I've been unable to find any info on this, but is there any way to get a temporary visa to enter Germany before my family reunion visa has been issued? My spouse is going up on a work visa today but my visa appointment for Family Reunion is only on the 4th of July and I've been told it usually takes 3 months to process.
Naturally this absolutely blows and I was hoping to take our cat up around the end of August. I'm also finishing a degree from a long-distance university and I was hoping to write my last examination in Germany. I would only be able to change my exam location until 31 July, so I'm screwed if I'm not in Germany by 20 October, when the exam takes place. It would delay getting my degree by another 6 months. A friend of mine married a German national and was over on a Schengen visa, flew down to South Africa to apply for his Family Reunion visa and flew back the same day. He insists that it's possible for me, but I'm not 100% sure. I know lots of people go up on 3 month visa and fly down to apply for the Family visa, but in all those cases they had a schengen first.
Is it possible? Not even only for the above reasons, but that it would also just absolutely suck to be separated from my newlywed spouse (married 2 months ago) for so long and it's also going to cost a lot of money for us to live separate, as I have to continue renting an apartment here, etc.
