The following information is intended to provide an overview of the need for a visa or residence title, the procedures abroad and in Germany to apply for a visa or residence title for the first time or to extend it, and other useful information. Are you missing any information? Please do not hesitate to contact us.
1. Necessity / Penalties
Basically, a distinction must be made between the entitlement to reside and the entitlement to pursue an economic activity.
Right to stay in Germany
As a national of an EU/EEA state, you do not require a visa for permanent entry into Germany.
As a national of Australia, Canada, the USA, Israel, New Zealand, Japan or South Korea, you need a residence permit in Germany, but you can apply for one AFTER your entry at the competent Foreigners´ Authority for all types of residence.
If you do not belong to the two aforementioned groups, you will need a national German visa upon entry.
The list of the Federal Foreign Office provides you with an overview of whether you need a visa to enter Germany or whether you can enter Germany without a visa.
Working in Germany
You also need a visa if you plan to work in Germany. However, this does not apply to nationals of an EU/EEA state. If employees take up a professional activity in Germany without having the required permit, the employer faces a fine of up to EUR 500,000 and employees up to EUR 5,000.
2. Procedure – Abroad
The German Embassies and Consulates General (Foreign Missions) abroad are responsible for issuing visas.
The Foreign Mission in whose district you have your place of residence or domicile is responsible for processing your visa application. You can find an overview of the missions abroad here.
Types
The type of visa you need to apply for depends on the purpose of the stay (e.g. business or tourism) and the planned duration of the stay. In principle, you apply for a Schengen visa for a stay of up to 90 days. For longer-term stays, i.e. stays of more than three months, you apply for a national visa.
Visas for employment purposes are issued either for short-term stays (90 in 180 days – Schengen visa) or for long-term stays (over three months – national visa). The respective visas have different requirements, regarding the granting, the scope of the documents to be submitted and the duration of the application.
If you are a specialist or a skilled employee and meet certain requirements, you may be entitled to an EU Blue Card or an ICT Card in the case of an intra-corporate transfer.
You can find more information on this at Services or in the respective tab.
Costs
The processing fee for Schengen visas charged by the Foreign Missions is generally EUR 80.00 (approx. USD 85.00), for national visas (for long-term stay) EUR 75.00 (approx. USD 80.00). However, some groups of persons are exempted from the fee. These include children under the age of six, pupils and students, representatives of non-profit organisations or researchers.
Procedure
To put it in a nutshell. German bureaucracy begins at the Foreign Mission abroad and not only in Germany. In order to obtain the desired visa as soon as possible, we recommend the following procedure:
- Choose the relevant type of visa (we will support you in this)
- Review whether the requirements for issuing a visa are met (we will support you in this)
- Book an appointment for a personal interview at the respective embassy (we will support you in this)
- Collect and draft the application documents (we support you in this)
- Take out the necessary insurances (if applicable – we support you in this)
- Send the documents to the Federal Employment Agency (if necessary – we will support you here)
- Attend the appointment for a personal interview at the embassy
- Pick up the visa at the embassy abroad / if applicable, it will be sent to you by post
- Enter Germany
- If necessary, register at the Residents’ Registration Office in Germany (we will support you here)
We are happy to support you with the necessary steps and provide you with all the required information, useful overviews and checklists, and are available for any queries in personal calls.
3. Registration at the local authorities
As soon as foreigners have arrived in Germany, they are obliged to register with the competent Residents’ Registration Office („Einwohnermeldeamt“) and the competent Foreigners’ Registration Office („Ausländerbehörde“).
4. Procedure – Germany / Application for and extension of the residence permit
During the validity of the visa, foreigners are obliged to apply for a residence permit. If a residence permit is issued for a fixed period of time, foreigners are obliged to apply for an extension within the period of validity.
The procedure for applying for a residence title for the first time or for extending a residence title differs significantly from the procedure for applying for a visa. The applications must be submitted to the respective Foreigners´ Authority in Germany. The scope of the documents to be submitted differs considerably from the documents required when applying for a visa.
We are happy to support you with the necessary steps and provide you with all the required information, useful overviews and checklists, and are available for any queries in personal calls.
5. Contact to authorities / Direct service
The Foreign Missions abroad and the Foreigners´ Authorities in Germany have been considerably overloaded for several years. This is not only due to administrative mismanagement, but also to the consequences of the Corona crisis and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Through our many years of experience, we can usually estimate the duration of the application very well and always recommend starting the process as early as possible. However, even if things have to move quickly, we try to speed up processes through procedural methods such as the Accelerated Procedure for Skilled Workers or personal contacts.
We are happy to support you with the necessary steps and provide you with all the required information, useful overviews and checklists, and are available for any queries in personal calls.
