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South Africans in Germany

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Family Reunification Visa – Your stories

These are shared experiences by people who recently went through a Family Reunification Visa application process. You can share yours with us via an easy-to-fill-in form on this page.

Detailed Stories

  • An FB member shared a more detailed experience. You can read it here.
  • Another member, Tom, also shared his experience with us, you can read about it here
Shared by Lesego on 06 March 2024
When did you apply for your FRV  2024-02-06
How many days did you wait before it was approved  14
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany  German passport
Marital Status at the time of application  In a relationship
Children  I am a parent to a German child (see next question)
Parent to a German Child  I am a parent to a German child and applied for the “parent to a minor German child” visa – as it is less restrictive and easier to obtain
Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany  German passport holder
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate  No
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  No
Proof of language skills  Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  Yes
Tips you would like to share  i had initially applied for a Schengen visa for myself and baby. Embassy came back to say baby cannot be issued visa they need to apply for German passport. they further advised me to apply for national visa instead. email the embassy and plead your case, i find them understanding and helpful. i could apply for my national visa at the same time as baby’s passport. visa came relatively quick while we had to wait a while for baby’s passport. tip email the relevant channels. Tip email the relevant channels.

Shared by Julia on 16 February 2024

When did you apply for your FRV

 2024-01-24

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 19

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 German passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 German passport holder

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 A minimum of A1 level was required

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Shared by Angelica on 15 February 2024

When did you apply for your FRV

 2024-01-09

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 29

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 South African passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 Bluecard (Highly skilled)

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 Language requirement was waived

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 My application was approved with High Court Apostile in Cape Town office. I emailed them before to ask if High Court apostile is ok and they said yes. Follow up with local Ausländerbehörde, I did after 2 weeks they said application wasn’t there yet, so I followed up with embassy again then after 2 weeks it was approved.

Shared by Tom on 03 December 2023, who also sent us detailed info that we added to this page

When did you apply for your FRV

 2023-10-31

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 23

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 German passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 German passport holder

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 A minimum of A1 level was required

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 We decided to emigrate last November. Between then and now we spent the time collecting the documents, resigning from jobs, making arrangements overseas etc.

  

Shared by Daichan on 17 November 2023

Name

 Daichan

When did you apply for your FRV

 2023-08-02

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 78

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 German passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Engaged

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 We got married in Germany so it was not needed

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 We got married in Germany so it was not needed

Proof of language skills

 A minimum of A1 level was required

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 Start with the language, home affairs to collect all documents Especially if you intend to marry in Germany.

Shared by Pride on 15 November 2023

When did you apply for your FRV

 2023-10-04

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 10

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 South African passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 Work Visa (not Bluecard)

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 Language requirement was waived

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 We applied for the visa in Germany, and then the spouse in Germany received an email from the Welcome Center asking them to confirm a few details including proof of accommodation, income, medical and a data protection form, the following day. There were some delays in getting some documents such as a nomore than 1 month proof of employment from the employer of the spouse in Germany, as companies do not necessarily respond instantly, so it took about 5 days to get the letter from the company employer. After that, documents were sent to the Welcome Center in Germany and then after 4 days we received an email that our application had been accepted in Germany and we should book a flight and buy travel insurance and send it to the Embassy in SA. After that, our visa was issued. It was quite a smooth journey and we didn’t need any language since the spouse abroad was on a research visa. The spouse coming to Germany is also allowed to work any type of job.

Shared by Julia on 05 October 2023

When did you apply for your FRV

 2023-08-22

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 38

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 German passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Engaged

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany

 German passport holder

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 We got married in Germany so it was not needed

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 We got married in Germany so it was not needed

Proof of language skills

 A minimum of A1 level was required

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 From getting engaged to getting the visa it tools us about 6 months. The longest process was getting the unabridged birth certificate and letter of no impediment, both with apostille. Agencies can get the documents faster, but they said they don’t have an influence on the time the apostille will take. The visa application itself went rather smoothly since we had all the documents required. The bottleneck here always seems to be the alien office in your town in Germany! After not hearing anything for 5 weeks we called the alien office at our town in Germany and only a few days later it was approved! So if you apply for this visa keep in mind to try calling the alien office in the town your moving to in Germany, hopefully they will then start processing it.

Shared by Matthew on 21 August 2023
When did you apply for your FRV  2023-05-03
How many days did you wait before it was approved  110
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany She has a Turkish passport with EU Blue Card residency in Germany
Marital Status at the time of application  Married
Children  No children involved
Parent to a German Child  NA
Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany  Bluecard (Highly skilled)
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate  We got married in Germany so it was not needed
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  We got married in Germany so it was not needed
Proof of language skills  Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  Yes
Tips you would like to share  We had an agency helping us and they followed up with the visa authorities in Germany. We think that the visa application may have been on hold due to additional documents that were required. We were contacted two weeks earlier asking for payslips of my wife and update rental agreement from the landlord. Two weeks after that the visa was issued.

