How to Apply for German National Visa

File your visa application for German National Visa at the German Mission of your local jurisdiction in five easy steps.

When applying for a visa, you can provide evidence that you are able to meet your living costs by opening a blocked bank account. You have free choice of provider. To the best of the Embassy/Consulate General’s knowledge, the following banks offer blocked accounts in India that meet the requirements of the visa procedure.

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• Kotak Mahindra Bank
• Deutsche Bank
• Coracle
• Fintiba
• X-Patrio

Information on providers that offer this service worldwide is available on the website of the Federal Foreign Office.

Important Information for Master, doctoral and post-doctorate Students, scholarship holders and certain highly skilled professionals!

Certain applicants can now submit their application for a German National Visa directly at the Service Provider VFS Global, thus skipping the wait time for an interview appointment at the German Mission.

If you hail from the jurisdiction of the German Embassy in New Delhi or the German Consulate General in Mumbai, and you

• want to pursue doctoral, post-doctorate or Master studies and have a binding, unconditional admission letter from a German University or
• have been awarded a full scholarship by an official German Institution for higher studies in Germany or
• have a binding contract for highly qualified employment in Germany and a binding approval letter issued by the competent German labour Authorities -“ZAV-Zustimmung”- (dependants from the New Delhi Embassy jurisdiction only)

you can schedule an appointment for the submission of your visa application and submit it at the Visa Application Centre in New Delhi or in Mumbai.

Note: Applications will still be processed by the German Mission itself! An interview at the Mission might still be necessary in case of further questions or unclear documentation. The Service Provider (VFS) will neither be able to provide status updates or a success forecast for the applications.

For further information, please visit the VFS Global Website and follow the procedure described below, as applicable.
If you do not meet the above criteria, for example, if you want to pursue Bachelor studies, or are applying for preparatory classes (also language classes) with the intent of entering a German University later, you have to submit your application directly at the competent German Mission. Please note that any applicant who does not meet the above-mentioned criteria and schedules an appointment at one of the mentioned Application Centres will not be attended, losing valuable time and means.

IMPORTANT:
Due to increasing demand and limited available daily slots for interviews, we highly recommend you to schedule your appointment (see step 4) at the competent German Mission as early as possible. Waiting times for an interview appointment may vary, depending on the category and competent German Mission. In many cases, the waiting time for an interview may well exceed two months.

For students only! Please click on this link for the application form for National Visa: https://videx-national.diplo.de

Important information for bachelor students who have passed the Test AS  (Test für Ausländische Studierende)

All other applicants, please click on ‘Application form for German National Visa’ under Step 3 below.

Read Also: Guide for International Students to Start your Studies in Germany

File your visa application (German National Visa) at the German Mission of your local jurisdiction in five easy steps:

Step 1: Please prepare the necessary documentation for your visa application using the following checklists:
checklist for student visa
checklist for employment visa
checklist for employment visa (EU Blue Card)
checklist for guest scientist/research visa
checklist for job-seeker visa
checklist for training/internship visa
checklist for au pair visa
checklist for speciality cook visa
checklist for family reunion visa (spouse)
checklist for family reunion visa (parent)
checklist for family reunion visa (child)
checklist for intended marriage/establishment of a civil union visa

Step 2: Kindly procure photos which meet biometric photos requirements.

Step 3: Please fill out the Application form for National Visa, print it, sign it and submit it along with the other documents.

If you are unable to fill out the form, please change your Adobe Reader settings as follows: Edit -> Preferences -> Documents -> View documents in PDF/A Mode -> Never.
To complete your documentation, please print out the following declaration, fill it and sign it:
Declaration on true and complete information
Additional contact and legal representation information
For employment visas, kindly also fill out the Annexure for Employment Visas

Step 4: Now you can schedule an appointment for your visa interview at your German Mission.

Step 5: Shortly before your appointment, please verify the current exchange rate for your visa fee on this website and obtain the Demand Draft.

The visa fee has to be paid by Demand Draft at the time of the visa interview.

• Demand Drafts with incorrect amounts will not be accepted.
• Fees cannot be paid in cash.
• Please note that the fee is not refundable, even when the visa is rejected.

Information on Demand Drafts
The German Missions accept Demand Drafts from all nationalised banks. Please make sure that the Demand Draft is issued as follows:

The Demand Draft must not be older than 2 months.

For Applicants from Mumbai and Kolkata
Please fill out the and submit it together with your Demand Draft.
Demand Draft Form

Integration
Information on German knowledge requirement – only important for family reunion
Visa applicants are required to present evidence of basic knowledge of the German language in the event of family reunion of spouses. However, under certain circumstances, there are exemptions from this requirement, such as for spouses of EU passport holders, of Blue Card holders and of other highly skilled workers, scientists etc.

Please note that the German Missions can ONLY accept German language certificates issued by language institutes fulfilling ALTE-Standard, i.e. Goethe Institute (Max Mueller Bhavan) or Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch (ÖSD).
Read more (in German)

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