Dr. ZoSo

Hi all, I'm not married yet, but my fiance is from Germany and hopefully we will be married soon. So i figured I'd stick my head in this thread and say hello.

Welcome!

Hi y'all,

My husband and I just got married a week ago and I am trying to figure out, where to go to change my name and get new documents.

I am in the US on a J-1 visa right now, just applied for AOS. I am still "gemeldet" in Bremen, Germany. Do I have to go to the Buerger-Service-Center on my next trip to Germany, bring my marriage certificate and apply for a new passport in my married name? Can I do that from Texas somehow, through the consulate maybe? Also, will our marriage just be valid in Germany or do I have to go somewhere and let them check the certificate to make it official?

So many questions, I hope some Germans have been there before and can help me out :-)

Thank you in advance and have a great Sunday!

Bettina

You can wait and get the name change done in Germany, but the best bet would be to either call or go down to your local Consulate and ask for the correct forms to fill out. They can give you all the info you need. Just be advised they often take your old passport from you while your application for a name change is pending. Depending on the timeframe, that may be an issue.

As for your other questions....I honestly dont know. I know others around here do, but not me.

Shameless bump!

Danke, Otto. We're here now and it's been lovely. It's weird for my husband because now he's a visitor in his home! We are leaving tomorrow morning for a few days in Prague and then we'll have our wedding celebration on Saturday with his family and friends here (and Ms. Squirrel who is coming down from Frankfurt!). I love that it's so inexpensive to have food catered in Germany!

The weather is pretty great considering I came from 102 in Seattle...

Dont forget the pictures!!!! We would all like to see jundp and Ms. Squirrel together at last.

Shall we change the topic from food to something else?

Be my guest. What would you like to talk about?

Where did everyone go? Why has this thread died?

Not sure you will be able to get through the airport with many of those things (the mountain dew and cake mix may be a problem as well as the tooth paste).

Never been a problem before. I've been bringing this stuff with me every trip for 4 years. I also usually bring back Mead, since it's so much cheaper at the markets in Germany.

I would like to know what airport you go through then. Here in Atlanta you cant even get up to the screening gates without stripping half your clothes off and throwing every ounce of liquid you "may be carrying" into a large trash can that also happens to be right next to a small tray full of lighters and nail trimming equipment.

In your luggage? That's strange. I've flown through: Seattle, Atlanta, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, and Nuernberg with various items. Never had a problem going through customs on either the European end or the American end.

I guess my wife and I must be one of the lucky couples then. We always get picked for the "additional intense screening" where they take everything out of your bags on a big table.

Not sure you will be able to get through the airport with many of those things (the mountain dew and cake mix may be a problem as well as the tooth paste).

Never been a problem before. I've been bringing this stuff with me every trip for 4 years. I also usually bring back Mead, since it's so much cheaper at the markets in Germany.

I would like to know what airport you go through then. Here in Atlanta you cant even get up to the screening gates without stripping half your clothes off and throwing every ounce of liquid you "may be carrying" into a large trash can that also happens to be right next to a small tray full of lighters and nail trimming equipment.

In your luggage? That's strange. I've flown through: Seattle, Atlanta, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, and Nuernberg with various items. Never had a problem going through customs on either the European end or the American end.

I guess my wife and I must be one of the lucky couples then. We always get picked for the "additional intense screening" where they take everything out of your bags on a big table.

Not sure you will be able to get through the airport with many of those things (the mountain dew and cake mix may be a problem as well as the tooth paste).

Never been a problem before. I've been bringing this stuff with me every trip for 4 years. I also usually bring back Mead, since it's so much cheaper at the markets in Germany.

I would like to know what airport you go through then. Here in Atlanta you cant even get up to the screening gates without stripping half your clothes off and throwing every ounce of liquid you "may be carrying" into a large trash can that also happens to be right next to a small tray full of lighters and nail trimming equipment.

Seems to taste better when someone you know/love hand-carries it back with them for some reason..

I agree

We're leaving in 22 days! I'm so freaking excited.

I also have to bring with me a list of items for our friends/family:

Reeses peanut butter cups

Benadryl

deodorant and toothpaste

jelly beans

Mountain Dew

Betty Crocker cake mix (!?)

Not sure you will be able to get through the airport with many of those things (the mountain dew and cake mix may be a problem as well as the tooth paste).

@ Evi, ja the translation of Das Boot really bugged me! Especially since I know that as the movie with Jurgen Prochnow!

I don't know if they have Benadryl in Germany, but I know they don't have it in Amsterdam! And we have a friend in the Netherlands who is coming to our party I also often bring large bottles of aspirin for my bff because it's too expensive for her. Which blows my mind since Bayer is a German company.

We have gotten many requests from friends and family in getmany for Bengay. Go figure......

That movie was awesome. I want to watch it again now.

The whole movie is on YouTube.

My husband wanted beer boots so I got him some. I brought back a 4pack of miniature beer boots.

"That's not a shoe.....its....DAS BOOT!"

Wanted to bring this over to the new page. Funny stuff!!!

My standing request is:

Mmmm... and lots of it...

