I got an email from a reader who wanted to ask a few questions and I decided to publish our exchange for the benefit of others who might be needing the same information.

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Dear CJ,

Here are my answers.

Your Q : My boyfriend has asked about the requirements for getting married but he doesn’t know if I am legally allowed to stay in Austria right away after getting married there.

- Upon legally getting married there (Austria), you are automatically allowed to stay there.

Your Q : Did you enter Austria via a tourist visa?

- I entered Austria using a “Visit” visa. Sorry, but I am not sure if it is equivalent to “Tourist”. You see, processing of “Tourist” visa to enter Austria is different from processing a “Visit” visa.

- With Tourist visa, the Austrian embassy would require YOU to prove that you are financially able to stay there and that you have the intention of exiting Austria before your tourist visa expires, meaning, they will ask for documents showing that you are financially stable, i.e. bank statements, business certificate, etc (whatever they think necessary) and that you have something to go back to like a job or a property or business. They will make sure that your intention is just to “tour” Austria.

- It is slightly different with the Visit visa because this Visa says you are invited by somebody (an Austrian citizen) and that somebody is fully responsible for you. In this case, the Austrian embassy will ask the one who invited you (not you) for documents and these documents are supposed to show that he/she is financially able to support your during the entire duration of your stay in Austria. He have to show this bank statements, job contract, etc. and he also have to pay for your insurance (a little bit less than 100€ if I remember right). The only thing that the Austrian Embassy will need from you is your passport and the filled-up visa application form.

Your Q : How long was your tourist visa valid for (if that is what you had) and did you state that you intended to marry when you applied for your visa?

- The first time I went to Austria, I got a Visit visa. It took us 3 months to process all. We were too slow to gather all the necessary documents but as soon as we submitted the documents to the Austrian Embassy, it took only 2 weeks to get my visa. If you can collect the required documents in a week, it means you’ll get your visa in 3 weeks time. Anyway, the visa I got for the first time is just for 15 days and on the 15th day, I exited Austria.

- We did the whole process again for the second time. We applied for another Visit visa that will last for 30 days. My husband had to submit all the documents (some are updated dox) again but it didn’t take us too long like the first time and we didn’t have any problem getting a second one (nor the first one). The Austrian embassy granted another visa to me and they know that we have the intention to get married. With in these 30 days in Austria, we got married. After the wedding, we applied for my Aufenhastitel (like a green card). It’s not difficult and it is fast.

Your Q : Were you allowed to stay in Austria while waiting for your “Austrian green card (I forgot what you called it)” or did you have to leave?

- I exited Austria before my 30 days visit visa ended because we needed to go back to China so I cannot say for sure if Austria will kick you out when your visa expires even if you are already married to an Austrian citizen (but I don’t think so). Processing of Aufenhaltstitel normally will take 2 weeks maximum. Upon getting married, postpone the honeymoon (hehe), process your Aufenhaltstitel first.

The most effective way when applying for a visa to Austria is to be honest and transparent. Don’t apply for a student visa or a tourist visa when what you really you intend is to get married there. If you plan to stay together there without getting married right away is another story and I am sorry if I cannot give you an advice for this.

Also, let your boyfriend be the one to communicate with the Austrian embassy. It’s much easier this way. Let him ask his embassy what he needs to do so he can take you there and marry you. This is the best way. I am sure that if the Austrian embassy will see sincerity of your intentions and that you are both capable, they will not deny you of an entry to Austria.

As for you, you have some documents to prepare for the wedding (granted that your BF will be the one to arrange the visa). If you will read my blog, Bizarremarriage.com, you’ll find that there is complete explanation on what documents you’ll need and what you’ll need these documents for. Make sure that you have these documents before you enter Austria.

I’ll give you a glimpse of how long we needed until we were finally married.

Feb 2008 – we got engaged (started wedding plans)
June 2008 – my first trip to Austria (meeting his family)
October – second trip to Austria (this time, we got married)

From Feb to August (6 months) we planned for the wedding. He concentrated on my visa and I collected the required documents for the wedding (my documents). It took me a long time because I needed to get these from the Philippines.

