Other than that processing time for an application as the spouse of a citizen is 6-8 weeks, not months. The maximum fee you have to pay is (depending on different factors) 110€. It took my wife exactly 30 min at the immigration office to get her PR for Germany 13 years ago and it is not any different today.
There's been a lot of water coming down the Rhine since then. And yes, it's different today and the process even differs by consulate - not even by country!!! Again, I went through this just last year due to my wife and I know what I'm talking about. Also, 6-8 weeks is wishful thinking and isn't necessarily the case...
BTW: the fee might be lower in Germany but with the Canadian PR you get free health care in Canada, free immigration services and free language classes...
And about what kind of privilege as a European are you talking again? You mean the privilege of a processing time of overall 14 months when applying from outside and 18 months when applying from inside Canada? Or that the application costs almost 1,000€? Or that I have to travel from Berlin to Vienna for a possible interview, since they closed the national immigration office in Berlin. Yup, really fair and professional... Check the thread for applicants at the Vienna office and tell me that again with a straight face.
Apart from that interviews for European folks are quite rare, it's nothing compared to people who live - let's say in India and need to travel much much longer when they have to go through an interview. And so what?! it's Vienna now and it used to be Berlin. In former days people from Munich had to come to Berlin, so what? Travel has been involved anyway... And have you checked rejection rates across other regions yet? ANother example, is that you could go to Canada even without ANY visa and could join your family any time you want. Most other people would require a visitor visa (which in most cases is being rejected!), which means to be separated from their families over months. Trust me, you're in a very privileged situation even though you might not be aware of - believe it or not.
Nice attitude... are you laughing about me? Dude, there is nothing wrong with a proof of language skills, also for family class immigrants.
It's wrong as part of an application process for family re-unification. Europe's highest court has already rejected this German law in the past for EU citizens and this law will most likely be revoked in the near future for all others as well. BTW: there's a long list of exempt countries including Canada, USA, Japan and South Korea, which means that these citizens do not need to pass the A1 as part of their application process. This just shows how ridiculous this law is....
However, I don't disagree that people should have at least basic language skills but this got to be part of the settling process. Having said that, have you ever been to China? Quite interesting that the majority of long-year expats are not capable to speak enough Mandarin to order a drink...
From your reaction I take that you had trouble to learn German. Too bad for you.
I can't remember as it's been quite a long time ago - I'm German native speaker...
I might have missed the part in the Canadian application process that allows you to hand in original documents in another language than English or French. In Germany the only document you need an Apostille for is the marriage certificate.
In some cases you need a Birth certificate with an Apostille, too. And do you expect German authorities to process other languages than German? English docs sometimes are negotiable but depends on the processing party (again - every consulate and then after every community center works differently in Germany...)
On top I need to provide a police clearance in English and a medical exam before I can apply
The medical is a bit of a work - that's true. However, keep in mind you're entitled to free health care once landed in Canada. Don't even get me started with getting health care insurance in Germany.... OMG...
Also, keep in mind that you can get Canadian citizenship just after 3 years...
Anyways, I don't want to do a Germany bashing nor a glorification of Canada as both countries have their own ups and downs. But I guess I'm in a very good position to do a direct comparison between the two different immigration processes and settlements.
No bad feelings but you should make up your mind whether you really want to move to Canada. The application process you're going through is a piece of cake compared to what might happen after arrival. Most people from western countries give up more when leaving their home countries than they gain in Canada ... and there's a lot of westerners moving back after some years - ausser spesen nix gewesen....
good luck!
