PART 2. RESIDENCE OPTIONS IN GERMANY FOR CITIZENS FROM NON-EU COUNTRIES
8. Family reunification.
As was previously stipulated in the law “On the Status of Foreign Citizens”, in principle subsequent admission within the framework of family reunification is possible only for spouses and minor children. Corresponding rules for family reunification apply to registered same-sex partnerships. Subsequent admission of other family members, as before, is at the discretion of administrative authorities and may be permitted only to prevent exceptionally severe hardship.
What residence status do family members of Germans obtain?
You have a legal right to obtain a residence permit if you are:
a) the spouse of a German;
b) a minor unmarried child of a German;
c) one of the parents of a minor unmarried German child who is under your custody.
In this case, your German family member must permanently reside in Germany. If you do not have custody rights with respect to your minor German child, the visa and foreigners registration office (Auslanderbehorde) may issue a residence permit if you already live with the child in Germany in a family community – that is, in a community of mutual care and assistance. You are not required to provide proof of means of subsistence. The residence permit initially contains a note that you are allowed to work.
If you have had a residence permit for three years, the family community with your German family member in Germany continues to exist, there are no grounds for your deportation from the country, and you are able to express yourself freely in German, then you are generally issued a permanent residence permit.
What requirements must a foreigner meet in order for family members to have the right to come to Germany?
You must possess a residence permit; a permanent residence permit; sufficient living space. The family member coming to you must satisfy the general conditions for stay and entry into the country, except in cases where the provisions on family reunification contain other rules.
A residence permit may be denied to family members if they would require social assistance. This condition does not apply, however, to persons entitled to political asylum, to convention refugees, and to holders of a permanent residence permit issued on humanitarian grounds. If you belong to one of the above-mentioned groups, the visa and foreigners registration office may allow the reunification with you of your spouse or permanent partner and your minor children even if you lack sufficient living space or are unable to provide means of subsistence.
If you have been issued a residence permit:
a) because you were admitted from a foreign country in accordance with international legal norms or for urgent humanitarian reasons;
b) because your stay was permitted by decision of the highest administrative authority of the federal state;
c) because you enjoy protection due to an established prohibition on deportation from the country, the visa and foreigners registration office may issue your family members a residence permit only in accordance with international legal norms, on humanitarian grounds, or in order to uphold Germany’s political interests.
What special rules apply to foreigners who have a residence permit for the purpose of temporary protection?
If you belong to this group, you have the right to reunification with your spouse, your minor children, and the minor children of your spouse, subject to the following conditions:
a) your family community already existed in your home country, and its dissolution was caused by flight from the country;
b) your family member has been admitted from another EU member state. If he or she is outside the European Union, he or she must be in need of protection.
Fulfillment of the general conditions for issuing a residence permit is not required. It is also not an obstacle if the foreigner, to whom family members are coming, needs social assistance to support the residence of other foreign family members or persons living with him. Family members who arrive also receive a residence permit for temporary protection.
For which residence permit holders is the arrival of family members excluded?
A permit for the arrival of family members is not issued to holders of a residence permit that was issued:
a) only for temporary stay due to urgent humanitarian reasons;
b) for personal reasons or in accordance with important public interests;
b) only in connection with the impossibility of departure.
Under what conditions can a spouse or permanent partner come?
You have a legal right to reunification with your spouse or permanent partner if:
a) you hold a permanent residence permit;
b) you have a residence permit while having the right to political asylum or being a convention refugee;
c) you have had a residence permit for five years;
d) you have a residence permit, and your marriage existed at the time the residence permit was issued to you, and the duration of your stay in the country is expected to be at least one year.
If you do not meet these conditions, the visa and foreigners registration office may nevertheless issue your spouse or permanent partner a residence permit, but you have no right to this.
To be continued.
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