Modern realities show that Germany enjoys great success among Russian compatriots. Besides the fact that this is a great country for spending your vacation and travel, many citizens of the Russian Federation go to visit relatives, relatives and friends, and someone has partnerships with local businessmen. There can be many reasons, so the visa regime between the two countries includes different types of visas.
Germany is a country of the European Union. Based on the Schengen agreements that are observed on German lands, a Russian can use a visa crossing the borders of other European countries. But there is also a special national visa that does not allow such freedom of movement. How and where to get the most popular visas to Germany by yourself will be described in the article.
A Schengen visa to Germany is issued at the Moscow Embassy or at the German Consulates located in Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg. You can make a visa yourself through the Visa Application Centers.
Visa regime
There are different goals for visiting this European country: someone is going to study, someone is working, and someone wants to leave forever. Everyone can independently collect documents for a visa to Germany.
Despite the fact that this is one of the countries where a visa can be difficult to obtain, the rules for registration have been unchanged for many years. To obtain a visa to Germany in Moscow on your own, you must collect all the required documents and submit them either to the Visa Application Center or directly to the Consulate (Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad) or the Embassy (Moscow). A national visa is opened exclusively at the Embassy and Consulate.
If a potential visitor to German territory already has a Schengen visa in their passport, then worrying about how to apply for a visa to Germany yourself, disappears. As mentioned above, Germany is a party to the European visa agreements, so you can take advantage of such a great privilege - to travel around the Schengen area with one visa.
In this case, one important point must be taken into account - first a citizen visits the country for which the document of entry has been drawn up. In addition to the above, of the total number of days in the Schengen area, more should be taken to German territory if the visa was issued there.
The Germans are pedantic in checking not only documents, but also in compliance with visa rules. They relate to the issuance of visas with all German rigor. But if the applicant has everything in order with the documents, then the probability of obtaining permission to enter is very high.
A refusal may result if the applicant has had a violation of European immigration law during previous visits, or if he has a not very stable financial pillow. To satisfy consular officers, it should be proved that the money is more than enough for a trip or trip. This will be a guarantee of the absence of illegal earnings by the applicant.
Interviews are very rare. This is precisely because of insufficient evidence of non-immigration purposes from the applicant. Then it will be necessary to bring additional papers to the Consulate, at the request of employees. Before the interview, you should tune in and think over the answers to alleged questions, communicate with people who already had similar experience, and read on the Internet resources how to behave and what to say. Well, do not be late, because Germany is accurate like no one else.
So, the general information on how to get a Schengen visa to Germany yourself is as follows:
- It is worth contacting the official German representative offices in the form of Consulates and Embassies, or Visa centers (with which it is easier to obtain a visa).
- Collect all the necessary documents indicated on the official website of the German representative office in the Russian Federation.
- The consular visa fee by invitation is equal to the national price, and the Schengen C type has a single European tariff.
- In German Schengen, you can move across the borders of other EU countries.
- When appointing an interview, you need to remember that the main goal is to prove to the employee about their honest goals.
Types of German visas
What are the types of visas to Germany? You can arrange any types yourself, depending on the intentions and nature of the trip. Since the country has a high degree of economic development, the wages there are also at the proper level, therefore, many people travel not only as tourists or at the invitation of friends, but also take their new job in a local company.
In general, all German visas are divided into subtypes: German Schengen category C, it is used for short trips that last no more than three months; a category D national visa, an entry visitor can work and apply for training, as well as reside in the country for a rather long period of time.
Schengen Type C
Many tourists independently apply for a visa to Germany, and most often they choose a Schengen category C. With this entry document, a Russian can stay in Germany for up to three months inclusive. This visa is suitable not only for tourism purposes: it is obtained for medical treatment, for visiting burial places of relatives, for short-term studies, for participating in various events (for example, a concert of a favorite group). In order to apply for a visa to Germany on your own, you need to apply for the same Schengen S.
All documentation collected by the applicant is regulated by the laws of the European Union.