Shared by Liezl on 15 May 2023

When did you apply for your FRV 2022-09-29
How many days did you wait before it was approved 184
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany Dual SA and DE
Marital Status at the time of application Married
Children No children involved
Parent to a German Child NA
Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany 
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate Yes
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled Yes
Proof of language skills A minimum of A1 level was required
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany Yes
Tips you would like to share Definitely study well for the A1 exam. It’s costly and can cost you time waiting for the next exam date. Appostile all your unabridged documents.
I also translated them into German and have found that to be helpful once converting my drivers.
Our application was delayed because the Ausländerbehörde was extremely busy in our small town. Also our 10 year marriage wasn’t registered in Germany and was mistaken for it happening in Germany and not in SA, causing confusion..
We got a family member who speaks German to communicate to the manager at the Ausländerbehörde who reluctantly helped.
Delay could’ve been avoided if they bothered to reach out to us and ask. All in all be prepared to wait more than the stated 3 months.
Shared by Chantell on 26 April 2023
When did you apply for your FRV  2023-03-08
How many days did you wait before it was approved  35
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany  South African passport
Marital Status at the time of application  Married
Children  No children involved
Parent to a German Child  NA
Type of Visa your spouse applied for in Germany  Work Visa (not Bluecard)
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate  Yes
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  Yes
Proof of language skills  A minimum of A1 level was required
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  No
Tips you would like to share  Start with German A1 as soon as you can as this can take time with finding a date for your test. This was the thing that hold us back the longest. I went through Goethe Institute in Johannesburg and they were great. I received the results of my test within a week but I had to wait for two months to write because of the date for tests they have available. Start with the Apostille of Unabridged Marriage Certificates 6 months prior if you can and Expedite through companies given on the site. It’s affordable for the time that they get the certificates back to you. Once you make your appointment make sure you have all your documents otherwise the process will be delayed. Good Luck!

Shared by Mariska in March 2023

When did you apply for your FRV

 2023-01-11

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 62

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 German passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany

 German passport holder

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 Language requirement was waived

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 The wait is emotionally and mentally draining. Being away from your spouse is not easy. Keep in mind – The Embassy sends your application to the authorities at the Ausländerbehörde in the area you’re emigrating to. If/when you follow up, make sure it’s to the correct Ausländerbehörde. My advice is to give it a few weeks before following up. Even though we never got feedback from the Ausländerbehörde, it’s worth a try. The Embassy can’t give you information regarding the process, but we still sent them emails and their response time was quite good. As difficult as it is, you’ve got to have patience and a little bit of faith. (; Good luck x

Shared by Ryan in March 2023

When did you apply for your FRV 2023-02-21
How many days did you wait before it was approved 28
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany German passport
Marital Status at the time of application Engaged
Children No children involved
Parent to a German Child NA
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany German passport holder
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate No
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled No
Proof of language skills A minimum of A1 level was required
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany Yes
Tips you would like to share It took 10 days to receive an email from the Aliens Office, and other couple weeks to hear back from the Consulate in Cape Town. I thing home affairs here also gets a bad rep and DIRCO for the apostille. I read so many horror stories but in reality, it was a breeze. On the German end, it may have taken quicker because we are registered to marry at a smaller quieter Rathaus in the country side.
  

Shared by Jemma in February 2023

When did you apply for your FRV 2023-01-04
How many days did you wait before it was approved 42
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany South African passport
Marital Status at the time of application Married
Children Our children have only South African passports
Parent to a German Child 
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany Work Visa (not Bluecard)
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate Yes
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled Yes
Proof of language skills Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany Yes
Tips you would like to share The wait is hard and it takes multiple emails to the Ausländerbehörde to get an answer sometimes. My experience is if they have no update then they simply won’t respond.
  

Shared by Retha in December 2022

When did you apply for your FRV 2022-11-11
How many days did you wait before it was approved 38
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany Dual SA and DE
Marital Status at the time of application Married
Children No children involved
Parent to a German Child NA
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany German passport holder
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate Yes
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled Yes
Proof of language skills The language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany Yes
Tips you would like to share After your appointment at the embassy, it takes the application 3-4 weeks to reach the ausländerbehörde in Germany. We started following up with them after 3 weeks had passed. The language certificate requirement was waived as I am colloquially fluent in German (B2ish level) so I had my entire visa interview in German at the embassy. I saw on international groups that the rule of thumb for approaching the language requirement this way is, you should be a letter grade higher than required. So if you need A1, you should speak at least B1 level German.

