Ausländerbehorde rejecting Verpflichtungserklärung for family reunification visa

Question

Hi Wefugees Team,

I was given refugee status in October 2020. And I am working in IT in a big media house of Germany on a limited contract with 60,000/year salary which ends in Sep, 2023 and more likely my Company would renew my contract to open ended one.

I got married last year and recently applied for Verpflichtungserklärung for my husband‘s national visa D. Ausländerbehorde communicated to me that while I fulfill all other requirements and my income is enough to provide for both of us, they cannot issue me Verpflichtungserklärung for national visa D on the basis of limited contract. They said that there is highly likely chance that I won’t get work afterwards  and might need to draw funds from SGBII after using my 12 months of ALG1.

I have appointment with them next week. I am really surprised and pissed on their exemption for the reason that I am working in highly sought after field and there is no way I would be jobless for that long. Also, I have more than enough savings that I won’t be even eligible (nor in need) for social funds. I have not shown them my savings because I was told that savings on bank doesn’t matter.

my question is:

- is there a law that allows them to make such assumptions? On what basis they can claim that I would remain jobless for more than 12 months after my contract finishes?

- Is there possibility that I can ask to get my case reviewed by someone else or argue with this case worker?

I fulfil  all other requirements except my limited contract and it is very frustrating to deal with them. I am looking to hire a lawyer to deal with them but meanwhile I wanted to get some help to clear my mind for upcoming appointment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Comments

Dear @Qtchick, Welcome to the Wefugees Community and thank you for sharing your situation with us. I will link our expert and my dear colleage @Alla_fka here - as I am also not very familiar with similar cases. And of course, you can always contact a migration counselling office to get another perspective and individual support. If you want to share your appoximate location with us, I am happy to make some research about respective services and contact details. All the best, Meike

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hey Meike,

Thank you for reply. I am near Berlin.

Answer 1

Hello,

I don't know why you must make Verpflichtungserklärung with the Ausländerbehörde for a family reunion procedure. Generally a spouse who wishes a family reunion from abroad must provide proof of enough source of livelyhood for the whole family (in your case 2 persons) with his or her application in the embassy. As you earn more than enough and your contract will be valid more than 1,5 years, it mustn't be a problem at all. I´ve never heard about Verpflichtungserklärung for a national Visa for family reunion. Normally, you need such a document for inviting somebody to visit you or in some special cases. But Im not from Berlin or Brandenburg, perhaps they treat it in this way.

The problem with the visa application can be that the embassy has no right to issue it before they have asked the Ausländerbehörde in your place and got their approval (Zustimmung). If they don't get it, they would reject the visa application. In this case your husband can make a remonstration within 1 month and in case of rejection he can appeal to the court in Berlin. Naturally this all can take much time.

Theoretically you can apply to the administrative court in your place and ask them to oblige the Ausländerbehörde to allow you to make a Verpflichtungserklärung. But I've never heard about such appeal. And for that I would definitely consult a good migration lawyer.

Did you inform you about the conditions and necessary documents for family reunion on the web page of the responsible embassy? If yes, did you really find Verpflichtungserklärung in the list? It would be interesting from what country you make family reunion. Perhaps there is something special there.

I presume your marriage is legally acceptable for German authorities and your husband has A1 Certificate. These are mostly important problems for family reunion, together with having not enough money.

Comments

Hello once more,
I asked our councelling lawyer and she says it is a normal situation to make such a Verpflichtungserklärung for family reunion (which I've really never heard before), but she doesn't find as ok that Ausländerbehörde rejects to issue this document for you, if you really earn so much and your contract, even not unlimited, has such a longitude.
She meant it could be perhaps your personal problem with a special person in the Ausländerbehörde. Perhaps you can try to speak to a superior person, sometimes it can help - if your unlimited contract is really the only problem.
You can also ask your company to support you, for example with a letter that they are fully satisfied and plan to give your further contract etc.