# Need advice!



## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

Sooo.. Transferring my schengen visa to residence permit is not possible according to my husband's lawyer coz we got married outside Germany though they recognized the marriage and registered it (doesn't make sense). We should've have come here and got married here and then they can change my status. Anyway, I really don't want to go back to Philippines just to wait for 2weeks for my visa, it's a hassle, big money to spend, and my family isn't living there anymore so we have no choice but to spend 2 weeks in a hotel. Today, I had an offer letter as a Koch, which is a skilled job, which as far as I know, they're making exemptions with this kind of job coz they can't find a local to fill the position. My question is, is there any possibility that immigration can change my status without going back to PHL? Thanks!!


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> Sooo.. Transferring my schengen visa to residence permit is not possible according to my husband's lawyer coz we got married outside Germany though they recognized the marriage and registered it (doesn't make sense). We should've have come here and got married here and then they can change my status. Anyway, I really don't want to go back to Philippines just to wait for 2weeks for my visa, it's a hassle, big money to spend, and my family isn't living there anymore so we have no choice but to spend 2 weeks in a hotel. Today, I had an offer letter as a Koch, which is a skilled job, which as far as I know, they're making exemptions with this kind of job coz they can't find a local to fill the position. My question is, is there any possibility that immigration can change my status without going back to PHL? Thanks!!


As long as your marriage is legal in the place where you got married, it is also accepted in Germany. Plenty of people marry outside of Germany. I married outside of Germany.

Have you actually spoken to the Ausländerbehörde?

What on earth do you need a lawyer for in the first place? Is he an immigration lawyer at all?

Application for a spouse permit is pretty straightforward.


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## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

ALKB said:


> As long as your marriage is legal in the place where you got married, it is also accepted in Germany. Plenty of people marry outside of Germany. I married outside of Germany.
> 
> Have you actually spoken to the Ausländerbehörde?
> 
> ...


It is legal. Coz it was a german company assisting couples living outside germany with their marriage. So we came here in germany with all the papers translated already. So we went to a rathaus to register it. And they said we dont need to go back to PHL. Then we went to Ausländerbehörde, and he said I have to learn the language (which I am enrolled now) and go back to PHL to process the papers. 

We just seeked help from a german immigration lawyer to explain to us what must be wrong why they can't grant my visa. I've read so many stories regarding how they processed their visa and it seems like it's very easy. It's really frustrating.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> It is legal. Coz it was a german company assisting couples living outside germany with their marriage. So we came here in germany with all the papers translated already. So we went to a rathaus to register it. And they said we dont need to go back to PHL. Then we went to Ausländerbehörde, and he said I have to learn the language (which I am enrolled now) and go back to PHL to process the papers.
> 
> We just seeked help from a german immigration lawyer to explain to us what must be wrong why they can't grant my visa. I've read so many stories regarding how they processed their visa and it seems like it's very easy. It's really frustrating.


Hm... spouses do need to show basic German language skills nowadays but I would have thought that enrolling in an integration course would be accepted in cases where the spouse already has valid entry clearance.

Where in Germany are you? In a small town?

What kind of short term Schengen visa do you have?

Did you apply for a tourist visa or for family reunification? And did you apply for the visa before or after you married?


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## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

ALKB said:


> Hm... spouses do need to show basic German language skills nowadays but I would have thought that enrolling in an integration course would be accepted in cases where the spouse already has valid entry clearance.
> 
> Where in Germany are you? In a small town?
> 
> ...


Now we are in Vechta. They said it depends on which city you are in, if it's a small one they tend to be strict.

I have a c type visa good for 3 months. We applied for a tourist visa, because I came to Germany with my husband so we thought family reunion visa won't be necessary. We applied after we got married. 

We will try again to talk to someone in Ausländerbehörde, coz I have reasons to stay like; being married legally with a German; and, got accepted by a company who's looking for a skilled worker.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> Now we are in Vechta. They said it depends on which city you are in, if it's a small one they tend to be strict.
> 
> I have a c type visa good for 3 months. We applied for a tourist visa, because I came to Germany with my husband so we thought family reunion visa won't be necessary. We applied after we got married.
> 
> We will try again to talk to someone in Ausländerbehörde, coz I have reasons to stay like; being married legally with a German; and, got accepted by a company who's looking for a skilled worker.


I agree. I think you wouldn't have any problems to get a spouse permit in Berlin.

They can argue against you saying that you were already married at the time of application and did not apply for the appropriate visa as you were obviously not planning on leaving within 90 days. Also that you circumvented and tried to avoid the stricter rules for spouses. I hope they don't count this against you as deception.

