Many want to visit Germany, but in order to process the documents, you first need to issue an invitation to Germany. A free-form sample will be presented in this article, however, if a tourist trip is planned, then the travel agency will deal with all issues. It is necessary to issue an invitation if you are going to visit relatives or friends, as well as a business trip or work in Germany. In this case, to receive the German "Schengen" you need an invitation, which must be sent by friends, relatives, business partners or employers from this country.
Visiting
If you are going to visit this wonderful country to visit relatives or friends, the visit will be arranged as a private trip to Germany. If you plan to stop at them, then the first action in the collectiondocuments will be writing an invitation from the German side.
Now two types of permits are issued to enter the country:
- German national visa (D).
- Schengen visa (C).
In the case of a private trip, the second option is suitable, since a Schengen visa will allow you to stay in Germany for ninety days within six months. This visa is suitable for both a private visit and a tourist trip. In the case of business trips, it is issued only if Germany is on the way and acts as a transit country.
To apply for a C visa at the German Visa Application Center, Consulate or Embassy, you must provide an unofficial (in case of a private trip) and an official (in case of business) invitation from the German side.
How to write an invitation?
A sample of an invitation to Germany in free form is written by hand, at the end the document is signed personally by the person issuing the invitation. Both the original of this written invitation and its copy can be brought to the visa center, however, in the second case, it is necessary to attach a copy of the inviting person's passport, as well as a copy of the rental agreement or a certificate of registration. However, even in this case, the original may sometimes be required.
In 2018
At the moment, there are some design nuances. The sample invitation to Germany in free form is still written by hand, but friends and relatives are now in different categories. What does this mean for visa recipients?Friends are categorized as tourism and other private visits, and there is nothing in the description about informal invitations, but the wording "private visits" is also present, implying the use of informal invitations. In the case of relatives, everything remained the same.
However, before you go to Germany to visit friends and apply for a Schengen visa, you need to call the visa center and make sure that you can use an informal invitation to facilitate paperwork. An important feature: now only originals of unofficial invitations are accepted for the "friends" category, but copies will be enough for relatives.
Copies of documents
In any case, before submitting documents, be sure to make a copy of the invitation, which you leave yourself, because the Embassy will pick up the original, and when crossing the border you need to have a complete set of documents with you. Here's what it's made of:
- passport copy;
- copy of the rental agreement or registration certificate;
- copy of unofficial invitation to Germany.
This package of documents may not be required, however, in case of any problems at the border, their presence will greatly speed up the entire process.
Sample
An invitation to Germany in free form can be either handwritten or printed on a printer, and at the end of the document you can only put your ownsignature. In the header on the left side, the surname and name of the inviting party are written, the address in Germany is indicated, and below - the same information about the invitee.
Then, in free form, a desire is expressed to invite this person for a private visit to Germany. Be sure to indicate the dates of the proposed trip and addresses.
Official invitation
Also, an official invitation can be issued by relatives, but this is a much more time-consuming process than an informal invitation for a private visit. This will require both time and money, however, an official invitation greatly simplifies the process of obtaining a visitor visa to Germany for a three-month (or more) period. The German name for the official invitation is Verpflichtungserklarung.
Both German citizens and stateless persons have the right to contact the Foreigners Department for an official invitation, but in this case, their residence permit must be valid longer than the period for which the guest will be invited.
The number of people that a person can invite depends on the income, the certificate of which he will provide (benefits are not included in that amount). It also happens that these incomes are not enough even to invite one person, and, in this case, you will have to look for someone else to invite the guest "to pool" - this is an acceptable solution to the issue.
Documents for a visa to Germany by invitation will not include all kinds of hotel reservations, and will not find fault with the financial situation of the guest, because all the costs of providingfall on the shoulders of the inviting party (food, accommodation, treatment). However, booking return tickets and guarantees of returning to your home country (work, study, relatives) will still be required, otherwise a visa may be denied.
How to apply?
How to issue an invitation to relatives to Germany? Applicants need to personally come to the department for work with foreigners, having previously signed up. An authorized person may also be involved in the execution of this document.
Required information list:
- Last and first name of the guest. The data must be filled in in Latin, there must be a complete letter match with the data from the passport.
- Date and place of birth.
- Citizenship that the guest has at the time of the invitation.
- Passport number.
- Registered address.
If a family is supposed to be invited, then the same data will be required for each guest. After the information is received, the inviting party must submit documents to the department. From his side, the following information will be required:
- all received data about the guest/guests;
- passport;
- certificate of the last salary received (in certain cases, the salary period can be extended up to three months);
- receipt of payment of the fee (about 25 euros - about 1900 rubles).
The amount of the fee does not depend on the number of invited guests, because there will be one guest invitation to Germany for everyone. The inviting party will need to indicate the date from which this documentwill start the action. The invitation itself must also have a deadline. You need to use the right to enter Germany by invitation within six months. By invitation, a visa is issued for up to three months, and the "opening" date is tied to the date indicated in the invitation.
Visa Application Centers and Embassy
Germany makes obtaining Schengen visas very easy, as there are authorized service-visa centers in Germany all over Russia. They were opened by an outsourcing company called VFS Global, which provides services to the diplomatic missions of various countries and the government. The website of the visa service center always has up-to-date information about the necessary documents and any changes in the procedure for obtaining visas, and if you have any questions, you can call and get answers from specialists.
However, for national German visas (D), you still need to apply to the Consulate or Embassy of Germany.
Biometrics
It is worth remembering that since 2015 there has been a rule according to which everyone who will receive a Schengen visa must be fingerprinted, regardless of which passport they have. According to the new law, biometrics must be passed by everyone who applies for a visa for the first time, however, those who received a visa before the entry into force of this law can safely “drive” it until the end of the term. The shelf life of prints is five years.
