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  Please book your appointments for a national visa here

A national, long-term visa permits you to stay in Germany as a resident. This type of visa will also enable you to travel freely within all member states of the Schengen Treaty while residing in Germany for the following purpose:

- studying

- language course

- au-pair

- employment

- marriage/family reunification

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Korea (Republic of), Japan, New Zealand or the United States of America can apply for a residence and work permit after arriving in Germany. However, you will not be permitted to work until a work permit has been granted by the relevant authorities. If you intend to commence working immediately upon arrival in Germany, you  must apply for a residence and work permit from the German embassy in the country of your  current residency.

Since August 1, 2018 close family members (i.e. spouses, unmarried minors and parents of minors) of persons with subsidiary protection status living in Germany can apply for a visa for the purpose of family reunification. Family members who wish to do so may register here for an appointment to súbmit their visa application. For further information please visit the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

Preparing your application

The processing period for a Long term visa may take 2-3 months.

You should be preparing your application as soon as you have decided to reside in Germany.

Please familiarize yourself with the visa regulations and procedures described here.
Prepare your application as follows:

• Fill out and print the visa application form (German/English) and bring it to your appointment.
• Gather all necessary documents you need to submit with your application. If documents or supporting documents are missing, your application may be rejected. We have prepared a checklist for each type of visa.
  National Visa Instruction Form
  National Visa: Student applicants and study
  National Visa: Language Course
  National Visa: Job seeker
  National Visa: Employment
  National Visa: Self-employment     
  National Visa: Au Pair, Questionnaire Au Pair, General Info Leaflet Au Pair
  National Visa: Family Reunion
  National Visa: Marriage

Important information 

Please refrain from sending any documents to the Embassy's visa section unless expressly instructed to do so, in particular not prior to your application. Documents sent to the Embassy in advance will not be archived.

You are kindly requested to bring all necessary documents with you to your appointment.

Submitting your application

You have to apply for your visa at the German Embassy in person. You are requested to submit all required documents and to pay the visa processing fee. You will be interviewed with regard to your planned stay in Germany and your biometric data (passport photograph and fingerprints) will be collected.

What happens during processing?

The Embassy will review your application and decide whether the criteria to issue a visa are met. Depending on the purpose of your stay and as consultation with administrative bodies in Germany is necessary, processing your visa application may take up to three months. As soon as the process is finalized, the Embassy will inform you about the decision. During this period you cannot inquire about the status of your application. Upon expiry of the processing period only the applicant, his/her legal representative or  persons holding an authorization letter from the applicant may inquire about the status of the visas.

Passport Collection

As soon as the Embassy has decided about your application, you will be informed to collect your passport from the Embassy.
Should your visa application have been rejected,  you will receive a letter stating the relevant reasons for the refusal when collecting your passport.
You can always submit a new application provided that you present  all necessary information and supporting documentation.

FAQs/Contact us

Here you may find answers to frequently asked questions.

If you were unable to find the answers to your questions in our FAQs, you can contact us by sending an email to visa@doha.diplo.de