1. German Language Requirement in case of Family Reunion of Spouses

• Visa applicants are required to present evidence of basic knowledge of the German language (A1 certificate not older than 12 months) in the event of family reunion of spouses.
• Under certain circumstances, there are exemptions from this requirement, such as for spouses of EU citizens (who do NOT possess German citizenship), spouses of Blue Card holders and of other highly skilled workers, scientists, etc.
• Please note that if your spouse is German citizen you are NOT exempt from this requirement.
• 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), Telc GmbH (The European Language Certificate) or Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch (ÖSD).
• For more information, please read this.

2. Verification of Documents

• Attestation or Apostille of Indian documents is not recognized by German authorities and is therefore not required for visa purposes.
• Please note that the German Missions reserve the right to initiate a further investigation of certificates, for which additional fees would be charged.
• For the amount applicable, the mode for payment and more information about verification of Indian documents, please click here. 

3. Appointment for Family Reunion Visa

• Please be on time for your visa interview. In case of spouse visa please remember to submit the completed additional questionnaire with your application.
• Prior to the visa interview, prepare and arrange all your documents according to the checklist provided on the website.
• Please refrain from sending requests email for special appointment if there is no extreme emergency justifying it. In spite of the long waiting period for application appointments, the Embassy and Consulates handle appointments in accordance with their principles of equal treatment and transparency. Therefore, per general rule, no priority appointments can be granted.

1. Priority processing for Student visa!

• Important information for bachelor students who have passed Test AS (Test für Ausländische Studierende).
• Students who wish to study Bachelor courses in Germany and have scored more than 90% aggregate in 12th Standard (CBSE or Regional Board) 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. Please note that there is no relaxation in the other mandatory requirements or documentation. Mark sheet will be subject to verification by VFS at the time of submission of application.

2. General Visa information for students

• Prepare for your studies in Germany by following these 8 easy steps.

3. Blocked Account

• When applying for a student 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 Embassy/Consulate General’s knowledge, Capital India Finance Limited and Kotak Mahindra Bank in India meet the requirements of the visa procedure. Information on providers that offer this service worldwide is available on the website of the Federal Foreign Office.

4. Information for Master students, doctoral and post-doctoral 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 Consulates in Bangalore, Chennai or 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 a highly qualified employment in Germany and a binding approval letter issued by the competent German labor Authorities -“ZAV-Zustimmung”- (dependants from the New Delhi Embassy jurisdiction only)
  
  then you can schedule an appointment for the submission of your visa application and submit it at the Visa Application Centre in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Hyderabad.
  
  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 Centers will not be attended, losing valuable time and means.
• 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 category and competent German Mission. In many cases waiting time for an interview may well exceed two months.

5. Additional information for all students!

• For more information on certified education institutions and how to prepare yourself for a successful stay in Germany as a student, please check the following links:
  
  https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/study-in-germany.html
  
  https://www.daad.in/en/
  
  https://www.icmpd.org/fileadmin/1_2018/THB/Checklist_for_students_-_Prepare_for_your_Study_in_Europe.pdf

1. Verification of Documents

• If you apply for a Specialty Cook or Job-Seeker Visa, all public documents issued by the Indian authorities and work proof documents are required to be verified for use in Germany.
• Attestation or Apostille of Indian documents is not recognized by German authorities and is therefore not required for visa purposes.
• Please bring the document verification fee along at the time of the visa interview. If the verification is not required, the visa officer will inform you accordingly at the time of the interview.
• The following modes of payment are acceptable for the payment of document verification fee: demand draft or cash.
• For the amount applicable and more information about verification of Indian documents, please read this.

List of Indian travel insurance companies providing travel medical insurance for Schengen Visa procedure has been approved by the Schengen States Consular Representations have w.e.f 1st August 2016.

Please note that the German Missions only accept Indian Travel Medical Insurances from approved Indian Travel Insurance companies listed here.

Kindly understand that, in the interest of all applicants, we cannot give individual status updates within the below mentioned time.

These are standard processing times; the duration of the application procedure may take longer than mentioned.

Please keep in mind that this period starts once the application reaches the mission, not VFS. If you were asked for a pending document, the processing time does not start until your application is complete.

- Family reunion (including dependents and intended marriage): 12 weeks
- Students (including preparatory (language) courses : 12 weeks
- Employment with pre-approval of the Federal Employment Agency, Employment with Hosting Agreement according to Section 18d German Residence Act and Blue Card: 4 weeks
- Employment as chef/speciality cook (even with pre-approval): 12 weeks
- Employment with pre-approval according to §81a AufenthG: 2 weeks
- Recognition of foreign professional qualification/approbation: 12 weeks
- Self-Employment (incl. freelancers): 12 weeks
- Schengen (short term stays under 90 days): 15 working days

Visitors to the Visa Section or Consular Section at the German Embassy in New Delhi are not allowed to carry the following devices:
•any form of electronic device (e.g. notebook, mobile phone, camera)
•dangerous objects (in particular knives and weapons)
•bags and luggage, umbrellas
•any other dangerous items

All visitors are allowed to carry only the documents that have been asked for and required by the German Embassy.

Please note that the German Embassy is not in a position to keep in deposit the above-mentioned objects that are not allowed inside the Embassy premises.

Safeguarding personal belongings outside the Embassy premises is the sole responsibility of each applicant!