THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
A recent judgment by the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg (OVG Berlin-Brandenburg) has clarified a longstanding uncertainty in the family-reunion visa process: language certificates do not automatically expire simply because of time, a decision that strengthens the rights of migrants seeking to reunite with family in Germany, according to a report by law firm Migrando Rechtsanwälte.
In the case in question, a Nigerian man — married to a German citizen — had passed the required A1-level German exam at the Goethe-Institut in 2021, earning a solid 86 out of 100 points. However, the visa process was delayed for more than two years due to the embassy’s lengthy document-verification procedures. By the time the case moved forward, four years had passed since the exam, and the embassy declared the certificate outdated, citing a general assumption that unused language skills “fade over time”. Officials demanded a new language test as a condition for issuing the visa.
The couple challenged this interpretation in court. While a lower court, Verwaltungsgericht Berlin, initially supported the embassy, the OVG Berlin-Brandenburg overturned that decision. The judges ruled that time alone does not invalidate a language certificate. They held that authorities must examine each case individually and provide concrete evidence — such as a communication breakdown, observed language deterioration, or failed tests — before requesting a new exam. In this instance, no such evidence existed. The court also noted that the high initial exam score argued against an assumption that language ability had vanished.
According to Migrando Rechtsanwälte, one of Germany’s leading law firms specialising in immigration, residence and citizenship laws, the country’s residence and visa laws do not set any statutory expiry date for language certificates like A1 (for family reunification) or B1 (often required for naturalization). Although the Federal Foreign Office has internally recommended that certificates be recent — ideally not older than a year — this recommendation has no legal force, it pointed out.
“The ruling of the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg has significance beyond the individual case. It makes clear that language certificates do not automatically become invalid just because several years have passed. It also shows that authorities must always assess each case individually and present concrete indications if they doubt an applicant’s language skills. Only when they have demonstrable grounds for doubt may they request a new or updated language test,” Migrando said.
For many applicants from Africa and elsewhere, delays due to bureaucratic backlog, document verification or long queues at embassies often mean that by the time a decision is reached, months or even years may have passed since the language test. The OVG’s decision now prevents authorities from invalidating valid certificates simply on the basis of time — offering legal protection to families awaiting reunion.
Femi Awoniyi
For more details, read the original report from Migrando Rechtsanwälte:
https://migrando.de/news/familiennachzug/familiennachzug-neues-urteil-klaert-wie-lange-sprachzertifikate-wirklich-gelten/
