Interim injunction for a family reunion visa delay in Germany

Key Takeaways

An interim injunction (einstweilige Anordnung) is a temporary court order that you can request in a family reunion visa delay.
For an interim injunction, you must make two things credible: your claim to the family reunion visa and an urgent reason for the court to act.
You can apply for an interim injunction at the Berlin administrative court before you file a lawsuit over your family reunion visa.
Courts decide interim injunctions strictly because they can effectively decide the case before the final ruling.

This is how you do it

Check that you have a claim to the visa and an urgent reason for an interim injunction.
Apply to the Berlin administrative court, even if you live outside Germany.
In your application, name the deadline or danger that makes waiting unreasonable.
Wait for the court’s order (Beschluss).
If the court denies your application, appeal to the higher administrative court.

An interim injunction (einstweilige Anordnung) is a temporary court order that you can request in a family reunion visa delay if you have an urgent reason.

An urgent reason may be, for example, that a minor child cannot reasonably stay apart from a parent for an uncertain time.

An interim injunction is also called provisional injunction relief or interim relief. It depends mainly on

Your claim
Urgency of your situation

An interim injunction regulates your situation for the time being, before the court decides the dispute (Section 123 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure) (Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung, VwGO). In a family reunion visa case, you can ask the court to order the visa itself.

When can you ask for an interim injunction for a family reunion visa?

The court grants an interim injunction for a family reunion visa only if you meet two conditions. You must make both credible (glaubhaft machen) (§ 123(3) VwGO with § 920(2) ZPO):

Your claim (Anordnungsanspruch): you have a legal right to the visa.
Your urgent reason (Anordnungsgrund): waiting for the main case would cause you substantial disadvantages.

To make your claim and urgent reason credible, you can use any evidence, including a sworn statement (eidesstattliche Versicherung). In interim proceedings, however, the court uses a simplified process for taking evidence and may only consider evidence it can take in that process (§ 294 ZPO).

§ 123 VwGO does not set a waiting period before you can apply. You can also apply before filing a lawsuit. However, the court still considers whether the authority has delayed its decision.

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How do you ask for an interim injunction in a family reunion visa delay?

You can ask for an interim injunction in a family reunion visa delay by applying to the Berlin administrative court. The Berlin administrative court also hears the main case in visa matters, wherever you live.

Apply for an interim injunction following these steps.

Check that you have a claim to the visa and an urgent reason. You must make both credible by providing enough evidence.
Apply to the Berlin administrative court, even if you live outside Germany. You can file the application yourself, or ask a lawyer or unpaid adult relative to file it for you.
In your application, name the deadline or danger that makes waiting unreasonable. The urgent reason decides whether the court acts now.
Wait for the court’s order (Beschluss).
- The court decides by order, not by judgment.
- A lawsuit, by contrast, is decided by judgment (Urteil) as a rule.
If the court denies your application, you can appeal to the higher administrative court.
- You need a representative to file the appeal. A lawyer qualifies, but a relative does not.
- File the appeal at the Berlin administrative court within two weeks of notice.
- Give your reasons to the higher administrative court within one month of notice.

Who can request an interim injunction for a family reunion visa from abroad?

The family member who wants the visa is the applicant and can request an interim injunction from abroad. For a child, a legal representative acts on the child’s behalf.

At the Berlin administrative court:

A lawyer can file the application for you.
An adult relative, such as a spouse, parent or sibling, can also act for you if they are not paid for it.

The Berlin administrative court can decide your application without a hearing. A family member abroad may therefore not need to travel to Berlin.

Who pays for an interim injunction in a family reunion visa delay?

The losing side pays the costs of the interim injunction. These costs include the lawyer’s fees and expenses.

If you win only part of your case, the court must split the costs between both sides. For example, two family members apply together, but the court orders the visa for only one of them.

Is an interim injunction the right option for your family reunion visa delay?

An interim injunction is the right option for your family reunion visa delay only if waiting would cause substantial disadvantages or put your legal right at risk.

LegalWeg recommends provisional injunction relief for cases involving a minor child because a child’s separation from a parent can be deemed urgent.

In other cases, a letter to the German mission or a failure to act lawsuit may fit your situation better. The family reunion visa delay guide compares all three options.

If you are unsure which option fits your situation, we recommend consulting a lawyer.

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How do courts decide on an interim injunction for a family reunion visa?

Courts apply a strict test to an interim injunction for a family reunion visa, because a visa order grants what the main case would decide. Berlin courts call this anticipating the main case (Vorwegnahme der Hauptsache) and allow it only in exceptional cases.

A visa order needs all of the following (VG Berlin, 34 L 370/24 V):

The applicant must be highly likely to win the main case.
The applicant must also face serious, unreasonable disadvantages that cannot be avoided otherwise.
The main decision must also be unable to undo those disadvantages later.

Three Berlin decisions on family reunion to a family member with subsidiary protection illustrate the strict test. They would face a real risk of serious harm if they returned to their home country (Art. 3(6) Regulation (EU) 2024/1347).

Decision	Who applied?	Result and reasons
GRANTED VG Berlin, 6 L 171/24 V (28 May 2024)	A 13-year-old abroad, joining his parents	– The court found it highly likely that the child had a right to the visa – The parents’ own right to join their older son in Germany was about to end when he turned 18 – The child could not stay without his parents for an uncertain time
DENIED VG Berlin, 34 L 370/24 V (18 Nov 2024)	Parents and a sister of a boy with subsidiary protection	– The parents’ identity was not yet clarified in person – The long wait for a first appointment was no reason to skip that step – The visa request was only 9 days old, so the court saw no delay – The sister was outside the eligible group
DENIED VG Berlin (10 Sep 2024)	Parents and siblings of a boy with subsidiary protection	– The parents’ identity was not yet clarified in person – The long wait for a first appointment was no reason to skip that step – The siblings were outside the eligible group – The boy turning 18 soon did not justify a special appointment

The granted case differed from the denied cases in more than one way:

The granted case had a hard deadline, and the court found a high probability of a claim.
The denied applicants still lacked an identity check, and the siblings were outside the eligible group.

These examples show how different conditions work under provisional injunction relief, but they do not predict your case. Whether your case meets them is a judgment call. LegalWeg offers a free case assessment to help you choose the next step in your family reunion visa delay

FAQ

Do you need a lawyer for provisional injunction relief in a family reunion visa delay?

No, you do not need a lawyer to apply for provisional injunction relief at the Berlin administrative court (§ 67(1) VwGO).

An appeal to the higher administrative court needs a representative, including filing it. A lawyer qualifies as a representative. A relative does not (§ 67(4) VwGO).

Can you apply for provisional injunction relief and file a lawsuit over a family reunion visa delay?

Yes, you can apply for provisional injunction relief before filing a lawsuit over a family reunion visa delay. The law allows you to apply for provisional injunction relief before a lawsuit (§ 123(1) VwGO).

References