MAIN INFORMATION
Juliane Breinl, Germany.
Wesley Tudor, USA.
Juliane and Wesley met through a meditation app. In August 2017, they arranged to talk via Skype; the conversation lasted three hours, and things developed quickly from there.
Their relationship remained long-distance for three years, with the pair meeting in person every seven or eight months. Then, Covid-19 hit, preventing them from being with each other for almost half a year. Luckily, Germany allowed them to reunite and marry in October 2020.
As of May 2021, they’ve lived together in Munich.
They were 6,614 km apart.
Wesley Tudor, USA.
Juliane and Wesley met through a meditation app. In August 2017, they arranged to talk via Skype; the conversation lasted three hours, and things developed quickly from there.
Their relationship remained long-distance for three years, with the pair meeting in person every seven or eight months. Then, Covid-19 hit, preventing them from being with each other for almost half a year. Luckily, Germany allowed them to reunite and marry in October 2020.
As of May 2021, they’ve lived together in Munich.
They were 6,614 km apart.
STORY OF SEPARATION
When Juliane and Wesley first spoke, they clicked immediately. The pair began to speak daily, and within a few weeks, Juliane invited Wesley to visit her in Germany. For three weeks, the couple stayed together in Juliane’s studio apartment. Everything was perfect, but she got cold feet. “It was too much, too fast,” she says, explaining that her love for Wesley felt different; she didn’t have butterflies, and the experience brought up pain and guilt related to her previous marriage. Wesley left, unsure if they would see each other again. However, Juliane quickly realised what she was feeling was still special. “A different kind of love,” as she puts it. “A great love. One that was not as painful [as her previous marriage].” Juliane flew to visit Wesley in the US soon after, and they’ve been together ever since, travelling to see each other every couple of months.
At the start of 2020, Wesley was due to visit Juliane in Munich. “Honestly, I was terrified to get on the aeroplane,” he remembers. “There was no lockdown in the US yet, but the airport was empty, and everyone was wearing masks. I thought if I get on this plane, maybe I’ll never be able to come back. My brain said: ‘don’t do it,' but my heart told me to.” On 11 March 2020, soon after his arrival, Donald Trump introduced a travel suspension from Europe to the United States, effective on 13 March. The couple had to make a difficult decision: would Wesley attempt to stay in Munich or risk returning to the US where he needed to manage his business. “Our last two weeks together were tense,” Wesley remembers. “Eventually, I decided I had to return home.” The decision marked the start of a months-long separation.
At the start of 2020, Wesley was due to visit Juliane in Munich. “Honestly, I was terrified to get on the aeroplane,” he remembers. “There was no lockdown in the US yet, but the airport was empty, and everyone was wearing masks. I thought if I get on this plane, maybe I’ll never be able to come back. My brain said: ‘don’t do it,' but my heart told me to.” On 11 March 2020, soon after his arrival, Donald Trump introduced a travel suspension from Europe to the United States, effective on 13 March. The couple had to make a difficult decision: would Wesley attempt to stay in Munich or risk returning to the US where he needed to manage his business. “Our last two weeks together were tense,” Wesley remembers. “Eventually, I decided I had to return home.” The decision marked the start of a months-long separation.
“You can’t choose who you fall in love with, and we should not have these archaic laws that say you need to continue to marry people who have identical citizenship to yours”
Krishni Metivier, Love Is Not Tourism campaigner
“You can’t choose who you fall in love with, and we should not have these archaic laws that say you need to continue to marry people who have identical citizenship to yours”
Krishni Metivier, Love Is Not Tourism campaigner
TIME APART
The couple were apart for five months, but they count themselves lucky. “It was horrible we had to go through all that drama and make those difficult decisions,” says Wesley. “But, the happy ending is that we had a solution.” Wesley and Juliane had been planning to get married, and, despite Covid-19, Germany would permit Wesley to reenter if they could confirm a date. Unlike other couples, there was a defined end in sight, however, now, they had to secure an appointment at a civil registry office and collect the relevant documentation, a challenge in itself and one only exacerbated by Covid-19.
For Wesley, securing and translating the relevant documentation proved to be a part-time job. “I went to the German embassy in New York,” he recounts, “to the consulate in Philadelphia and the town of my birth to get a birth certificate.” Despite the challenge, the couple succeeded and were married in Germany in October 2020. As of November 2020, the country also made it easier for unmarried binational couples to reunite during Covid-19, with third-country citizens no longer having to prove they previously met their partner in Germany. Wesley and Juliane, who have been living together permanently in Munich since May 2021, hope this will serve as an example for other countries.
For Wesley, securing and translating the relevant documentation proved to be a part-time job. “I went to the German embassy in New York,” he recounts, “to the consulate in Philadelphia and the town of my birth to get a birth certificate.” Despite the challenge, the couple succeeded and were married in Germany in October 2020. As of November 2020, the country also made it easier for unmarried binational couples to reunite during Covid-19, with third-country citizens no longer having to prove they previously met their partner in Germany. Wesley and Juliane, who have been living together permanently in Munich since May 2021, hope this will serve as an example for other countries.
“We were planning to spend half this year together with extended visits, and then suddenly we went from finally having survived 3 years long distance, to now we were going to be together, to now BOOM we don't know when we could be together"
Wesley Tudor
“We were planning to spend half this year together with extended visits, and then suddenly we went from finally having survived 3 years long distance, to now we were going to be together, to now BOOM we don't know when we could be together”
Wesley Tudor
