Many want to visit Germany, however, in order to draw up documents, you first need to issue an invitation to Germany. A free-form sample will be presented in this article, however, if a tourist trip is planned, then the travel agency is engaged in all issues. An invitation is necessary if you intend to travel to relatives or friends, as well as a business trip or work in Germany. In this case, in order to receive the German “Schengen”, an invitation must be sent, which must be sent by friends, relatives, business partners or employers from this country.
To visit
If you are planning to visit this wonderful country to visit relatives or friends, your visit will be arranged as a private trip to Germany. If you plan to stay with them, then the first step in collecting documents will be to write an invitation from the German side.
Now two types of permits are issued to enter the country:
- German national visa (D).
- Schengen visa (C).
In the case of a private trip, the second option is suitable, since a Schengen visa will allow you to stay in Germany for ninety days for six months. This visa is suitable for a private visit, and for a tourist trip. In the case of business trips, it is issued only if Germany is on the way and acts as a transit country.
To apply for a C visa at the German Visa Application Center, Consulate or Embassy, you need to provide an unofficial (in case of a private trip) and an official (in case of a business) invitation from the German side.
How to write an invitation?
A sample invitation to Germany in free form is written by hand, at the end of the document is signed personally by the person issuing the invitation. You can bring to the visa center both the original of this written invitation, as well as a copy of it, however, in the second case, you must include a copy of the inviter’s passport, as well as a copy of the rental contract or a residence certificate. However, even in this case, the original may sometimes be required.
In 2018
At the moment, there are some nuances of design. The sample invitation to Germany in free form is still written by hand, but friends and relatives are now in different categories. What does this mean for visa recipients? Friends belong to the category of tourism and other private visits, and there is nothing about informal invitations in the description, however, the phrase “private visits” is also present, which implies the use of an informal invitation. In the case of relatives, everything remained the same.
However, before you go to Germany with your friends and apply for a Schengen, you need to call the visa center and make sure that you can use an unofficial invitation to facilitate the processing of documents. An important feature: now for the category of "friends" only originals of unofficial invitations are accepted, but for relatives a copy will be enough.
Copies of documents
In any case, before submitting documents, be sure to make a copy of the invitation, which you leave yourself, because the Embassy will pick up the original, and when crossing the border you need to have a complete set of documents with you. This is what it consists of:
- copy of the passport;
- copy of the rental contract or certificate of registration;
- copy of the unofficial invitation to Germany.
This package of documents may not be required, however, in case of any problems at the border, their presence will greatly accelerate the whole process.
Sample
An invitation to Germany in free form can either be written by hand or printed on a printer, and at the end of the document you can only put your signature. In the header on the left side, the last name is the name of the inviting party, the address in Germany is indicated, and below is the same information about the invitee.
Further, in a free form, a desire is expressed to invite this person for a private visit to Germany. Be sure to specify the dates of the proposed trip and address.
Official invitation
Also, relatives can be issued an official invitation, but this is a much more time-consuming process than an unofficial invitation for a private visit. This will require both time and money, however, an official invitation greatly simplifies the process of issuing a guest visa to Germany for a three-month (or more) term. The German name for the official invitation is Verpflichtungserklarung.
Both German citizens and stateless persons are entitled to apply to the Foreign Relations Department for an official invitation, but in this case their residence permit must be valid longer than the period for which the guest will be invited.
The number of people that a person can invite depends on the income for which he will provide a certificate (benefits are not included in that amount). It also happens that these incomes are not enough even to invite one person, and, in this case, you will have to look for someone else to invite the guest "in a mess" - this is an acceptable solution to the problem.
Documents for a visa to Germany by invitation will not include all kinds of hotel reservations, nor will they find fault with the financial situation of the guest, because all the costs of providing will be borne by the inviting party (food, accommodation, treatment). However, the reservation of return tickets and guarantees of return to their native country (work, study, relatives) will still be required, otherwise they may refuse a visa.
How to issue?
How to issue an invitation to relatives in Germany? Applicants need to personally come to the department for work with foreigners, having previously signed up. An authorized person may also be involved in the design of this document.
List of required information:
- Last name and first name of the guest. The data must be filled out in Latin, there must be a complete literal match with the data from the passport.
- Date and place of birth.
- Citizenship that the guest has at the time of the invitation.
- Passport ID.
- Place of residence.
If a family invitation is expected, then the same data will be required for each guest. After the information is received, the inviting party must submit documents to the department. On his part, such information will be required:
- all data received about the guest / guests;
- passport;
- certificate of the last salary received (in certain cases, the salary period may be extended to three months);
- receipt of payment of the fee (about 25 euros - about 1900 rubles).
The amount of the fee does not depend on the number of guests invited, because a guest invitation to Germany will be one for all. The inviting party will need to indicate the date on which this document begins to take effect. The invitation itself must also have a deadline. The right to enter Germany at the invitation must be exercised within six months. By invitation, a visa is issued for a period of up to three months, and the date of "opening" is attached to the date indicated in the invitation.
Service and Visa Centers and Embassy
Germany obtaining Schengen visas is very simplified, because throughout Russia there are authorized German visa application centers. They were opened by an outsourcing company called VFS Global; it provides services to both diplomatic missions of various countries and the government. The site of the service and visa center always has up-to-date information on the necessary documents and any changes in the procedure for obtaining visas, and in case you have questions, you can call and get expert answers.
However, for national German visas (D) you still need to apply to the Consulate or Embassy of Germany.
Biometrics
It is worth remembering that since 2015 there is a rule according to which everyone who will receive a Schengen visa must be fingerprinted, regardless of which passport is available. Under the new law, biometrics must be passed to all who apply for a visa for the first time, but those who received a visa before the entry into force of this law can safely “get there” by the end of the term. The shelf life of the prints is five years.