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Hello dear Wefugees Community! My German isn't yet good enough for legal stuff so if I may, I'll write in English please. I am a national from Armenia who recently got an Abschiebungsverbot because I'm gay and a lot of problems are facing me if I am deported. I have stayed in Germany for 1,5 years already, my asylum seeker application was denied and all I have now is Absciebungsverbot. I have a boyfriend who is a Russian living in Russia and we are almost losing hope of getting together. Do I have a right to marry him, if he comes to Germany? I do not have a passport from Armenia though, I had documentation because I was doing an Ausbildung, but now I am going to change it or go to University, since I now have the deportation ban. If we can marry, would it be grounds enough for him to get a visa to be able to come here or even to be allowed to stay with me permanently? He's travelling on a tourist visa now, so he only is allowed 90 days in the EU during one year, and we have no idea what to do when it expires. What opportunities do we have? Please help us. Anything would be very welcome and helpful. Thank you very much. Gabriel. #Abschiebungsverbot #Ehe #russisch #armenisch
asked Feb 12, 2018 in Legal advice by Gabriel | 1,154 views
Hallo Gabriel,
I am sorry, but you need a passport and some other documents to marry in Germany.
Many foreign people who are not allowed to marry in Germany go to Denmark because there you don't need all those papers. But also in Denmark you normally need a passport and you need a permit to travel from Germany to Denmark.
I wish you all the best.
Dear Katrinsche, thank you for your reply!
Hello @Katrinsche - I saw that you have already been posting a handful of answers here on Wefugees! That's awesome. Just a little tip for the next time: If you write your answer in the answer-box instead of the comment section, others can upvote it and write comments below it themselves. I'm looking forward to see you around here on the platform in the future. Best regards, Thorgen

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Hello @Gabriel_017

Welcome to our community!

As Katrinsche already pointed out, you need to have a passport to marry.

You can try to get in contact with the Armenian embassy in order to get a passport. Some people say it's dangerous to go to the embassy because you might lose your legal status, but that's only true for people with a refugee status. In your case there is just an "Abschiebungsverbot". That means that you don't have a refugee status - so there is nothing to lose in the first place.

Source (German language): ****://berlin-hilft.***/2017/04/25/passbeschaffung-wer-muss-wer-sollte-wer-darf-wer-nicht/

If both of you can provide a passport (and the other required documents) your boyfriend can come to Germany with a special visa that allows you to marry. After that you can apply for family reunion which will enable him to stay with you.

I highly recommend that he doesn't stay longer than the duration of his visa. Otherwise he resides here illegally which might cause trouble later on when he tries to re-enter Germany.

Best regards,
Thorgen
answered Feb 12, 2018 by Thor
Dear @Thor, thank you SO much for your reply! Might I ask, does it mean that me having only an Abshiebungsverbot as the sole grounds to be tolerated in Germany can be enough for a family reunion with my boyfriend if we do manage to get married? Am I eligible for that? And if I may ask, where can I find out about what other documents need to be obtained for marriage? Thank you so much, Thorgen. Kind regards, Gabriel.
Hello @Gabriel - this is a complicated topic. I will try to give you an overview based on my research. But maybe it’s better if you contact a lawyer or a counselling center to have an expert take a **** at your case.
There is a website by BAMF that says that you are not entitled to ‘privileged’ family reunification as a person with Abschiebungsverbot, but 'normal' family reunion is possible under certain circumstances (****://***.bamf.de/EN/Fluechtlingsschutz/AblaufAsylv/Schutzformen/AbschiebungsV/abschiebungsverbot-node.html). There are some general things that need to be kept in mind. First of all, 'normal' reunification means that you can reunite with your core family (e.g. husband) if you can prove that you have an income that is sufficient to support you and your family members in Germany (you are allowed to work if Ausländerbehörde gives their consent). Also you need enough space for them to live with you. Your boyfriend needs to have basic German skills in order to be eligible for family reunion as well.
Now it gets tricky. Generally family reunion for people with Abschiebungsverbot only works if the marriage already happened before you got your residence permit. In addition, chances must be high that you can stay in Germany for at least a year (or longer) due to the situation in your home country. In case one (or both) of these conditions are not fulfilled, Ausländerbehörde can decide on its own if they grant you family reunification or not (it’s called “Ermessensentscheidung”). Since you already have your residence permit, but you are not married yet, this will probably happen.
Furthermore, Ausländerbehörde will check if there is humanitarian reasons to allow family reunion (such as hostility towards gays in Russia) because they probably won’t allow it if you “just” want to live together. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how high the chances of success are in your case. As you can see this is quite a complex matter. Maybe it’s best to have an expert, such as a lawyer or a consultant in a counselling center, take a **** at it.
If this procedure fails: You can apply for a settlement permit after 5 years of staying in Germany if you have a job that makes you independent from governmental benefits and if you got sufficient German skills. Then you are allowed to bring your husband here through regular family reunification without all the restrictions and special rulings that I outlined above. Note that the time you spend in your asylum procedure is already included in the 5 years.
Concerning the documents you need for marriage in Germany, please check the information in this thread: https://***.wefugees.de/k/questions/1997 Best regards, Thorgen
Dear @Thor Thank you very much for your time and support. We appreciate it so much!
All the best,
Gabriel.
I'm glad to hear that my answer was helpful to you. All the best to you too!
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