Hi
@SeeBee,
Their local Standesamt will detail the necessary documents to get married. Generally, these are a passport, birth certificate and the Ehefähigkeitszeugnis (or if the person’s home country does not issue this, an exemption from the German authorities to present this). They’ll want to see that your partner is registered in their district (Anmeldung). It will depend on where the documents are from as to whether an apostille or other verifications are needed.
I do not know of any reason why levels of income would be relevant to the Standesamt. It may be relevant to the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), if your partner is obliged to provide a ‘Verpflichtungserklärung’ as part of the process of you getting a visa to get married here. This means your partner gives an assurance that they can cover your costs and provides information about their income to prove this.
Once you’re married, you can receive residency according to German law or European law:
German law:
Your partner has permanent residency according to German law (this is called ‘Niederlassngserlaubnis’). With this type of residency status, they have the right to have their spouse join them in Germany. In this case, there are requirements about levels of income and knowledge of A1 German.
European law:
Assuming your partner has been living in Germany for 5 years they also have permanent residency according to EU law (this doesn’t have to be applied for). Under EU law this status doesn’t provide to bring family members here. However, if they are making use of their freedom of movement rights, such as your partner will do when they are studying, they have the entitlement to bring their spouse here. There is no need to show a certain income level and you do not need to have A1 German. The question which is not clear to me from the law is as to whether your partner can be said to have the status of ‘student’ while also have the status ‘permanent resident’. I have been unable to obtain clear information on this. If you are interested in pursuing this option, I can do further research on it.
In addition, you may already have the possibility to join your partner here and live here without getting married. This is according to another part of the EU law and is applicable to couples who are in long-term (at least two years) partnerships. To qualify for this you have to prove that it is a long-term relationship. Also, in this case income is important as your living costs have to be covered.
As this case involves many variables (married/unmarried, German/EU law, status as student/permanent resident), the above is just my initial assessment. If you would like further clarification, just let us know.
Best,
Éanna