Step-by-step instructions on how Russians can get a visa to Germany in 2021. What documents are needed, prices and nuances of self-registration. Find out why some tourists are denied visas.
Attention: at the moment, during the pandemic, tourist visas are issued in exceptional cases. Read more about the conditions on the website of the German representative office.
What kind of visa is issued for a tourist trip
For a tourist trip to Germany, a Schengen visa is required. The easiest way to get a C1 visa, which is valid for 30 days. If you are planning more than one trip to a country or a difficult route across several EU countries, you need to apply for a multivisa for a longer period.
Step 1: Book your tickets
The package of documents for a visa to Germany is attached with tickets or their reservation there and back. The documents must be authentic. Those who are fond of photoshop, sooner or later will be denied a visa and will be blacklisted in the Schengen area.
Before purchasing tickets, carefully study the conditions for their return. As a rule, the cheapest options cannot be returned without losses. If you want to be on the safe side, buy a return ticket, for example, to Skyscanner or Aviasales and cancel it if necessary. So if you are denied a visa, you will lose less money. You can take tickets from airlines that refund money for tickets if a visa is refused, or take out cancellation insurance.
Step 2: Book your accommodation
Booking a hotel or private accommodation confirms the purpose of your trip - tourism, so look for accommodation in advance. If you are not sure if you will get a visa, look for hotels with a "free cancellation" option on Booking or on aggregator sites. Choose pay on check-in accommodation.
To stay in a private apartment or house, make a reservation on Airbnb. When making a reservation, be sure to enter the names and surnames in Latin, as in your passport.
Find out where to stay in Berlin.
Step 3: make copies of passports
To obtain a visa to Germany, you must make a copy of the page with a photo and personal information from your passport. In addition, you need to have copies of all non-blank pages of a civil passport, pages on the issuance of other passports and a copy of page 14, even if it is blank. When copying, place 2 spreads per sheet.
Step 4: buy insurance
Take out health insurance with coverage from 30,000 euros. It is important that the policy is valid throughout the entire Schengen area. It is more convenient and cheaper to take out insurance online on the Cherehapa website. You can also buy a policy at visa centers and offices of insurance companies.
Step 5: Get help from work
The document that confirms your employment is a certificate on letterhead with the seal and signatures of the director and chief accountant. Ask for your job title, date of employment, monthly income, and vacation time.
Individual entrepreneurs attach certificates 2NDFL or 3NDFL, the original and a copy of the certificate of registration of the individual entrepreneur.
Pensioners need the original and a copy of the pension certificate, and students of universities and schools - certificates from the educational institution with the seal and signature of its head.
Step 6: Get a bank statement
To obtain a visa to Germany in 2021, you must attach a bank statement on the movement of your personal account for the last 3 months. The document must be wet-stamped. In favor of financial well-being, the original and a copy of the savings book, as well as certificates of ownership of real estate, speak.
For those who do not work, you need to prepare a letter from a sponsor who is ready to pay for your trip, and a certificate from his place of work. In the Schengen countries, they are more loyal to letters from the applicant's closest relatives - husband, parents and adult children
Step 7: Take a photo
Prepare two fresh 4.5 x 3.5 cm color photos. Your portrait should have a solid white or light background. Corners, frames, ovals and traces of retouching are unacceptable. For official documents, they are photographed with a serious expression on their face, without a headdress and glasses.
Step 8: fill out the form
The form is filled out online on the website of the visa center. Be careful! The Germans are pedants. They require that the information in the questionnaire completely coincide with the information in your documents. A detailed guide on how to fill out the questionnaire is available on the website.
Make your entries in Latin! If you were born in the USSR, indicate the country where your place of birth is now located. When everything is ready, print out the questionnaire and put your signatures in three places.
Ekaterina: "Unexpectedly for myself, I received a Schengen for a year. When I was filling out the form, I simply wrote off a multi, a year, 90 days from the sample. I thought I would get it by the date anyway. As a result, in 4 days I get a passport, and there ... a pleasant surprise." ...
Step 9: make an appointment
Centers where you can independently apply for a visa to Germany are located in 20 major cities of Russia. Submit your documents only at the visa application center that serves your consular district. The Germans are strict about this! If you live in the Krasnodar Territory and want to apply in Kazan, it will be accepted only if you have a temporary registration in the capital of Tatarstan. To find out which visa center you need to apply to, visit visametric.com.
The visa center in Moscow is located on the 2nd floor of the Kievsky shopping center at Kievskaya street, 2. In St. Petersburg, documents are accepted at 39 Furshtatskaya street, and in Kazan - on the 2nd floor of the Business Park OC, at Ostrovsky street, 87.
The Consular and Legal Department of the Embassy in Moscow (Visa Section) is located at Leninsky Prospekt, 95A. The checkpoints are located on the side of Akademika Pilyugin Street.
Step 10: Submit documents and biometrics
Come to the visa center half an hour before the specified time and first go through the biometrics. Fingerprints and special photography are a must for anyone who wants to enter Schengen. Without this, the visa application will not be accepted. Biometrics are done at a visa application center or a German representative office in 5-10 minutes. It is not necessary for children under 12 years old and tourists who have already been fingerprinted in the last 5 years.
Then pay the fee. A regular visa costs 35 euros, and an urgent one costs 70 euros. Children under 6 years old are not charged. The service fee of the visa center with the biometrics procedure costs 20.35 euros, and without biometrics - 18.85 euros.
After that, hand over the package of documents, and you will be given a coupon, according to which you can get a ready-made passport with a visa.
When contacting visa intermediary firms, you save time, but spend more money. Not everyone is happy with the result.
mie2006: "VFS Global Germany Visa Application Center - quickly, conveniently, understandably, we saved on the invitation. Disadvantages - the visa was given for six months, we hoped for 3 years."
knyaz100: "VFS entered (without my knowledge) an SMS-informing service, imposed a courier, and could not even say the cost of delivery. I will not issue a visa anymore."
Step 11: Get your visa
Track readiness online by application number. An urgent visa will be made in 1-3 days, and a regular one - in 5-10 days. In high season, the wait can take a couple of weeks. For a passport with a visa stamp, apply on weekdays to the visa center where you submitted your documents. According to tourists, it is possible to obtain a visa to Germany in Moscow much faster than in the regions.
Germany visa refusals
Along with Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Belgium, Germany is considered one of the most problematic countries in terms of visa policy in Europe. The visa refusal rate is the highest here. The plus is that the German representation usually informs the applicant of the reason for the refusal.
If you are invited for an additional interview with an employee, it means that the visa center or embassy doubts your nonimmigrant intentions. Your task is to convince them otherwise.
The main reasons for refusal:
- inaccurate data;
- incomplete package of documents;
- unsatisfactory financial support;
- the terms of visa and vacation are different;
- error when filling out documents;
- unreliability of the applicant based on the results of previous trips to Schengen.
You can apply for a visa to Germany again in a few days. Eliminate mistakes and prepare additional paperwork: documents on your financial solvency, a printed cover letter or a detailed travel itinerary.
