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Me and my wife are from Azerbaijan. We live in Germany as I work in Berlin residing here with a Blue Card. Recently we've invited my spouse's aunt, who is her closest relative, to visit us for 10 days.

The aunt applied for a short-stay Schengen visa with the purpose of visiting family. The visa was denied as well as consequent remonstration, reason being insufficient proof of ties to country, in other words insufficient proof that she will return.

She is 56 years old, unemployed, isn't married and doesn't have children.

As proof of ties to country she presented:

  • The proof of owning an apartment in Azerbaijan
  • Return ticket back to Azerbaijan
  • Verpflichtungserklärung - official invitation from me where I vouch to cover her stay and costs and to be held responsible if she doesn't return to Azerbaijan
  • Proof of family ties to her brother, who lives in Azerbaijan

As I mentioned, my spouse and her aunt are closest relatives for each other and they are distressed due to these rejections.

I was surprised by rejections as I recently successfully invited my mother, and we have friends in Berlin who have also successfully invited their relatives, with similar situations, for a short stay in Germany.

Are there any possibilities to improve the application, apart from getting employed, which is not easy there in her age? Maybe there are other ways I can vouch that the invitee will return to home country in time after her visit? Or some hand-written letter explaining the purpose of visit? Or any other document that I'm not aware of?

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  • What was the actual refusal reason ticked on the refusal letter?
    – Michael Hampton
    Nov 8 '19 at 18:18
  • @MichaelHampton The official refusal reason was: "Your intention to leave the territory of the member states before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained". An additional note said: "There are not enough family, social or financial ties for you to return to your country / You couldn't prove existence of these ties".
    – Limbo Exile
    Nov 8 '19 at 19:01
  • @o.m. I noted in my post that there was already a Verpflichtungserklärung in the application, it didn't help. Are there any other methods of guaranteeing my commitment to reimburse?
    – Limbo Exile
    Nov 8 '19 at 19:04
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    An apartment, even if owned, is a very weak reason to return. The brother could rent it out and bring in some side money. Being next to your niece vs your brother, yes, that's a tie, but more as in 50:50. If she has no ties to Azerbaijan except her citizenship, I fear there is nothing to prove...
    – Alexander
    Nov 11 '19 at 8:29
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    @LimboExile unfortunately not, the Verpflichtungserklärung is purely a financial matter for the state. Somebody else assuring the state that the applicant will leave carries more or less no weight (how would they know? Maybe the applicant's promised them, but somebody who's planning to overstay their visa is dishonest by definition). Likewise, potential consequences of overstaying which apply to somebody else aren't considered a tie for the applicant.
    – Chris H
    Nov 11 '19 at 13:47
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+50

A Verpflichtungserklärung (Sponsorship) alone is not sufficient, but must be taken togeather with her regular income. A visa is rarely issued soly based on a sponsorship.

So one factor may be that the regular income has not been documented to the Consulate's satisfaction. Living on a possibility slim unemployed payments may not be considerd an incentive to return.

The brother, as a family tie, will only be useful if he has actively supported her financially in the past (and that can be proved).

The apartment ownership will only prove that her monthly costs are probably lower.

Taken togeather, in the eyes of a Consular official, her incentive to return is low.

Any hope to reapply with success will only be possible if this aspect (incentive to return) is addressed to the Consular officials satisfaction

  • taking into account that the previous application will be known to them
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