Zezima

I'm a 23 year old man seeking to bring over my 25 year old Internet girlfriend to the UK to live with me. I have been reading on the various routes for her to settle here but I'm not sure on the most efficient or cost effective or quickest route to do it. Here is our circumstances:

I'm British born and always resided in the UK. I have my own home that I own by mortgage and also work a job that is £26,000. My parents are both British citizens.

She is American and always resided in the US. She owns her own home outright and works a job that is about $50,000. Her mother is German and father is American, but my girlfriend only has US citizenship.

In a couple months we are going to meet for the first time in which she will stay at mine for 6 months on a general visit to the UK. Assuming everything is swell and dandy, we intend to marry. We are aware she will have to go back to the states after the 6 months stay ends to apply for a visa, but how should we go about it? Thanks

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jmin

Zezima

Thanks for the reply. I will show her those pages. She is not due to arrive in the UK for at least two months though. So as a German citizen she is not required to have a visa to marry me in the UK then? Is she allowed to register my address as her living address with German citizenship?

On another note, if Britain crashes out of the EU with no deal later this year, will it render her German citizenship pointless in order to settle here?

jmin

Zezima

Great stuff! I think it is a no brainer that we will take advantage of her German descent in order to get her to settle here then, as it is way less tedious compared to applying through visas. Thanks for your help!

Zezima

Update: so we have looked at the documentation required for her to get a German passport and she needs a US citizenship document. Apparently she lost hers when she was moving houses many years ago and never replaced it. A replacement document costs $555 (not an issue) but also requires about 5-6 months to process. The passport takes around 2 months to process. Is the German citizenship route still the best option?

jmin

Zezima

She is American by birth. I was reading the checklist on the link you posted. So she doesn't need the citizenship certificate if she never naturalized? Could you please tell me what documents she needs in total for the German passport?

Edit: I see it says US passport instead of the citizenship document which is fine as she has it

jmin

Evidence of USA citizenship is a passport or american birth certificate or consular report of birth abroad. Citizenship certificates are only for those who naturalized.

I do not have German citizenship and would suggest that you contact the German embassy to determine the required documents. I do not believe she needs to apply for a German certificate of citizenship before lodging the German passport application but perhaps she will. In any case, she will need to show her mother was German at the time of her birth (mother's German passport) and might also need the parents marriage certificate and the mother's USA naturalization certificate, if she eventually did become an American citizen. There is not a dual citizenship issue because one of the exceptions is relevant to your girlfriend (birth in a country with birth right citizenship or other citizenship flowing from the other parent).

It would be best to contact the embassy to submit the correct application in the first place and avoid document related delays. If you want to help, call and pose the same situation, but with you as the applicant, to the German embassy in the UK and ask what documents would be required and whether you can lodge the passport application straight away.

Do let us know how this progresses.

Zezima

Well, her mother had her German passport taken off her by her grandmother after they moved to the US many many years ago... so it looks like this route will not be an option for us. I think we will just have to bite the bullet and go through a spouse visa instead. Thanks!

Jerseygirl

Surely there must be ways of proving her mother was German. Does her mother have a German birth certificate? If not perhaps this can be obtained from the relevant authority in Germany.

Zezima

She does have her birth certificate. But it would have her maiden name. I think her birth certificate, US passport and maybe marriage certificate will be enough

Jerseygirl

Sounds like a plan. Gather as much evidence as you possible can.

Zezima

Update: so she and her mother went to one of those places. They verified she can get dual citizenship through her mother and supplied all required documentation, and said it will take a couple to a few weeks to get her dual citizenship. Apparently they had all they needed for it to happen, so fingers crossed it happens soon so we can book the flights ASAP before Brexit!

jmin

Glad to hear it and hope everything works out. It should be the simpler option plus she will always have a German passport now. Let us know when she receives it or whether she encounters any problems.