Key Takeaways
- You can send a physical letter to the German mission handling your delayed family reunion visa application to request a status update.
- You can file a lawsuit (Untätigkeitsklage) for a family reunion visa delay once three months have passed without a decision and without a good reason.
- An Untätigkeitsklage can lead to a court order to prompt your German mission to decide on your family reunion visa application, but it does not guarantee approval.
- Provisional injunction relief is a temporary court order for urgent cases. It can set how your situation is handled for the time being.
Table of contents
A family reunion visa is a national visa for a longer stay in Germany, and these visas can take several months to process.
Appointment waits alone for family reunion visas can run from 2 weeks to over 52 weeks at some German missions (Drucksache 21/5984, 19 May 2026).
A lawsuit is possible if the German mission has not decided within an appropriate time and has no good reason for the wait.
You can take legal action once three months have passed since your application, unless special circumstances of your case call for a shorter wait. Section 75 of the Administrative Court Procedure Code (Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung, VwGO) sets both rules.
Before you take legal action, check that you submitted accurate and complete documents for your family reunion visa application. Incomplete documents may be one reason your family reunion visa is delayed.
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What options do you have over a delayed family reunion visa application?
A family reunion visa delay in Germany leaves you three ways to push for a decision. The table below compares the options.
| Option | What it asks for a family reunion visa application | When can you use it? |
|---|---|---|
| Send a letter to the German mission | A status update | At any point while your application is pending |
| File an Untätigkeitsklage | A court order on your application | After three months without a decision and without a good reason, or earlier in special cases |
| Ask the court for a provisional injunction relief | A court order that sets how your situation is handled temporarily | If your case meet the conditions in § 123(1) VwGO |
#1 Send a letter out of court about your family reunion visa delay
You handle a family reunion visa delay out of court by writing to the German mission that holds your application and asking for its status. You can ask at any point while your family reunification application is pending.
NOTE: Your three-month wait for a lawsuit counts from the day you applied. Sending a letter does not restart it or pause it.
Before sending a status inquiry, you should also check your mission’s website first, because some missions ask applicants not to send status inquiries (e.g., Kuwait).
Follow these five steps to ask the German mission for a status update:
- Check your application status first in the Consular Services Portal if the German mission handling your application does not forbid it.
- Send a physical letter to the German mission that is handling your family reunification visa application and ask for its status.
- Include enough identity details for the mission to be sure who is asking.
- Give your family member in Germany a written authorization (Vollmacht) if that person will ask on your behalf.
You may also send a written complaint about the delay to the competent authority (Article 17 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG)).
#2 File an Untätigkeitsklage over your family reunion visa delay
If three months pass without a decision on your family reunion visa application and without a good reason, you can file a lawsuit.
A lawsuit over a delayed decision is called an Untätigkeitsklage.
The Untätigkeitsklage asks the administrative court to order the German mission to issue the visa you applied for (§ 42(1) VwGO). However, winning the lawsuit doesn’t guarantee approval. It only prompts the mission to decide on your application.
If the German mission has a good reason for the delay, the court pauses the case until a deadline it sets, which it can extend. If the German mission decides within that time, the main matter is declared settled (§ 75 VwGO).
Follow these five steps to file your Untätigkeitsklage for a family reunion visa in Germany:
- Make sure that three months have passed since your application and that the German mission has no good reason for the delay.
- Submit your lawsuit in writing to the administrative court in Berlin
- Attach a copy of your lawsuit to the authority you are suing, if possible.
- Wait for the German mission’s decision or the court’s ruling.
Under the costs rule, the authority pays the legal costs if it was already taking too long when you filed a lawsuit (§ 161(3) VwGO).
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#3 Ask a court for provisional injunction relief in your family reunion visa delay
You can ask a court for provisional injunction relief (einstweilige Anordnung) in a family reunion visa delay. Provisional relief is a temporary court order that sets how your situation is handled for the time being.
You can apply for provisional injunction relief before you file a lawsuit. § 123(1) VwGO lets the court issue a provisional order in situations, such as:
- A change of the current situation could prevent your right from being realized or make it much harder.
- A provisional arrangement of a disputed legal relationship appears necessary to avert substantial disadvantages.
After you confirm that your situation falls under § 123(1) VwGO, apply for provisional injunction relief to the administrative court in Berlin.
If your family reunification situation is urgent, you should apply for provisional injunction relief before you file a lawsuit.
The court decides your application by an order (Beschluss), not by a judgment (Urteil).
If you are unsure which path best fits your family reunification delay, feel free to contact us.
FAQ
Yes, the authority bears the legal costs of a family reunion visa delay lawsuit if you could expect a decision before filing (§ 161(3) VwGO). The court decides on costs in its judgment, or by order if the case ends another way (§ 161(1) VwGO).