Successful family reunification despite lack of A1 certificate

In May 2023, following an application for a national visa for family reunification with her Turkish husband, our Turkish client received rejection letters from the German Embassy in Ankara — including for her one and a half year old child. The rejections were made due to the client's lack of proof of A1 German language skills. However, since our client lived in a remote region and had to take care of her small child and also breastfeed it, she had already failed the A1 exam twice. After filing a lawsuit against the refusals, we were able to reach an agreement with the Federal Foreign Office in June 2024, which eliminated the obligation for our client to present a language certificate. We recommended that the client continue to take private German lessons after filing a lawsuit. In May 2024, the client had actually taken a total of 12 months of German lessons. In July 2024, both she and her child were finally granted visas.