Family Reunion Visa Germany 2026: Requirements, the A1 Rule and Real Waiting Times

By Marwan · moved to Germany in 2023 · facts verified June 2026

You made it to Germany — now the goal is your family at the same dinner table. The good news: the family reunion visa gives spouses and minor children a real legal path to join you, and the rules are predictable. The honest news: between the A1 exam, document legalization and embassy processing, most families wait 4–9 months — and nearly every one of those months can be shortened or wasted depending on the order you do things in. Here is the whole process, in the right order.

A1 German

For Most Spouses

3–6 months

Typical Processing

€75

Visa Fee (€37.50 for Children)

Day 1

Full Work Rights on Arrival

Who Can Join You — and Who Can't

Eligible

Your spouse or registered partner — both of you must be 18 or older, and the marriage must be legally registered with a civil authority. A religious-only ceremony is not enough for German authorities.
Your unmarried children under 18 — the rules are simplest for children under 16; more on the 16–17 case below.
A parent of a minor German child — to care for the child, with no income proof required.

Generally not eligible

Your parents — unless you are an unaccompanied minor with refugee status, parents can only come in cases of exceptional hardship (§36 (2)), which are rarely granted. A parent who simply wants to live near you doesn't qualify.
Siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins — there is no family reunion route for them; they need their own visa (work, study, or the Chancenkarte).
Family of Chancenkarte holders — the Opportunity Card itself doesn't allow family reunion; that unlocks once you switch to a work permit.

Legal basis: §§27–36 of the Residence Act (AufenthG). Details vary by case — confirm the final list of requirements with the German mission in your country.

The Four Things Germany Checks

Whether the application succeeds is mostly decided before anyone sits in an embassy waiting room. Four requirements carry the whole case — three about the person in Germany, one about the person applying:

1. Your residence status in Germany

Permanent residence, an EU Blue Card, skilled-worker permits and most other solid residence titles all support family reunion — even student permits in many cases, if your stay is expected to last over a year. If you hold a temporary permit, your family's permit can never be issued for longer than your own.

2. Enough income — without social benefits

There is no fixed salary threshold. The Ausländerbehörde calculates whether your net income covers your whole household's needs — basic-needs rates per person plus your actual rent — without recourse to SGB II/XII benefits. Relying on top-up benefits is the most common reason applications fail. Spouses and children of German citizens are normally exempt from this check entirely.

3. Enough living space

The guideline authorities use: roughly 12 m² of living space per family member over six, 10 m² per child under six — with a shortfall of about 10% usually tolerated. Do this math before you apply: a one-room flat will not pass for a family of four, and finding a bigger flat takes longer than any other step you control.

4. Basic German (A1) for your spouse

Your spouse must show they can communicate in German at a basic level — in practice an A1 certificate ("Start Deutsch 1") from the Goethe-Institut, telc or ÖSD. This is the requirement with the most exemptions, so check the next section before booking a course.

The A1 Rule — and Who Is Exempt

The A1 requirement is the step that delays most spouses, but a surprising number of applicants don't actually need it. You are exempt from the language certificate in any of these cases:

You're exempt if…	Worth knowing
Your spouse in Germany holds an EU Blue Card, ICT Card, or a skilled-worker, researcher or self-employment permit (§§18a, 18b, 18d, 19c, 21)	For the skilled-worker permits, the marriage must already have existed when your spouse moved to Germany.
You're a citizen of a country whose nationals can enter Germany visa-free	For example the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea or Israel.
Illness or disability prevents you from learning German	Needs medical evidence; the bar is real but not impossibly high.
You have a recognizably low integration need	In practice: a university degree and a realistic prospect of finding work in Germany.
Your spouse holds a refugee residence permit (§25 (1) or (2))	And the marriage already existed before they fled their country.

Insider tip: if A1 applies to you, book the exam the day you decide to apply — not after the course. Goethe exam slots in high-demand cities fill up two to three months ahead, and an expired appointment search has delayed more families than the exam itself. telc and ÖSD centres often have shorter queues for the identical certificate. A1 is genuinely basic — introducing yourself, numbers, everyday phrases — and most people pass after a couple of months of steady prep.

Bringing Children: the Two Traps

For unmarried children under 16 joining a parent (or both parents), there is no language requirement — the application is mostly paperwork. Two situations need real care:

Children who turn 16 before the visa is decided

A 16- or 17-year-old applying alone (not relocating together with both parents) must show either strong German or a credible integration prognosis — schooling, English, prior contact with Germany. The clean workaround is timing: apply well before the 16th birthday, because what counts is when the application is complete, and processing alone can eat half a year.

Divorced or separated parents

If you share custody, the other parent must formally consent to the child moving to Germany — or you need a binding sole-custody decision. The consent has to be notarized, translated and legalized, which means a cooperative ex saves you months and an uncooperative one means going through the courts in your home country first. This is the single most common delay in children's applications; start it before anything else.

If You Came as a Refugee: Two Very Different Situations

Recognized refugees (§25 (1) or (2)): use the 3-month window

If your refugee status was granted with full protection, your spouse and minor children can join you without the income and living-space checks — but only if the application is filed within three months of your final recognition. A simple timely notification to the embassy or the BAMF (the so-called fristwahrende Anzeige) preserves the deadline even if the full application takes longer to assemble. Many families lose this privilege simply because nobody told them the clock was running.

