I'm married to a German - Can I apply for a permanent residence p. if my partner is not joining me to the appointment?

Question

I must have posted this so many times, but i want to have your opinion/advice.

I am married to a German national almost 7 years now, but this past few months we’ve been having so much issues and now i am thinking maybe getting a divorce or being separated would be the option which i am not happy about. I applied for a Niederlassung erlaubnis and the appointment date is later in January.. which i know if my partner is not present they won’t change it, so my question is do i need to get an immigration lawyer before that date and what are my chances of changing it even though my partner is not present on that day??

Answer 1

Dear @Flint,

Welcome back to the Wefugees Community and thank you for your question (which you haven't asked before, if I see it correctly).

Yes, as far as I know, your spouse is usually supposed to join you to the appointment (as I also read here, for instance). I am not sure how the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) reacts if you apply by yourself. However, even if you have to get divorced (in the worst case), you may apply for an independent residence permit (i.e. according to §31 German Residence Act) first and afterwards for a permanent one (Niederlassungserlaubnis). I am not sure if a lawyer can help much for the time being. However, I can recommend to contact a migration counselling office (Migrationsberatung) or maybe even a couple/family counselling to try to solve your issues.

Do you agree with my explanations and is there anything you can add dear @mbeon-fardeen?

In any case, please don't hesitate to get back to us with any further questions.

All the best,

Meike

Comments

Thank you very much and what if i try to calm the whole situation and manage to get her to go with me to the Behörde, would a divorce affect the settlement permit??