Permanent residence with German spouse
Who needs a residence permit
All persons who wish to seek gainful Permanent Residency in Germany (or staing in Germany longer than 3 months) are required to obtain a residence permit in the form of a visa.
Citizens of Canada, Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the United States, Switzerland, as well as EU citizens may apply for their residence permit for work after entering Germany without a visa.
The application can be submitted at the competent Aliens Authority after arrival in Germany. There is no obligation to apply for a German visa before leaving Canada.
Citizens of other countries are required to apply and obtain a residence permit prior to entry.
Please note: A visa in order to live in Germany is a so called national visa and does also entitle you to enter the other Schengen countries for a duration for up to 90 days. List of Schengen countries
Where and how to apply
The German Foreign Missions only accept applications from Canadian residents. Applications from persons holding a Canadian student visa, work permit or long-term visitor’s visa are also accepted.
You have to submit your application in person at one of the German Foreign Missions listed on the right side. You must book an appointment when applying at the German Consulate in Toronto or Vancouver.
Request an appointment with the Visa Section in Toronto
Request an appointment with the Visa Section in Vancouver
Upon submission of ALL the required documents the application will be forwarded to the competent German Aliens Authority (“Ausländeramt”). Permanent residence visa applications take upto 12 weeks to be processed. After the application has been approved by the Aliens Authority, the German Foreign Mission will issue a residence permit in the form of a visa with the duration for the first three months. A final residence permit will be granted in Germany by the Aliens Authority. The Aliens Authority requires all residence permit holders to register upon their first arrival.
Required documents
Please download the checklist below to overwiew the documents have to be submitted upon application.
Checklist for a permanent residence with German spouse [pdf, 79,88k]
Please note:
Only applications which include ALL the relevant forms fully completed, signed by the applicant and being submitted with ALL the relevant documentation will be accepted!
In individual cases, you may be required to provide additional documents.
Passport requirements
Please note these important regulations concerning the passport for all applicants:
- Its validity has to extend the duration of the visa you are applying for by at least three months.
- It has to contain at least two blank pages.
- It must have been issued within the last ten years. A passport older than ten years that has been extended for a period exceeding ten years from the time of issuance cannot be accepted.
German language skills
In order to facilitate integration, visa applicants must prove basic German skills when applying for a visa.
Competency in the German language in this case means that the applicant has the ability to communicate in German on at least a basic level, i.e. holds a certificate of successful completion of a German language course level A1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Certificates issued by an institution which performs testing in accordance with the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) are accepted. These requirements are only met by the Goethe-Institute.
For information on language tests at the Goethe-Institute please visit their webpage:
www.goethe.de
Exception: If the applicant shows sufficient German language skills by the time of the visa application at the consulate, no further proof would be required.