Shared by Rosa in December 2022

When did you apply for your FRV

 2022-11-18

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 14

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 EU passport (not German)

Marital Status at the time of application

 In a relationship

Children

 Our children have only South African passports

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany

 Work Visa (not Bluecard)

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 No

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 The language requirement was waived

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 

Shared by Chrisni in November 2022

When did you apply for your FRV

 2022-08-10

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 104

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 Dual SA and DE

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 I am a parent to a German child (see next question)

Parent to a German Child

 I am a parent to a German child and applied for the “parent to a minor German child” visa – as it is less restrictive and easier to obtain

Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany

 German passport holder

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 Language requirement was waived

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 It’s worth finding out which municipality your place of residence is in, and emailing the Ausländbehorde there if things seem to take a while. I would likely still be waiting for my visa if I didn’t mail them, as my application fell through the cracks due to a staff change.

Shared by Magdelie  in November 2022

When did you apply for your FRV

 2022-02-16

How many days did you wait before it was approved

 180

Nationality of the person applying for a FRV

 South African passport

The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany

 South African passport

Marital Status at the time of application

 Married

Children

 No children involved

Parent to a German Child

 NA

Type of Visa your spouse has for Germany

 Work Visa (not Bluecard)

Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate

 Yes

Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled

 Yes

Proof of language skills

 A minimum of A1 level was required

Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany

 Yes

Tips you would like to share

 As a lot of people moving to Germany can attest, permanent housing is not always very quickly found. In the event that you are moving to a smaller town, ensure that there are not multiple Auslanderbehörde for different regions of the town. This is what caused the delay for my visa, since my husband’s different AirBnB’s fell under 2 different ABH despite the fact that the 2 areas were part of the main city. This resulted in my application being ping-ponged between 2 ABH and the Embassy in SA, which delayed the entire process to a total of 6 months.

Shared by Eric on 03 October 2022

When did you apply for your FRV 2022-08-03
How many days did you wait before it was approved54
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany South African passport
Marital Status at the time of application Married
Children I am a parent to a German child (see next question)
Parent to a German Child I am a parent to a German child and applied for the “parent to a minor German child” visa – as it is less restrictive and easier to obtain
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany German passport holder
Did you need an Unabridged marriage certificate Yes
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled Yes
Proof of language skills Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany Yes
Tips you would like to share To start, if your child does not yet have a German passport and you are considering emigrating in future, get it done ASAP. It took us 5 months to get the name declaration done and another 6 weeks for the passport. This lead to me applying for the visa later than expected and we got seperated. They did accept just the name declaration at the appointment as proof of German citizenship, but when it ended up in Germany a few weeks later they required copy of passport as well as our marriage certificate for some reason even though it was reunification to child. In both cases, the ND & Passport application as well as for the visa, had family following up on the German side. At time of application my wife and daughter were still in SA so I put my father-in-law as my sponsor with their address as that’s where we’d be staying while we get things in order.
Shared by Samuel 28 July 2022
When did you apply for your FRV  2022-05-11
How many days did you wait before it was approved 43
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany  German passport
Marital Status at the time of application  Married
Children  No children involved
Parent to a German Child  NA
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany  German passport holder
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  Yes
Proof of language skills  A minimum of A1 level was required
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  Yes
Tips you would like to share 1. Apply to a smaller district if possible. I was told that in the bigger cities, these applications can take many months! 2. After a month or so (they send your application to Germany in hardcopy, so give it time to arrive) try to find the person that is responsible for your application at your local municipality and call and email them frequently (in German helps – I got my wife and mother-in-law to phone). It looks like once they become aware of the application they process it quite quickly.

Shared by Tasneem 29 July 2022

When did you apply for your FRV  2021-09-14
How many days did you wait before it was approved 36
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany  Dual SA and DE
Marital Status at the time of application  Married
Children  I am a parent to a German child (see next question)
Parent to a German Child  I am a parent to a German child and applied for the “parent to a minor German child” visa – as it is less restrictive and easier to obtain
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany  German passport holder
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  Yes
Proof of language skills  Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  Yes
Shared by Vaughn 28 July 2022  
When did you apply for your FRV  2019-01-07
How many days did you wait before it was approved 14
Nationality of the person applying for a FRV  South African passport
The nationality of your spouse whom you will be joining in Germany  Dual SA and DE
Marital Status at the time of application  Married
Children I am a parent to a German child (see next question)
Parent to a German Child  I am a parent to a German child but applied for a spousal visa
Type of Visa your spouse have for Germany  German passport holder
Did you need to have your marriage certificate apostilled  No
Proof of language skills  Language requirement was waived
Are you allowed to work once you are in Germany  Yes
Tips you would like to share  All certificates (marriage and birth) had to be unabridged but not apostilled. As I have a German child (dual SA, DE citizenship), the A1 language requirement was waived however I still did the Goethe A1 test and used it in my application. For proof of medical insurance, I obtained 3 months travel insurance and then went on a krankenkasse the first week in Germany. Book your appointment at the Auslanderbehörde as soon as possible once arriving in Germany and try to take someone fluent in German with you. You may have to do a mandatory integration course, it is hard to do as it is 3-4 hours daily for about a year, but it helps you integrate and gets you to B1.

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