🧮
Apostilles and translations: our route →
The longest part of the package is legalisation — start there.
The Visa: Documents and the Embassy
A national D visa at the embassy where the family lives. The core: legalised certificates with sworn translations.
✓ Verified: 15/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
AUTHORITY
Ausländerbehörde (ABH)
Municipal authorityThe Ausländerbehörde for your registered address is the one responsible. Enter your postcode and we will show yours.
Where to go in your city →
DOCUMENTS 4
› Details and tips
👨🏻💻
Max recommends:
The whole package sat scanned in the cloud with a page index: when the embassy requested a missing paper, it went out the same day — without a month of delay.
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
Do apostilles and translations BEFORE the appointment queue: the apostilled marriage certificate is the slowest document, and its absence sinks the interview.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The visa came for only 3 months — a mistake? ▾
No, the national D visa is always short: the full permit comes in Germany at the immigration office. Book that appointment in the first days after arrival.
The embassy waiting list takes months — can it be sped up? ▾
Partly: register immediately, check mornings for cancellations, and the inviter can push a pre-approval (Vorabzustimmung) at the immigration office — embassies work faster with it.
How long does processing take? ▾
From 1–2 months up to a year — the embassy involves the ABH at the sponsor residence. Only a complete first-shot package speeds it up.
Enter on Schengen and convert? ▾
The classic expensive mistake: reunification almost always requires the D visa issued BEFORE entry. A Schengen entry breaks the procedure.