Tourist visa
If a Russian chooses a simple sightseeing trip, which, by the way, in Germany is a lot, then you can choose a tourist visa. This is the same Schengen C, which does not have any differences from the entry document described above, except for tourism purposes. The price and issuance of a tourist visa to Germany does not independently differ from other visas for other entry purposes.
Since issuing visas for a certain tour is an established and clear process, it’s completely not worth contacting intermediaries and overpaying. If you are planning a group tour, then the documents should be submitted to one of the visa centers.
What documents are required for registration
In fact, the list of requested papers will depend on the nature of the proposed trip. There is a main list and an additional list, the latter includes the documentation that substantiates the goals of the applicant.
Mandatory documents for applying for a visa to Germany on their own:
- A completed application form. To do this, go to the website of the Visa Application Center, enter your details and print. On the finished sheets put three signatures.
- A foreign passport, and its validity should not be less than ninety days after the tourist returns to his homeland. Also, the passport must have at least two blank pages (this applies to especially frequent travelers).
- Photos in duplicate 35 by 45 millimeters.
- Copy of passport with personal data page and photo.
- Copies of all completed pages of an internal Russian passport.
- Purchased tickets or their reservation for an airplane or other mode of transport.
- A printout of the reservation of a hotel room, or a supporting document of another place of residence from the beginning to the end of the proposed trip. The reservation must include the name of the applicant.
- A medical insurance policy covering at least thirty thousand euros. The work of this insurance should apply to the entire territory of the Schengen area.
- A check or receipt confirming payment of the consular fee.
- A paper indicating the presence of a sufficient amount of financial resources. For example, a certificate of employment indicating salary payments and bank statements. Help will be papers proving that the applicant owns immovable property, or a letter from the sponsor who pays for the trip and takes all the costs of maintenance on German soil. Such a letter is also proved by the financial viability of the sponsor - the same bank statement.
In cases where the applicant is not officially employed, he provides documents confirming the availability of a sufficient amount of money or personal property.
Visa for transit
In the case of using the German airport as a transfer hub, a Russian is required to make a request for a transit document.
Also, a tourist may not be allowed to miss a further route if he does not show a valid visa of the country of final destination (with the exception of the visa-free regime with the Russian Federation).
Type D national visa
But when a person is going to stay in the German expanses for more than three months, then how to apply for a visa to Germany yourself in this case?
Firstly, this document will already be called a national visa of category D, and its holder has ample opportunities. It is drawn up through the Embassy or the German Consulate. This type of visa can be used for employment, and for admission to the university, and, even, to legitimize family relationships.
For such a visa to Germany, you yourself need to collect a little more documents than for Schengen. The list of documents will also depend on the intentions pursued by the applicant on German soil. For example, under such an entry document, you can legally reside next to your husband / wife who has European citizenship. For training, by the way, another way of moving is used - according to the program, which is agreed with ZAV. It allows educational institutions to create guest invitations, and the student enters on a guest visa.
What you need to do to apply for a visa yourself
According to the rule introduced in 2015, a citizen who is engaged in obtaining a visa to Germany on his own is required to undergo an important procedure in advance. The applicant must personally appear in any of the visa centers, or the official representative of Germany in the Russian Federation for fingerprints and for taking photos with a special camera. And after that, prepare the rest of the paper. Children under twelve years of age do not need to undergo this procedure.
By the way, if a tourist made an application for a visa to Germany in Moscow independently through the Visa Center and received a refusal, then there is the opportunity to try to resend documents to the Consulate or Embassy. Registration to the Consulate takes place through the employees of the Visa Application Center, where the applicant chooses the day and time of the visit.
Many Russians are interested in the question: how to get a visa to Germany on their own in case of a trip with a child? If a minor has to travel to the EU zone, then, in addition to the general package of documents, you must attach:
- Copy of birth certificate, without original.
- Consent to take the child out if the child is traveling with one of the parents or with a third party. When sending an unaccompanied child, such consent must be notarized. A single parent provides paper proving his sole guardianship.
