# Spouse visa/permit



## telecom1678

Hi all, 
I'm Eva and have been living in Finland for the past 10 years. Now I am planning to move back to Germany. I am a German citizen. Me and my partner got married last December, but have not registered our marriage yet. My partner is from outside the EU. Will my partner get a residence permit based on the marriage or are there other requirements? Thanks for your replies.
Yours, Eva


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## ALKB

telecom1678 said:


> Hi all,
> I'm Eva and have been living in Finland for the past 10 years. Now I am planning to move back to Germany. I am a German citizen. Me and my partner got married last December, but have not registered our marriage yet. My partner is from outside the EU. Will my partner get a residence permit based on the marriage or are there other requirements? Thanks for your replies.
> Yours, Eva




What exactly do you mean by you haven't registered your marriage? If your marriage was legal in the country you married in, then no further registration is necessary (at least not for the German authorities); you will probably need a certified translation into German, though. 

Have you been working or studying in Finland? 

If yes, you have two choices:

1) You can return to Germany under Surinder Singh, as you have exercised EU treaty rights. No financial or language requirements apply. Depending what kind of residence permit your partner has in Finland, you might be able to simply show up in Germany and apply for a residence card as family member of an EU national. Indefinite permit at the earliest after five years if requirements are met.

2) German spouse visa. Again, depending on your partner's current Finnish permit you might be able to simply show up, show accommodation, health insurance and such and get a spouse visa. Indefinite permit at the earliest after 3 years, if requirements are met, application for citizenship also possible after 3 years (otherwise 8 years), if other requirements are met.

Does your partner speak any German at all? Spouse visa nowadays requires basic German language skills. In case of German spouse visa, they would also be required to complete an integration course - about a year of highly subsidised language and culture classes. Very useful. You pay 1€ per class and that money is then refunded upon completion of the course. It also exempts from the language test for citizenship. If your partner comes in as family member of an EU national, they would not be eligible for an integration course but also not required to learn the language at all.


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## telecom1678

1. We got married at a mosque and have a marriage certificate from there. As far as I know the marriage is legal.
2. I am a German citizen, have studied and worked in Finland. My husband has study visa for Finland. 
3. What exactly applies for us? Am I correct in assuming a spouse is not a family member?
4. Does my husband have to know basic German before going there?


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## ALKB

telecom1678 said:


> 1. We got married at a mosque and have a marriage certificate from there. As far as I know the marriage is legal.
> 2. I am a German citizen, have studied and worked in Finland. My husband has study visa for Finland.
> 3. What exactly applies for us? Am I correct in assuming a spouse is not a family member?
> 4. Does my husband have to know basic German before going there?


1. Did you get married at a mosque in Finland? If so, then you will have to investigate whether this constitutes a legal marriage as per Finnish law. (In Germany, a religious marriage has no legal bearing, for instance - be it in a church, mosque, synagogue or any other temple.) If you got married outside of Finland, then the respective local laws apply. If a religious ceremony is recognised there, then so will the German authorities.

2. Good, so you have exercised treaty rights.

3. A spouse is very much a family member. The easiest one to get a residence card for, actually.

4. Your husband only needs to know basic German if you go the German spouse visa route. No need for language skills if you go the EEA family member route.

Whether he needs to know German on arrival I don't know. If a spouse visa is applied for outside the EEA area, evidence of language skills is required, so these applicants do need language skills before they arrive. Since your husband already has an EEA residence permit from Finland, he could just travel to Germany with you and apply for a spouse visa within 90 days of arrival (make an appointment at the Ausländerbehörde as soon as possible!!). 

The big question is, whether a case worker there would/could refuse a spouse visa due to absence of language skills. My gut feeling is that they probably wouldn't refuse but who knows. It would be safer to do an A1 course and have a certificate ready. Do you know where you would be moving to? You might be able to call or email the local Ausländerbehörde and generally ask for a list of all the documents needed when arriving from another EEA country.


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## telecom1678

ALKB said:


> 1. Did you get married at a mosque in Finland? If so, then you will have to investigate whether this constitutes a legal marriage as per Finnish law. (In Germany, a religious marriage has no legal bearing, for instance - be it in a church, mosque, synagogue or any other temple.) If you got married outside of Finland, then the respective local laws apply. If a religious ceremony is recognised there, then so will the German authorities.
> 
> 2. Good, so you have exercised treaty rights.
> 
> 3. A spouse is very much a family member. The easiest one to get a residence card for, actually.
> 
> 4. Your husband only needs to know basic German if you go the German spouse visa route. No need for language skills if you go the EEA family member route.
> 
> Whether he needs to know German on arrival I don't know. If a spouse visa is applied for outside the EEA area, evidence of language skills is required, so these applicants do need language skills before they arrive. Since your husband already has an EEA residence permit from Finland, he could just travel to Germany with you and apply for a spouse visa within 90 days of arrival (make an appointment at the Ausländerbehörde as soon as possible!!).
> 
> The big question is, whether a case worker there would/could refuse a spouse visa due to absence of language skills. My gut feeling is that they probably wouldn't refuse but who knows. It would be safer to do an A1 course and have a certificate ready. Do you know where you would be moving to? You might be able to call or email the local Ausländerbehörde and generally ask for a list of all the documents needed when arriving from another EEA country.





Thank you for the reply, this helps a lot. I will conact the Auslanderbehorde as soon as I know where exactly we're going.


