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I am in a difficult situation concerning visas with my wife. My desire is to be separated as little as possible. Here is the situation I am in:

  • I (the employee) am a U.S. citizen, while my wife is Turkish.
  • We are both currently living in Istanbul, Turkey.
  • I recently found work in Berlin and signed a work contract in the IT field.
  • My wife doesn't have a visa to enter the EU or the US.

The current route that we are seeing is that I will move to Germany without my wife, apply for a Blue Card, and, once I obtain my Blue Card, my wife will start her application for the family reunion visa.

If I was a Turkish citizen, I would first apply with my wife for a temporary visa. Doing this our visas would be released together and we would be able to travel to Germany. Upon arriving we would extend it to residency visa. This won't work because (I am fairly certain that) I can not process anything in the embassy in Turkey.

So this is the best calculation that I can come up with: - Two weeks: I move to Germany, set up apartment, bank, insurance, etc. (stuff needed for residence permit).
- One month: Wait for appointment at immigration office in Berlin.
- Two weeks: Wait for results of residence.
- Two weeks: Wife makes appointment at Istanbul embassy for a Family Reunion visa.
- One to three months: Wife waits for results of visa application.

Total: 3.5 - 5.5 months

If there is anything I miscalculated or any other route that I am missing I would love to hear it. Or is what I've written what is to be expected?

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  • Can your wife not just get a tourist visa? 3.5 months seems excessive. – Tomas By Aug 2 '18 at 16:51
  • Yeah, 3.5 is definitely excessive. That's exactly just the type of solution I was looking for. I wasn't sure if my wife living with me while holding a tourist visa would cause problems or obtaining a visa for such a case would be extra difficult. – Zac Romero Aug 2 '18 at 17:17
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So I found a very viable solution: Since I am residing in Turkey I can apply for a +90 day visa with my wife at the consolate here in Istanbul. Doing this allows my wife to get her +90 day visa as well (though I hear it's not gauranteed to come out at the same time as mine).

Total time of separation: the time it takes for my wifes visa to process minus two weeks.

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  • Do I understand correctly that you discovered that your assumption about being unable to get a German visa in Turkey was incorrect? – phoog Aug 3 '18 at 16:15
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    Yeah, I discovered that it is indeed possible to for me (a US citizen residing in Istanbul) to get my +90 Visa application along with my wives in the embassy in Istanbul, thul allowing our applications to be processed together, thus not requireing a Family reunion visa. – Zac Romero Aug 6 '18 at 12:27
  • Great. I was thinking to answer along those lines as I read your question, but fortunately you found the answer on your own. – phoog Aug 6 '18 at 13:28

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