British Spouse of SC, EPEC or LTSVP(Spouse) or PR?

[Superglide]

As to moving to Germany, we can't do that because of my work reasons. I am already working in Singapore. My hubby is still in Germany. We have been married for about 3 months. We have been separated for about 2 months.

Got your point, agree you should then try the Singapore PR.

As an alternative though, keep the Europe (not just Germany, hubby can work and live in the whole EU, being an EU citizen, you can apply for PR there as well) option open, just in case Singapore PR doesnot work out?

Good luck.

[econoMIC]

...
But then of course the latest hiccup... I realised that I and my certs are here while he and his certs are in germany... which probably means we wont be able to apply for the PR until he arrives in Singapore and he may only be granted the 90 days short term visa...! Horrors!! Any ideas??

Don't go to the Rathaus in Germany, they will charge you a fortune for certified copies and (although I am not sure it brings you any extra bonus) getting the docs certified by the embassy is cheaper and they write certified true copy in English rather than "Beglaubigte Kopie" which nobody understands again. In London the SG High Commission charged a pound a document, which was really cheap.

My recommendation would be for you to courier the docs to him and then he can get on a train to Berlin and submit the application at the embassy there. This is for a few good reasons:

a. he doesn't have to make an appointment at ICA which can be as long as 3 months away from the time he makes it.

b. the application jumps the queue and goes straight into processing. That way you should be having a turn around of 3 months rather then closer to 6 months if he applies at ICA in Singapore.

I know couriering the docs and going in person to the embassy is a bit pricey but believe me, it is well worth it. I can't recommend any translation services unfortunately as I had my docs translated when I lived in Australia. Also be careful, a diplom is not a Masters. Before the educational reform a year ago or so the Magister was equivalent to a Masters while the undergraduate level was fudged in Germany. The Vordiplom (pre-diplom) was on the level of a Poly Diploma and the Diplom on the level of a undergraduate degree, ie a bachelors. So to avoid any trouble, I would suggest not using the term Masters for a Diplom because it isn't one. Just stick to the order: Diplom, Magister, Doktor as being equivalent to Bachelors, Masters and PhD. (The Vordiplom was only an administrative hurdle but not even a recognised qualification in Germany).

[LeeGirlGib]

Realized that I didn't update, so I figured maybe my experience may help someone out.

So what we did was to apply for a LTSVP which was approved really quickly and approved for a year. 9 months after that we applied for a HDB flat under the singles scheme (my husband is a foreigner after all) and it was approved. We applied for PR under the spouse scheme 2 months after that (after exercising Option to Purchase and after my husband got his PhD cert) and added in all the HDB documents and Certificates (both my husband's and mine) and 4 months later (2 weeks after we extended my husband's LTSVP) the PR was approved. When we went down to extend the LTSVP, we told the officer that the PR was approved, so they waived the LTSVP charges and allowed us to complete the PR formalities instead.

3 months after obtaining PR, the letter from MINDEF came for my husband to register, he registered and immediately received an info that they do not require him to do NS (He was 33).

Hope that helps.