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## telecom1678

ALKB said:


> 1. Did you get married at a mosque in Finland? If so, then you will have to investigate whether this constitutes a legal marriage as per Finnish law. (In Germany, a religious marriage has no legal bearing, for instance - be it in a church, mosque, synagogue or any other temple.) If you got married outside of Finland, then the respective local laws apply. If a religious ceremony is recognised there, then so will the German authorities.
> 
> 2. Good, so you have exercised treaty rights.
> 
> 3. A spouse is very much a family member. The easiest one to get a residence card for, actually.
> 
> 4. Your husband only needs to know basic German if you go the German spouse visa route. No need for language skills if you go the EEA family member route.
> 
> Whether he needs to know German on arrival I don't know. If a spouse visa is applied for outside the EEA area, evidence of language skills is required, so these applicants do need language skills before they arrive. Since your husband already has an EEA residence permit from Finland, he could just travel to Germany with you and apply for a spouse visa within 90 days of arrival (make an appointment at the Ausländerbehörde as soon as possible!!).
> 
> The big question is, whether a case worker there would/could refuse a spouse visa due to absence of language skills. My gut feeling is that they probably wouldn't refuse but who knows. It would be safer to do an A1 course and have a certificate ready. Do you know where you would be moving to? You might be able to call or email the local Ausländerbehörde and generally ask for a list of all the documents needed when arriving from another EEA country.



Thanks again for reply,

1- If my husband apply in German embassy in Finland for EU family member visa or spouse visa, can he get? what will be the duration of visa?
2- I am moving to cologne and my husband wants to study as exchange student in Germany. If he gets spouse visa, can he study in other state or city of Germany???


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## ALKB

telecom1678 said:


> Thanks again for reply,
> 
> 1- If my husband apply in German embassy in Finland for EU family member visa or spouse visa, can he get? what will be the duration of visa?
> 2- I am moving to cologne and my husband wants to study as exchange student in Germany. If he gets spouse visa, can he study in other state or city of Germany???


1. Yes, if you are legally married, which we still haven't established. Any visa obtained outside Germany will be valid for 90 days during which he then applies for a longterm visa/residence card at the local Ausländerbehörde.

2. If he is an exchange student he would still be a student at his current university, right? He could get a student visa then? On a spouse permit or residence card he can study at any state university provided they have a space and accept his application.

If by spouse visa you mean a German spouse visa and not a residence card under EU regulation, his initial spouse visa would be valid for one year. To get this you have to show that you are living together. He is also obliged to register his residence where he lives (=where he studies) and this information would automatically be forwarded to the local Ausländerbehörde. It might well be alright if you can explain why you are not living together (work, study, etc.) but if you move to Germany together and immediately go your separate ways might also raise questions whether your marriage is genuine.


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## telecom1678

ALKB said:


> 1. Yes, if you are legally married, which we still haven't established. Any visa obtained outside Germany will be valid for 90 days during which he then applies for a longterm visa/residence card at the local Ausländerbehörde.
> 
> 2. If he is an exchange student he would still be a student at his current university, right? He could get a student visa then? On a spouse permit or residence card he can study at any state university provided they have a space and accept his application.
> 
> If by spouse visa you mean a German spouse visa and not a residence card under EU regulation, his initial spouse visa would be valid for one year. To get this you have to show that you are living together. He is also obliged to register his residence where he lives (=where he studies) and this information would automatically be forwarded to the local Ausländerbehörde. It might well be alright if you can explain why you are not living together (work, study, etc.) but if you move to Germany together and immediately go your separate ways might also raise questions whether your marriage is genuine.


Our marriage is legal, I got study place in Cologne. but if my husband gets study place other than in cologne that why i asked above question. 
1- In order to apply spouse visa or EU family visa for my husband, Do i need to show sufficient finances to support my husband.


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## ALKB

telecom1678 said:


> Our marriage is legal, I got study place in Cologne. but if my husband gets study place other than in cologne that why i asked above question.
> 1- In order to apply spouse visa or EU family visa for my husband, Do i need to show sufficient finances to support my husband.


It depends.

If you apply for a German spouse visa, you have to show adequate income (usually around at least the ALG II threshold) among other things.

If you apply for Residence card, you do not need to show any income if you apply within 90 days of arriving in Germany. After 90 days, pretty much the same as above.

The crux of the matter is, that both permit and residence card are granted in order to enable you to *live with your spouse*.

You might run into problems after a year (German spouse permit) or at the latest after five years (residence card) when your husband needs to renew his permit.

When applying for these permits you need to show registration under the same address. You might be able to explain having two households with studying at different universities but you might face a lot of scrutiny of your application and questions about whether your marriage is one of convenience.

How are your husband's chances to get a place in Cologne?


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## telecom1678

ALKB said:


> It depends.
> 
> If you apply for a German spouse visa, you have to show adequate income (usually around at least the ALG II threshold) among other things.
> 
> If you apply for Residence card, you do not need to show any income if you apply within 90 days of arriving in Germany. After 90 days, pretty much the same as above.
> 
> The crux of the matter is, that both permit and residence card are granted in order to enable you to live with your spouse.
> 
> You might run into problems after a year (German spouse permit) or at the latest after five years (residence card) when your husband needs to renew his permit.
> 
> When applying for these permits you need to show registration under the same address. You might be able to explain having two households with studying at different universities but you might face a lot of scrutiny of your application and questions about whether your marriage is one of convenience.
> 
> How are your husband's chances to get a place in Cologne?


Thnx for replying again, 
My husband is not sure about addmission in cologne, he will apply spouse rp after his studies in Germany,


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