)

Hi all,

Thanks in advance to anyone who has any info regarding my question.

I am an Australian woman who has been married to a Frenchman since June 2011 (i.e. just over four years). We lived in France from 2009 until 2013 when I fell pregnant and we moved back to Australia. We now have a two-year-old child.

My question is this... we are moving to Germany in January 2016 and are wondering what to do with passports. I haven't been able to get anything out of the French consulate here in Sydney thus far. As we have been married for four years and have a child together, and have lived together since 2006, does anyone know if I can apply directly for a passport, thereby meaning I wouldn't have to get a German visa, or do I have to get a visa to get into France and then apply there for a passport, and THEN move to Germany?

So confused!! 

Any advive would be so appreciated.

Cheers


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

To obtain French citizenship through marriage, I expect that you would need to have taken care of all that while living in France. I'm fairly certain that you cannot obtain a French passport for yourself from a consulate, though possibly for your child if he/she already has French citizenship.

However, this isn't really a problem. As an Australian citizen, you can enter Germany without a visa for up to 90 days. As the spouse of an EU national living in Germany, you have the right to a residence and work permit. So within 90 days of arrival you go to the Ausländerbehörde and do whatever needs to be done to get that status. There may be various financial and health insurance requirements, but in principle a French citizen can easily live in Germany with his Australian wife and child.


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

You can only get a country's passport if you possess that country's citizenship.
For the rules of gaining French citizenship, consult the French authorities or ask on the France forum, not here (Germany forum). The rules will probably be different for you and for your child (who might already be French citizen by being born to a French parent) and might involve having lived there for a certain number of years. There might also be restrictions on double citizenship, requiring you to renounce your Australian one when you become French.

Altogether, I think, you should move to Germany as Nononymous explained above and figure out the citizenship formalities later.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

To cut to the chase here: as the wife of an EU national (not German) you can simply move to Germany, entering Germany as you normally would - on your Australian passport with the 90 day stamp in the passport type "tourist" visa.

Once there, you should then apply for a German residence permit as the spouse of an EU national. You'll probably need to show documents showing that you are married, and what your husband is doing in Germany, but it should be pretty easy to get a German residence permit that way. You do not need a visa (other than the tourist stamp in the passport) and you certainly do not need to deal with the French administration at this stage.

Your child should already be eligible for a French passport, which gives him or her the right to live in the EU. 
Cheers,
Bev


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