Just few weeks after our wedding I looked up for an available appointment schedule in the German Embassy's website just so I wouldn't be shocked on how far the next appointments will be. Since the prior year when we were only planning to get the same visa for marriage in Germany, the available schedules was too hard to catch, so that served as a lesson to me.
Three months after our wedding, I finally got the most important requirements for my visa application which are the Marriage Certificate and the Cenomar. Don't confuse this with the document that was required for the marriage license because they're completely different.
For complete list of the requirements please refer to the website as sometimes it changes which I noticed from last December to February. (Requirements for marriage in Germany) (Requirements for married applicants)
I'll also state the documents that I've presented. Those are the following:
- Application form
- Birth Certificate
- Marriage Certificate
- Cenomar
- A1 Certificate
- Passport
- Declaration forms according to AufenthG
- A letter stating that he's inviting me to reunite with him (Informal and in Deutsch)
- His Passport photocopies
- His Federal Identity card
- photocopies of those
- and make sure it's organized well
If you were not informed that having the visa alone can get you smoothly through the immigration, you're mistakin', a certain certificate and a sticker are needed to present to them just so you won't experience being offloaded during your flight. This happened to a co Filipina who attended the same seminar schedule for the CFO sticker. This certificate is actually needed for changing your surname in your passport.
Having that said, I managed to find a schedule that is close to my visa appointment together with a colleague of mine who was planning to get married in Germany. When I gathered all of my documents, it was already a week before the appointment, so I then booked our flights and the hotel.
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| My friend who's getting married this June 23 only waited for less than a month to get her visa. |
So when we arrived in Manila on the day f my scheduled appointment the hotel almost ruined my day, but I'm not gonna talk about it. My schedule was 1:30 - 2:00 pm. I was already prepared one hour before that, since our hotel was just walking distance from the hotel, it didn't bother me with the time being spent reaching the embassy.
When I got there, of course they're all not the ''smile type'' of employees but don't let that ruin your momentum, give them a big smile rather. Hahaha. At last I was called from the 1st window, without wasting any body movements, I immediately unload all of my documents from my folder and gave it to the consul. There'll be a lot of questions to be asked, like how did you meet, how many times he had visited you, yada yada. It's not solving algebraic expressions so, no sweat. It didn't take long, she said my documents were all complete. I only get to sign a waiver and was informed to wait for a month or three to be called by them. I went back to the hotel and called it a day.
By the next day, it was the schedule of our seminar for the certificate in the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. It wasn't that far from Makati but it'll be far when it's morning and rush hour!
Gosh, our schedule was 9:00 am and we gotta get ourselves there two hours before that at least.
When we got there, we weren't late. What'll usually be the intro of everything like this is filling up a form, then you'd be photographed, one on one interview for about 50seconds but it took me 2 minutes, lol,then wait until it starts. Bring your own pen, for real.
So we were kinda a lot during that time, almost 15 if I'm not mistaking, and the funny thing was that the most numbers of wives are married to Germans, so the woman who conducted the seminar thought we were all friends and that we planned to marry Germans so we can all meet there.
It really took four hours, and I we were all kinda hungry. Good thing I brought my skyflakes. After that, you'd get the certificate only and not the sticker yet. That's only until when your visa is already attached to your passport. My friend and I made friends with those Filipinas that were married to the Germans, since my friend's return flight was on the same day of the seminar, she was accompanied by those ladies that are bound for Davao on that day. Meanwhile I was accompanied by the two wives too that are from Bicol. At least we didn't get to be alone, and they tour me around Pasay and Paranaque since I had to wait until the sun goes down because I'll crash at my old friend's place in Taguig.
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| Newly found friends from CFO seminar. Both of them got married in Hong Kong |
So after waiting for almost two months, I finally received a call from the embassy! Yes it kinda took awhile but it still happen.
