Visa
Most nationals require a valid visa to enter Germany. You can enter Germany visa-free if you are an EU citizen or a national of one of the countries exempt from the visa requirement for short stays.
C visa (Schengen visa)
You can apply for a Schengen visa (C visa) for visits or business trips. It allows a stay of up to 90 days within 180 days in the entire Schengen area.
Important: It is generally not possible to convert a Schengen visa into a residence permit after entry.
The most common reason for refusing a Schengen visa is the embassy’s suspicion that you will not return to your home country – especially if permanent residence (e.g. family reunification) is on the cards. The embassy assesses family, professional and economic ties to the home country as well as previous travel within the Schengen area.
A complaint against the refusal of a Schengen visa is unlikely to be successful, as the consulates are granted a wide margin of discretion. We are therefore not active in these cases. Background information can be found in our seminar script Visiting Visas and Temporary Stays.
Only nationals of certain countries can apply for a residence permit after entry: Australia, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the USA. For residence permits without gainful employment, this also applies to nationals of Andorra, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Monaco and San Marino.
D visa (national visa for long-term stays)
For stays for purposes such as study, employment or family reunification you need a national visa (D visa). This usually requires the approval of the responsible immigration authority.
The processing time varies greatly: from a few days (e.g. EU Blue Card) to several months (e.g. family reunification).
While some embassies have digitized their procedures and you can submit your application online, other embassies take a very long time to notify you of an appointment to submit your application. Unfortunately, in these cases we usually have no way of obtaining a faster appointment for you.
Visa refusal and legal options
If your application is rejected, you will receive a rejection notice with reasons. Now that remonstration has largely been abolished, you can only submit a
- File a complaint with the Berlin Administrative Court: Possible within one month of receiving the rejection notice. Proceedings currently take approx. 12-18 months.
In procedures requiring approval (e.g. family reunification), it may make sense to apply to the immigration authority for access to the files. In some constellations, alternative courses of action can be developed by incorporating European law.
