Refused: what to do first
If your family-reunion (Familiennachzug) or spouse visa was refused, do two things before anything else. First, read the refusal letter line by line — it states the legal grounds for the refusal and, where one is required, a Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung (the notice telling you the deadline, the court, and how to challenge it). Second, note the date you received it: any court deadline runs from that day. The single biggest mistake at this stage is treating a refusal as final — most are fixable, but the path changed in 2025, so don't follow old advice that tells you to "remonstrate".
A quick but important fork: if your sponsor in Germany is an EU citizen, you are usually not on this §27–§30 AufenthG route at all — a non-EU family member of an EU citizen receives an Aufenthaltskarte under the Freizügigkeitsgesetz/EU, a different and more generous process. This guide is for reunion with a non-EU sponsor (or a German citizen) under the Aufenthaltsgesetz.
Why family-reunion visas get refused (and which to fix)
Family visas rarely fail on the form — they fail on proof. The recurring grounds map directly to the law:
- Sufficient living space. §29(1) Aufenthaltsgesetz requires ausreichender Wohnraum (adequate accommodation) for the family. Too small a flat, or no lease in the sponsor's name, is a classic refusal.
- Secured livelihood. The sponsor must generally show enough income to support the family without public funds.
- The A1 German requirement (spouses). §30(1) AufenthG requires the joining spouse to communicate at least in a simple way in German — usually an A1 certificate. There are real exemptions (illness or disability, the sponsor holding an EU Blue Card or another §18–§21 permit, or where learning before entry is impossible or unreasonable), so check whether one applies before you re-sit a test you may not need.
- Documents. Missing certified translations, an un-legalised marriage or birth certificate, or unverifiable documents are extremely common — and the easiest to fix.
Work out which ground was cited: a fixable evidence gap points to a re-application, while a refusal you believe is legally wrong points to a lawsuit.
Remonstration is gone: the post-July-2025 reality
For years the standard advice was to file a Remonstration — an informal objection asking the mission to review its own decision. That option no longer exists. The Federal Foreign Office abolished the remonstration procedure worldwide on 1 July 2025, stating it was a voluntarily granted remedy that was not provided for by law (Auswärtiges Amt). The Office is explicit that this does not shorten your statutory legal protection — and that you may submit a new visa application at any time. Any blog or template that tells you to "remonstrate within one month" is now out of date; ignore it.