Given that you intend to marry on your first trip in Austria, these are the sets of documents you need to prepare:

- Documents for your visa ( for the love of God, ask your BF to process this for you… in this way, you can save you more time and effort)

- Documents for your wedding ( these are YOUR documents from the Philippines)

- Documents for your wedding (these are HIS documents, he can get in Austria … I don’t think it’s a lot)

After the wedding, you can immediately apply for the Aufenhaltstitel.

About getting married in US… we’ll that’s something I cannot help you with. I don’t know if it is easier for you to get a visa and get married in Austria or get married in the US and get a visa to Austria.

Either way, you still have to go through the Austrian Embassy, you will still have to submit documents.

I hope I answered all your questions. If you have more, please read my blog… maybe the answer is there but if not, you may email me again.

Regards,
Vienna Lopez

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Von: CJ
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. April 2008 11:39
An: Vienna Lopez
Betreff: Re: Bizarre Marriage

Hi there Vienna! My boyfriend and I are wanting to get married, but we also don’t want to be apart anymore after we tie the knot. So initially, we planned on me applying for a student visa to Austria to get permission to stay in there for a few years. This will then buy us time to get married and process my residency papers as his wife while staying together. But as time has passed, we are more eager to get married and the process for securing admittance to the University of Vienna is very tricky in my situation right now (since I am in the US but still a Filipino citizen). My BF has asked about the requirements for getting married but he doesn’t know if I am legally allowed to stay in Austria right away after getting married there. Did you enter Austria via a tourist visa? Can you give me a timeline of events like when and how did you apply for a marriage license, when did you arrive in Vienna, how long after that did you get married? How long was your tourist visa valid for (if that is what you had) and did you state that you intended to marry when you applied for your visa? Were you allowed to stay in Austria while waiting for your “Austrian green card (I forgot what you called it)” or did you have to leave? I have a lot of questions, I know, but I hope you can patiently give me your advice.

My BF and I are also considering getting married here in the US and then bringing me over to Austria….. but we don’t know exactly how long this will take and how long we will be apart before I can come follow him. So we are hoping that if it is possible for me to stay in Austria after we get married there, this will be the solution.

Thank you very much for responding to my message in your blog! Hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,
CJ
___________________________________________________________
On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 8:58 PM,
Vienna Lopez wrote:

Hello CJ,

Thanks for visiting my blog.

So tell me, how can I be of help?

Vienna
____________________________________________________________
Von: CJ
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. April 2008 08:45
An: Vienna Lopez
Betreff: Bizarre Marriage
CJ wrote:
Hi there! I sent you a comment on your blog about
requirements for getting married to a european guy. I hope we can get in touch as I am in a similar situation and would like to “follow in your footsteps” as you seem to have been successful. My name is Joy, and my Austrian boyfriend. Hope I will hear from you soon!

Everything worked out with our post wedding documents. We fulfilled all the requirements and now I have my E-card (Health Insurance) and my Aufenhaltstitel (Austrian equivalent to US Green Card). I am now allowed to enter and leave Austria as I pleased without the hassles of getting a VISA. With this, I am not only allowed to stay in Austria but I am allowed to work there as well. There is just this one more thing we need to do. In Austria, immigrants are required to complete an Austrian Integration Course. This is a 300 hours course that will run in three months. In this course, one has to learn how to speak, understand, and write German. There would be some lessons about Austrian culture, tradition, and maybe history. It’s a law in Austria that every immigrant should be able to integrate in their society.

I am perfectly okay with this but there is one problem. I have the allowance to complete this course within 24 months from the day the municipal hall gave me the voucher for it. By the way, this course is being paid by the government and after completing all the lessons, I should be able to pass some sort of a test otherwise I would have to repeat the whole course again in my own expense. Given that I can attend all the classes, I am confident to say that I am pretty much sure I can pass the examination but Marcus and I are not in Austria thus I won’t be able to attend the classes. Our only option (at the moment) is that I will go to Austria in the summer and stay there for three months to attend the course and Marcus will stay in China. This is not good. Marcus and I don’t like to be away from each other that long.