- When a Schengen child or a National visa is issued after the parents or guardians receive the visa, a copy of the parent visas, paper on booking tickets, hotels, issued in the name of the parents or guardians and the child, is attached to the above documents.
Cost, expiration dates
When obtaining a visa to Germany on your own, it is worth considering that the tariff for the Schengen consular fee will not change depending on the country chosen, but the cost of national visas varies.
But since we are considering exclusively German visas, the prices are as follows:
- Schengen category C - 35 euros.
- Schengen category C express consideration - 70 euros.
- Category C Schengen children, up to six years old - no charge.
- National visa category D - 60 euros.
- National visa category D for children under the age of majority - 30 euros.
It is worth considering the fact that when applying to the Visa Application Center, the applicant will have to pay a certain amount for the document transfer services: 20 euros 35 cents for citizens who undergo a biometric procedure, and 18 euros 85 cents for those who do not need such a procedure. Payment is made in rubles upon application.
When you obtain a visa to Germany on your own, its validity period is the same as when applying through intermediaries. Moreover, Schengen does not have different terms depending on the state in which it is executed. So, with a category C visa, a tourist can stay within the EU for up to six months, with category D - up to a year. The maximum number of days allowed to stay in the country for category C is up to ninety days, for category D - up to one hundred and eighty.
There is no connection between the validity and cost of the visa. Even a document authorizing entry into the country, issued on certain dates, will have the same price for a consular fee as a multi- visa for six months.
In addition to standard situations with obtaining a visa to Germany on their own, in Moscow they can open an entry document valid for several years. It is issued to avid travelers who have proven their honest goals of visiting the state. The applicant must have old stamps of German visas and a lot of stamps of arrival and departure, that is, for the consul there must be direct evidence of the applicant's frequent travels to German lands. True, even if a tourist receives such a gorgeous visa, valid for several years, he will be able to stay in Germany for no more than ninety days in six months. That is, every 90 days he will have to leave the country for three months.
Information about ten days is usually given by visa deadlines, but according to tourist reviews, a visa to Germany for self-applying is considered no more than seven days, sometimes, a decision is made after a couple of days. In regional Visa Application Centers, dates can be up to several weeks, depending on the distance to the nearest official Consulate General. Therefore, the fastest process will take place in Moscow.
Application and photo requirements
An important point is to fill out the necessary questionnaire. It consists of several parts and is translated into Russian, to facilitate Russian citizens to understand all the information. Therefore, difficulties should not arise.
The most important thing is to enter information that is true and valid. There should be no discrepancies in the application form with the papers presented, and do not forget to sign in three places of the printed application form.
There are also no difficult moments with photography. It should be 35x45 millimeters in size, the background should be light or white. The head should be 32-36 millimeters. The photo should not have frames or ovals, and the face is open. It should be photographed without smiles and other emotional images on the face.
Visa by invitation
Another interesting way to enter the territory of German lands is to obtain a visa by invitation. Such a request can be issued through the mediation of relatives, friends, business partners, companies, and so on.
Depending on the purpose of entry, the document folder is supplemented by various individual documentation. For guests who have a private person in the inviting party, it is necessary to provide the original invitation and a notarized copy of it, in other words, this is a paper proving the legal place of residence of this private person. The host party also provides a copy of the document according to which it resides in the territory of the state (residence permit, identity card).
For those who are planning to visit Germany on a working visit, or who are going to find a job, an original and a copy of the invitation from the receiving party (company, company, organization) are additionally attached. It is signed by the head and certified by a registered seal, the date and purpose of the trip are written in the document, and the party that bears the costs of providing the arriving citizen with finances, housing and so on is indicated.
If a visa is issued for a private business owner, then as proof he must provide certificates 2NDFL or 3NDFL, registration certificate of the company or individual entrepreneur, bank statement. The receiving party must be represented by a German partner.
Various specialists may be invited to Germany, for the entry of which the calling party provides official papers confirming the legitimate activities of the organization, as well as the qualifications of the employee.