For Karin it is food stuff too - rice pudding, vanilla sauces and many other mixes/sauces.

We get that chocolate from a local store in our area. My wife brings back mostly sauces and mixes, as well as bifi's.

My husband wanted beer boots so I got him some. I brought back a 4pack of miniature beer boots.

"That's not a shoe.....its....DAS BOOT!"

After speaking with her parents my wife told me they (the in-laws) want to know what I would like from Germany. My wife is going home in September and this has been the second or third time they have asked me.

So I ask you....Any ideas? Can you think of anything unique that I cant think of?

So, Dr...you're an illegal immigrant in your own country?!

Some times I have to wonder......

Things sure are changing arent they?

Oh that is the ID card. They don't use driver's licenses for ID like we do, rather an ID card.

Well, it may not have been illegal per se if she re-registered at the local Rathaus using her father's address.

Just call us the "illegal" couple!

Aubrey, it is not a must to register your marriage and name change in Germany.

However, once your spouse (that's if he will change his name) has to renew his passport, this will have to be done first.

It is illegal to do this in Germany in the local courthouse. I am really confused that they did this for you guys, Dr. ZoSo. Normally everybody not residing in Germany anymore has to get all this paperwork done through the German embassies overseas, local offices will turn you away (well, they should, at least).

So, once you guys are married and everything, have your hubby check out the website of the German consulate, it will have all the info. You can download a form to register the marriage and a name change and send it in. The consulate will do the rest, forward it to Germany etc and notify and send you confimation once everything went through. I really have nothing bad to say about this process, in my case it was smooth sailing.

And I have never said the it's just not possible thing I usually always say "everything will be just fine".

Illegal or not, they did something that day we went there. I remember seeing a laminated card that looked a lot like the card in my wifes passport (just without the passport) and her father giving it to the man working there as well as a copy of out marriage certificate. I can only assume they needed the marriage cert. for a name change. We also had to provide a new passport style picture. Again, this was not her actual passport (we did that in the consulate here in Atlanta) but the card it's self looked a lot like it.

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but this seemed like the right group to ask...

For those of you who married your German spouse in the U.S., did you (and if so, how did you) notify Germany of your marriage? And how did you notify Germany of your name change? Obviously we will not be able to attempt this in person since we are K1.

Thanks in advance for your help! I don't want to overload my SO with anything else than he already has with his upcoming move, and he is feeling a bit overwhelmed with his bachelorhood ending. I'm sure that planning a trip to Las Vegas a few days after his arrival is causing that, haha. But at least that way some of his family can attend! The only bummer is that I doubt we will be breaking any china in a LV hotel room for a Polterabend.

And how many of your German spouses say "It's just not possible" as a regular phrase? JundP & I have that in common already with our German SO's... so I'm curious just how common that is!

About the only notification we did at first was to have my wife's name changed in her passport. All that took was a trip to the German consulate here in Atlanta.

On our most recent trip last year however her father asked us to bring our marriage certificate with us when we came over. After we got there he took us to the district government office (sorry to all of the Germans here....I don't know what type of office it was) to update her official I.D.. It looked like a passport office on the inside as well as other court offices in other rooms of the building.

Hope that helps.

So what was for dinner last night?

Anyone every visited a Hofbrauhaus in the U.S.? My wife and I went there about 3 years ago while visiting friends in Ohio.

A horrible story to prove just how into German food my wife is and what she'll do to get it....

While in Ohio (to make a long story short) my wife broke her leg ice skating. Now, not only did she break her leg, she broke it in two places in both of the lower bones in her right leg.

After 10 hours of surgery and one day in the hospital I was getting everything ready to take her back home to Georgia when she demanded to go to hofbrauhaus before leaving Ohio. I think she was still loaded up on hospital pain meds because she hardly complained about her leg at all that first day.

katzenzungen!!

Asked hubby what that meant-when he gave me the literal translation...

Then he showed me this:

Looks yummy!

This thread is getting disturbing : I'm not sure what a lot of these products are but I'm hoping they're more innocent than the picture portrays.

What is quark?

My wife found this chocolate once in our local Bosnia store. At first glance you might think the chocolate has something terrible to do with cats, parts of cats, something cats leave behind, etc...

It is good chocolate though!

I enjoy giving my wife a hard time about Quark. I tell her it's glorified yogurt (I know it isnt...but it's fun the make her think I'm just "another American").

She gives me all kinds of grief when ever I say that to her.

Ugh, Nutella and cheese just sounds disgusting to me.

At the party we also had potato salad, fresh amber rye bread from the farmers' market and some selfmade Obatzda (bavarian cheesecream made of brie or camembert, creamcheese, butter, onions and herbs...so good!) Everybody loved it! :-)

Betti, that picture will make P very happy

On a side note, since we're talking food, I can't wait for our wedding/birthday/reunion party this summer. Maybe I'll finally get my quarksahnetorte wedding cake!

Oh and Nina...I love celery and peanut butter! Apples and PB too.

Your probably one of those people who enjoy ketchup on their scrambled eggs also!

HAHAHAHA

My wife drinks something nasty called "cola-hefe". Anyone else a fan of this nightmare?