Try to be very apologetic and nice with the case worker when you go back, they do have a lot of leeway and a lot depends on how they present your case to their superiors.

Good luck!


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## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

ALKB said:


> I agree. I think you wouldn't have any problems to get a spouse permit in Berlin.
> 
> They can argue against you saying that you were already married at the time of application and did not apply for the appropriate visa as you were obviously not planning on leaving within 90 days. Also that you circumvented and tried to avoid the stricter rules for spouses. I hope they don't count this against you as deception.
> 
> ...



Thank you! One more question, they just sent me a letter from Federal Central Tax office, gave me my identification number. I got confused since my husband told me now I can work, but I didn't process my residence permit yet. Is it because we registered our marriage? Or am staying here for 3 months?


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> Thank you! One more question, they just sent me a letter from Federal Central Tax office, gave me my identification number. I got confused since my husband told me now I can work, but I didn't process my residence permit yet. Is it because we registered our marriage? Or am staying here for 3 months?


No!

You still need a permit that allows work before you can actually take up employment.

The tax number allocation is an automatic response to you registering your address in Germany for the first time (Anmeldung).

Don't lose the letter, though. The number is a lifetime thing and you will be asked for it in the future by your health insurance, when you do tax declarations, etc.


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## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

ALKB said:


> No!
> 
> You still need a permit that allows work before you can actually take up employment.
> 
> ...


Ok! Thanks for the info.

One more,  I'm really sorry I have a lot of questions. Yesterday I had a job interview in a hotel, and they gave me an offer letter right away. Could this be one of the reason to stay in Germany without going back? Thanks a lot!!


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> Ok! Thanks for the info.
> 
> One more,  I'm really sorry I have a lot of questions. Yesterday I had a job interview in a hotel, and they gave me an offer letter right away. Could this be one of the reason to stay in Germany without going back? Thanks a lot!!


To be very honest, I don't know whether they will see the job offer as a positive or negative.

Technically, you are not supposed to look for employment on a visitor visa.

It's always harder when you deal with an Ausländerbehörde that see maybe a dozen cases such as yours in a year or so, they will have much less routine with the rules and are more likely to follow them to the letter.

Chefs are not on the occupation shortage list, so being sponsored by this prospective employer outside of a spouse permit would be very difficult and would involve a six-week resident labour market test before you can even start on the extensive paperwork.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

AngelieFunke said:


> Sooo.. Transferring my schengen visa to residence permit is not possible according to my husband's lawyer coz we got married outside Germany though they recognized the marriage and registered it (doesn't make sense). We should've have come here and got married here and then they can change my status. Anyway, I really don't want to go back to Philippines just to wait for 2weeks for my visa, it's a hassle, big money to spend, and my family isn't living there anymore so we have no choice but to spend 2 weeks in a hotel. Today, I had an offer letter as a Koch, which is a skilled job, which as far as I know, they're making exemptions with this kind of job coz they can't find a local to fill the position. My question is, is there any possibility that immigration can change my status without going back to PHL? Thanks!!


Just rereading your original post - if all else fails, I think two weeks would be highly optimistic. A visa to join a spouse is a visa that leads to settlement and is scrutinised in a completely different way from a tourist visa. I don't know about the Philippines specifically but these visa usually take months rather than weeks to get issued.

How important is it for your husband to be in Germany right now? Does he have a job?

If you don't have ties that make it impossible to move, you could do the Surinder Singh route - living and working in another EU country (Austria for example as this would make it probably quite easy for your husband to find a job, or the UK) and then returning to Germany under EU regulations rather than German domestic immigration law.


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## AngelieFunke (Sep 12, 2014)

ALKB said:


> Just rereading your original post - if all else fails, I think two weeks would be highly optimistic. A visa to join a spouse is a visa that leads to settlement and is scrutinised in a completely different way from a tourist visa. I don't know about the Philippines specifically but these visa usually take months rather than weeks to get issued.
> 
> How important is it for your husband to be in Germany right now? Does he have a job?
> 
> If you don't have ties that make it impossible to move, you could do the Surinder Singh route - living and working in another EU country (Austria for example as this would make it probably quite easy for your husband to find a job, or the UK) and then returning to Germany under EU regulations rather than German domestic immigration law.


Thanks! 

We went to the Ausländerbehörde today in Vechta but with different guy to assist us. He will go through my application.  I got lucky coz he was very nice. I will meet him again as soon as a have my A1 cert.

Regarding work: They said out of 130 job openings, only 100 positions are filled up. So, they really need it. But anyway, they said I should be focusing with my A1 first.

Vielen dank for all the informations!! It was really a big help.


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