The National Visa is the entry visa for a long-term stay for a certain purpose of travel. It is usually issued for 90 days, in certain cases up to one year. After entry, a domestic residence permit must usually be applied for.

How to prepare your application

You should start preparing your application as soon as you have plans for your long-term stay in Germany. The entire visa procedure can take several months.

Prepare your application documents as follows:

• Please complete the application form electronically and bring a printout of the form with you to your appointment. You can find the form for applying for a national visa here: Videx application form for national visas
• Please note that passport photos that do not comply with the specifications in the sample photo chart cannot be used: sample chart for passport photos
• Please compile the supporting documents for your application. Missing documents or proofs may lead to rejection of the application. We have compiled the appropriate checklist for you in German and English, depending on the purpose of your trip. Please find the checklists at the end of this page.

Submitting an application

In order to submit your application, you must appear in person at the Embassy. At your appointment, you will submit the complete application documents and pay the fee. Your fingerprints will also be taken.

We urgently recommend that you book your appointment yourself. If you use “agents”, “advisors”, or “service providers”, you are at risk of losing a lot of time and money.

During processing

The German Embassy will review and decide on your application. To do this, it reviews whether your application meets the legal requirements. Depending on the purpose of your journey, this review may take several months. As soon as a decision has been made on your application, you will be contacted by the German mission abroad. Please understand that questions about the processing status will not be answered during the processing period. The following applies: Only enquiries from the applicant himself/herself, his/her legal representative or a person authorised in writing will be answered. Nevertheless, we ask you to refrain from further enquiries about the status of the application, as the dozens of enquiries about the status of the application tie up the capacities needed to process the applications.

The return of the passport

As soon as the Embassy has decided on your application, we will contact you. If your application has been granted, we will let you know when you can submit your passport to obtain the visa.

If your visa application is rejected, there may be several reasons for the rejection. We will give you these reasons in a rejection letter. You can submit a new application with complete, meaningful and verifiable documents at any time.

Have a good journey! Advice for visa holders

If all the information on your visa label is correct, nothing stands in the way of your journey. Please check this as soon as you have your passport back in your hands. Please inform us immediately of any errors so that we can issue you with a new visa.

Your visa will show your full name, passport number and photo. The number of days of stay and the period of validity of the visa, i.e. the time you have until you receive your domestic residence permit, are indicated.

Therefore, do not forget to register at the Residents' Registration Office (Einwohnermeldeamt) immediately after entering Germany and to make an appointment at the Foreigners' Registration Office (Ausländerbehörde). With the entry visa you can travel within the Schengen area.

Appeal

For questions beyond the detailed information provided on the website, please contact the visa section via the contact form.