Welcome
Short-Term Visa for Germany
Visa, © Deutsche Botschaft Dublin
The Schengen Visa allows you to stay in the following countries for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
However, you always have to apply for a Schengen Visa at the Embassy of the member state that is your main destination in terms of length or purpose of stay. If no main destination can be determined, you have to apply for your visa at the embassy of the member state whose external border you will cross first.
The following countries are not part of the Schengen area:
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom.
While you can travel to Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania with a Schengen Visa, you cannot travel to the Schengen Area with a visa from any of these countries.
Service partner TLS
The German Embassy works together with the service partner TLScontact. TLScontact assists with the acceptance of applications, forwards the complete application documents to the visa office and handles the return of the passport. The application is processed exclusively by the German Embassy. Applications for a Schengen visa can be submitted at the visa center of TLScontact.
Further information and assistance via TLScontact.
Get your Schengen Visa in 4 Steps
The earliest that you can apply for your visa is six month before you plan to travel to the Schengen area. Please prepare your visa file as soon as you have booked an appointment.
You can submit applications for Schengen visas at the application center of our service partner TLScontact. Please make an appointment directly with them to submit your application. All information on how to book an appointment and what documents to bring can be found at their website.
If you have booked an appointment with our service partner, the application must be submitted by you in person on the day of your appointment. The application can only be submitted by an authorized representative if a Schengen visa has already been issued for you within the last 59 months and your fingerprints have been stored for this purpose.
The team of our the service partner TLScontact will take your application and all your documents and can clarify the specifics of your individual case. You pay the application fee, the service fee and your biometric data (photo, fingerprints) will be scanned.
After your application was delivered to the Embassy by our service partner TLScontact, the Embassy will process your application in compliance with the legal requirements, e.g. the Visa Code.
Processing time can take up to 14 days. You should allow a few additional working days for the transfer of your application from the visa center to the visa office. You can check where your application/passport is at any time via our service partner's website.
The processing of your application might take longer if your documents need to be checked more thoroughly or you are asked to submit more documents. Please note that inquiries about the status of the visa application cannot be answered. For reasons of data protection, detailed information on a pending case will only be given to the applicant, their legal representative or a third person with written power of attorney.
Please do not buy your ticket or make any financial commitments until you are certain that the visa will be issued. Reservations for flights/hotels suffice for the application. The Embassy is not liable for any expenses incurred by the applicants.
If all legal requirements are met and the automated security check came back negative, the visa will be granted. The visa sticker will be printed and attached to your passport.
If the visa cannot be granted, you will receive a written letter stating the reasons of the refusal. Please note that this letter will be in German. However, you can find a courtesy translation of this refusal notice .
In both cases, your passport will be ready for pick up at the visa center.
Safe travels:
Your visa includes your full name, your passport number and your photo. Furthermore, it includes the number of days and the time period within which you are allowed to travel to and stay in the Schengen area.
Application Form
Please fill in the form online.
Please note that an issued visa does not automatically permit entry to the Schengen area. The final decision will be taken by the border police. At passport control it might be possible that you will be asked questions about your trip and will be asked to present documents, e.g. your invitation, your hotel bookings, your travel health insurance or proof of your financial means.
If your application was refused, you will receive a written letter stating the reasons of the refusal. Please note that this letter will be in German. However, you can find a courtesy translation of this refusal notice . You can object to a refused visa application by handing in a written and signed objection letter within four weeks after receiving the refusal statement. The Embassy will check your application again and will take into account any new information given in the objection letter. Please note that this process might take several weeks.