More Germany Advice before the wedding

[flicki 0]

Can anyone help direct me as to where I can get a legal/certified copy of my passport. I was directed by the Passport Info center to the US authentication office (206-647-5002), but can't get through to them.

Also Germany wants a certified statement of my income, is a copy of a W-2 enough?

Also, is it recommended that I get additional copies of a birth cert. w/apostille (i.e. will I need more during the CR-1 visa process)?

Any advice as to making things move smoothly and quickly for the wedding in Germany? We were hoping to do it around Christmas, but I think it won't be enough time to get all the documents I need and then translate them, and then send them to Munich...

Feedback from anyone that has gone through this would be great!

Would it be easier to marry in the States?

[Anna C. 4]

That's a lot. Why do you need so much? As far as I am concerned you only need a translated birth certificate and your passport to marry in Germany, you don't even need a visa for this. But I am not sure.

As for apostilles, in NC they are made by the secretary of state. You will only need a normal birth certificate for the American visa process though.

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/In...vCtx=54170.html

If you can speak German read that link otherwise, let your fiancee read it. I heard that it is super easy to get married in Denmark.

I never heard that Germany wanted an income thingie, are you trying to apply for a German Green Card? I don't think it is necessary to marry!!!! Only for permanent residence.

Read about it and google whatever you two can find, the information is out there! Also send your fiancee to the local city hall becaus they can help and are always eager to help.

Good luck.

Edit: You will also need a certificate that you are unmarried, most likely the city hall might provide you with that. I cannot find the website for this, but it isn't that hard to get married, you only need to have all documents.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Anna C.

[Eveline 9]

Wow, that's Germany for you. I would also recommend thinking about getting married in Denmark (I've heard it's easier).

[flicki 0]

All of these required items are direct from my fiancee's local city hall, here is what they requested again:

- birth certificate WITH AN APOSTIL (proving that the person issuing the certificate is entitled to do so)

- income certificate / statement

- statutory declaration about your marital status (in the form of a affidavits, issued by a notary public)

THESE THREE DOCUMENTS HAVE TO BE TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN IN GERMANY

- declaration of accession

take it to the German embassy in Los Angeles, with the above (birth certificate, etc.) and fill the accession form with their help. On page 2 of the form, your signature has to be accredited/certified/legalized as well as a confirmation that you have understood everything it says on the form.

- accredited/legalized/certified copie of your passport

Once we submit all of these items to her local city hall, they will then send it to the embassy in Munich!

[Eveline 9]

Are you immigrating to Germany. I think what Anna and I thought was that you only get married in Germany and then move to the US together.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Eveline

[flicki 0]

Last note: We are only trying to get married so that we can start the CR-1 Visa process for her to immigrate to the States, I am not trying to immigrate to Germany.

[Eveline 9]

Ahhhaaaaa, question answered. I don't think it's even necessary to send all this to the embassy in Munich. You only wanna get married that is all. I would check on that again.

http://berlin.usembassy.gov/germany/servic...ng_married.html

Edited November 13, 2006 by Eveline

[flicki 0]

Another clarification:

These documents will eventually end up at a court in Munich (not an embassy). The reason for this is that the US does not provide a document regarding the "eligibility" of its citizens to marry.

[Bjumanja 0]

Hello Flicki,

I am trying to answer as good as I can since we went through this in Germany.

Here is first of all our website. Hank put down what he had to do. Maybe this is going to help already.

Getting Married in Germany on our website

Also, I don't know if all what applied to us is going to apply to you as well. I don't know if you are in Germany right now or in the States. However, Hank and I we had planned to get married in the Summer of 2005. 6 Months before the date, not earlier, you can register for the wedding. The Registrar (Standesbeamte) told me when I gathered all the information, what documents we need and also that Hank has to be there when we get registered (Anmeldung der Hochzeit). So, Hank was there in February of 2005 with all his documents. He did not bring a copy of his Passport. The Standesbeamte made a copy of it.

Also, since Hank does not understand or speak German, we needed to have a translator for him. It can be anybody who knows English, except somebody from the family (my mom is an English teacher, she was not allowed to translate. Her collegue did that instead. She had to swear that she translated truthfully and we had to pay a fee for that oath, it was about 17 Euros.) I wish, I remember more, but if you have specific questions, maybe it is going to help my memory.

After handing in all the documents, and after talking, the Standesbeamte sent all the documents to the Oberlandesgericht (Court) and I think a week or so after that, we got already the approval, that we can get married. Then I made an appointment with her (Hank has left Germany at that point already) to talk about the day when we wanted to get married.

So, since each Standesamt handles things differently, your fiancee needs to find out if you have to be present, when she is going to register for the wedding.

Let me know if you need to know more, or if I maybe forgot to answer some of your questions.

~Anja

[Bjumanja 0]

I just saw that you also asked if it is easier to get married here in the States. From my own experience I don't think it was bad getting married in Germany, and all this paperwork what you have to hand in in advanced is not that complicated either. I know that you want to get married sooner so you can start the process. So, it all depends on what works best for you. Besides, the documents, that Hank had to hand in (birth certificate and W-2) we got back in the end and we were able to use those for the visa process.

And the W-2 which shows your income is there for the fee that you have to pay for the Oberlandesgericht. The reason why everthing is going to Court is that they are going to check that you are allowed to get married. In Germany every citizen is registered at the Einwohnermeldeamt and the Standesamt has access to the data. So for a German applicant the information is right there if he is not married yet, or if he is divorced and therefore can get married.

[flicki 0]

Do you know what the cost is? I read in another forum that it is 7% of your monthly income, hence the need for an income statement.

[Bjumanja 0]

I don't remember how much it was or what percentage but we were surprised that it was not more. I don't know if I remember right, but I guess we paid about 38 Euros.