# Family wanting to immigrate



## maka (Mar 20, 2013)

Hi, 

After looking through all the threads I still don't feel my question was answered, so forgive my new thread.

My German husband and I have been married 7 years and lived most of this time out here in Australia. We have 4 children all born here and are thinking due to the constant increases of the cost of living here, we wish to immigrate to Germany within the next few years. 

Back in 2006 we first lived in Germany and I obtained my 2 year resident visa. Since that has obviously expired will I need to reapply? The children all have Aust. passports and we live 4000km from the nearest embassy to get them their dual citizenship. Can we also apply for this once we arrive in DE? Also will schooling be free for them?

I have tried calling but the consular requests email only and this forum will get a response faster  I have read the website and I do assume we wont have a problem doing paperwork once we arrive, but it is something we would like a better answer and anyone with similar experience please share.


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## James3214 (Jun 25, 2009)

You don't need to apply for any visa now that you are married to a German. You and your family can move back anytime and you just need to register at the local anmeldeamt after you arrive. You are also allowed to work in Germany. Public schools (obviously only German speaking) are free but you might have to pay for books and other costs. 
The cost of living maybe increasing in Oz but that doesn't mean you will find things cheaper here either, so I wouldn't make that the prime reason to move. It can change quickly and by the way, a lot of us haven't seen any sun since last October!


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## maka (Mar 20, 2013)

Thanks for the info.

Well cost of living is not a singular motive, he has his family back there of course. Which also leaves us sad our children don't know that side of the family so well. We have visited fairly often these past 7 years and were tempted to stay on during one occasion. We would settle in the middle of Germany, small villages and country living, much nicer for family life and very different to the suburban Australia.

It's not something we want to jump into, that's why we are looking at a couple of years time.

However, cost of living is definitely a big factor, one reason we chose Australia was because it was still relatively cheap 7 years ago. Today, even with my husband making good money, we wont even own a home until almost retirement age. You can compare the costs on the website numbeo, it's pretty bad. Taxes are basically comparative between here and Germany so that is not too much of an issue. 

We know he wont make the same amount of money as here, but he wont have to work as hard either ie. 70hour weeks. There is also the fact that in these smaller villages houses are under 100k which is what most Australians need as a deposit on a home. 


But thank you again for your quick reply. We don't want to excite his family with questions like this in the off chance everything falls in the water.

eta, Believe me, a whole summer of just sunshine is not fun either. Very hot, 0 % chance of rain. You find yourself praying for the winter rains.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

maka said:


> Hi,
> 
> After looking through all the threads I still don't feel my question was answered, so forgive my new thread.
> 
> ...



It might be possible to apply for the passports by post. When were your children born and has your husband registered them at the German Embassy within a year of their birth? There was a change in citizenship law in the year 2000:

Auswärtiges Amt - Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht


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## maka (Mar 20, 2013)

Yes they were all born 2006 and onwards. However, he did not register their births, do you think that will be an issue?


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

maka said:


> Yes they were all born 2006 and onwards. However, he did not register their births, do you think that will be an issue?


It might be.

In any case, especially since you have several years time for planning the move I´d try to get this sorted as soon as possible.

Because the children were not registered they are not German nationals at this point of time. I don´t know how the Embassies interpret the deadline, there might be some sort of leeway. Contact the German Embassy as soon as possible, either by email or recorded mail.

If you can´t register them now, it might be possible to 'naturalise' them before the move, as their father is a 'significant connection to Germany'. In any case the Embassy should be able to tell you the exact procedure for your situation. The last thing you want to happen is to move and realise after the fact that you should have done something beforehand.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

ALKB said:


> It might be.
> 
> In any case, especially since you have several years time for planning the move I´d try to get this sorted as soon as possible.
> 
> ...



Okay, forget the above post. You should be fine:

German Missions in Australia - Information on German citizenship law and dual citizenship

I´d still try to apply for the children´s passports before the move.


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