In recent decades, Germany is one of the quite frequent destinations that Russian tourists and business travelers seek. But in order to get there, you need a Schengen visa. Where and how is it easier to get it?
Germany Visa Application Centers
For the convenience of issuing entry permits, many European countries have long allowed special companies to collect sets of documents for travelers and to submit them centrally to the consulate. This is convenient for both parties, since there may not be an embassy in a large city, but there will be a visa center.
In early 2013, the German Visa Application Center in Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Kaliningrad and Novosibirsk was launched. All of them belong to the company VFS Global, which provides outsourcing services to many countries. Now the service and visa center in Germany can be found in almost any major Russian city. So, why does it make sense to choose it, and not contact the consulate directly?
Advantages and disadvantages compared to the embassy
Any service and visa center in Germany is a commercial organization. So, her staff is interested in the influx of customers. That’s why “service” is not an empty phrase in this case. A sufficient number of working windows, an electronic queue, assistance in filling out questionnaires, collecting documents, and in Moscow - free copying services, a booth for instant photos, etc. In addition, a visit to the embassy requires a preliminary appointment, which can be scheduled for an inconvenient time or on the wrong day.
On the other hand, the German Visa Service Center, or rather its employees, do not participate in the decision on issuing visas, and a conversation directly with the consular officer can help in obtaining long-term entry permits, even with a minimal set of documents. Of course, in all non-standard cases requiring explanation or the personal presence of the applicant, it is also better to contact the embassy.
Documents
A correctly assembled package of necessary papers and certificates is already half the battle. Consular officers are usually quite picky about a set of documents, so the lack of some little things can cause a short-term visa to be issued instead of a long-term one.
So, future travelers will need the following:
- Application form for each applicant, completed by hand or using a computer.
- Foreign passport + copy of the data page.
- 2 photos.
- Copy of all completed pages of a common passport.
- Medical insurance.
- Confirmation of employment indicating the amount of earnings or a bank statement for 3 months, or a sponsorship letter.
Further recruitment depends on the purpose of the trip. For tourists, these will be airline tickets, hotel reservations, route descriptions, invitations from local residents, etc. In general, consular officers should understand why a person needs a visa to Germany. In this case, the visa center will act as an intermediary, its employees will check and systematize all documents and inform you if something important is missing.
Procedure
As a rule, you can choose one of two options: make an appointment or defend a "live" line. In the first case, everything will go a little faster, since separate windows often work for such clients. But the second option is not so bad either, the waiting time for applying for documents through the German visa center in Moscow rarely exceeds half an hour.
It all starts from the door: the guard is interested in the purpose of the visit and issues the corresponding ticket to the electronic queue. Further, the visitor only needs to follow the electronic scoreboard and wait for his number to appear there, and then go to the specified window. An employee of the visa center will accept the documents, ask some questions, ask about the need to deliver a passport. After the client puts a signature in the contract, he receives a unique identification number by which he can track the status of his application. Then he goes to pay the consular and service fees to the cashier. There is also an electronic queue, so all this does not take much time. After the services of the intermediary are paid, it remains only to wait. However, as a rule, consideration of documents rarely takes more than a couple of weeks.
The issuance of passports is subject to general civilian identification cards, if necessary, power of attorney, and for the next of kin - marriage or birth certificates.
Contact details
Since now there is a visa service center in almost every major city, it makes no sense to list all their addresses. We can only say that they are in Moscow, Krasnodar, Kazan, Perm, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok and Kaliningrad.
The contacts of the central one, which is located in the capital, are as follows: 115162, ul. Shabolovka, d. 31, p. 5. Tel .: +7 (499) 681-13-65.
The German Visa Application Center located in Moscow is open on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.