Subsidiary protection: reunification is currently suspended

Family reunification for subsidiary protection holders is suspended from 24 July 2025 until 23 July 2027. During this period no new family reunion visas are issued for this group; only narrow humanitarian hardship cases under §§22–23 remain possible — and in practice almost none have been approved. We won't pretend otherwise: if this is your status, the realistic options are waiting, pursuing an upgrade of your protection status if you have grounds, or seeking advice from a migration counselling service (Migrationsberatung) on whether a hardship case genuinely fits your family.

How to Apply — Step by Step

Confirm the four requirements above, and check who actually needs A1 — don't book a course you might not need.

Start the slow documents first: fresh marriage and birth certificates, translations, and apostille or embassy legalization. This is the long pole in almost every application — our visa documents guide covers the details per document type.

Book the A1 exam (if required) in parallel — never after the documents.

Apply online via the Consular Services Portal (digital.diplo.de) — since January 2025 every German mission accepts national-visa applications digitally. Upload everything and use the preliminary review; fixing a missing document online costs days, fixing it after an embassy appointment costs months.

Attend the embassy appointment with originals and biometrics, and pay the fee — €75 per adult, €37.50 per child, free for family members of German citizens.

Wait out processing (3–6 months; document verification adds 2–3). Track status in the portal. After approval: fly, register your address within 14 days, and book the residence permit appointment.

Realistic total: 4–9 months from the A1 exam to landing — longer where embassy appointments are scarce.

After They Land: the First Weeks

Anmeldung within 14 days — register everyone, including the kids, at the Bürgeramt. Everything downstream depends on it; here's exactly how the Anmeldung works.
Health insurance is the pleasant surprise — if you're on public insurance, your non-working spouse and children join your plan free of charge (Familienversicherung). Tell your Krankenkasse; it's a form, not a negotiation. Details in our health insurance guide.
Your spouse can work immediately — the family-reunion permit carries unrestricted work rights (§27 (5)), employed or self-employed, no extra approval needed.
School-age kids must enroll — schooling is compulsory in Germany; your city's school office (Schulamt) assigns a school, often with German-language welcome classes for newcomers.
An independent permit after 3 years — after three years of marriage in Germany, your spouse's right to stay no longer depends on the marriage (§31), with earlier protection in hardship cases such as domestic violence.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a family reunion visa for Germany take?

Plan for 3–6 months of processing after your embassy appointment, plus the wait for the appointment itself. If your documents need verification — common where civil registries are unreliable — add another 2–3 months. Realistically, most families are back together 4–9 months after they start the process.

Do I need to speak German to join my spouse in Germany?

Usually yes — basic German (A1), proven with a certificate like the Goethe-Institut's Start Deutsch 1 (telc and ÖSD certificates are also accepted). You're exempt if your spouse holds an EU Blue Card or certain skilled-worker permits, if you're a citizen of a visa-free country like the US or UK, if illness or disability prevents you from learning, or if you have a university degree and a low integration need.

How much income do I need to bring my family to Germany?

There is no single official number. The Ausländerbehörde checks that your income covers your household's needs without social benefits (SGB II/XII) — the threshold depends on your family size and your rent. A full-time salary comfortably above basic-needs rates for your household normally passes; relying on top-up benefits is the most common reason for refusal. Spouses and children of German citizens normally don't need to prove income at all.

Can my spouse work in Germany after family reunion?

Yes, without restriction. A residence permit for family reasons carries full work rights under §27 (5) of the Residence Act — employed or self-employed, from day one. No separate work permit is needed.

Can I bring my parents to Germany?

Generally no. Parents of adult children can only come in cases of exceptional hardship (§36 (2)) — typically needing care that genuinely cannot be provided in their home country — and these are decided case by case and rarely granted. The one clear exception: parents of an unaccompanied minor with refugee status have a legal claim to join their child.

Can subsidiary protection holders bring their family?

Not at the moment. Family reunification for subsidiary protection holders is suspended from 24 July 2025 until 23 July 2027. Only narrow humanitarian hardship cases under §§22–23 remain possible, and in practice almost none have been approved. If you hold full refugee status (not subsidiary protection), the suspension does not affect you.

Planning the Move Together?

Answer a few quick questions and get a personalized checklist for your family's situation — every document, cost and deadline for the visa and the first weeks in Germany, in the right order.

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Sources

The figures and requirements on this page are based on the following official sources. Rules change — always confirm with the German embassy or authority responsible for your case.

§§27–36 AufenthG — Residence Act, family reunification — the legal basis: spouses (§30), children (§32), independent residence (§31)
Consular Services Portal — family reunification visas — official online application portal of the Federal Foreign Office
Auswärtiges Amt — suspension of family reunification for subsidiary protection — official notice on the 24 July 2025 – 23 July 2027 suspension
Federal Foreign Office — visa fees — national visa fees and fee waivers for family of German citizens
Make it in Germany — family reunification — official portal of the German government for international talent

Facts and figures last verified: June 2026

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