General Information

This category has several sub-types. Generally, a visa could be issued only for:

• Parents of a minor, unmarried child with German citizenship
• Parents of a minor, unmarried child with certain types of protective status
• Parents or parents-in-law of adult children that have received a German residence permit as skilled workers or highly qualified persons for the first time after 01 March 2024

As a first step in the Consular Service Portal, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. The answers from this questionnaire will determine which sub-category of this visa type applies to the child and you will receive a list of documents to be uploaded tailored to your situation. You need to answer the question truthfully. Answers that do not match your situation will lead to a request to delete your process and start over again with correct answers.

If your situation does not fall into one of the above sub-categories, you will be advised that an application is not possible and requested to delete your application.

If you are the parent of a minor, unmarried child with EU citizenship residing in Germany, please contact the visa section in whose area you reside through the contact form to be found in the “About us” section of the website.

There is one sub-category for parents of children that do not meet the above indicated requirements, however in those cases a visa can only be issued in order to avoid extraordinary hardship. It cannot be applied through the Consular Service Portal. Please contact the visa section in whose area you reside through the contact form to be found in the “About us” section of the website.

Necessary documents

The Consular Service Portal will guide you through the process and give additional information to each upload. You can stop, safe your progress and return to your application at any time during the uploading process.
As this visa type covers a range of possible family situations, there will be no list of necessary or optional documents here. Just a few clarifications on some of the requested documents:

• If you apply as a parent-in-law of someone with a German residence permit as a skilled worker or highly qualified person, the person with the residence permit as a skilled worker or highly qualified person is refer to as “reference person”, whenever it says “child” it means your child.
• proof of the child’s German nationality
  If the child is German, please upload the front and back of a valid German identity card (“Personalausweis”) or the data page of a valid German passport.
• If a Birth Certificate is requested and the birth took place in India, it has to be a Birth Certificate issued under the Births, Deaths Registration Act, 1969
  The certificate has to note the name of the child and those of the parents

• If you apply as a parent of a minor, unmarried child:
  - Proof of eligibility to apply: legal custody
  This is in regards to the sole custody of the person that makes the application on behalf of the child. In general, the birth certificate naming the parent making the application as parent is sufficient. If the situation has changed since the birth, proof of sole custody needs to be provided. This could be a divorce decree of the parents with custody arrangement, a court decision on legal custody, the death certificate of the parent if one parent is deceased
  - Proof of legal custody of both parents – this will generally be the marriage certificate of the parents
  If you were married in India, it means you have to upload the following:
  Marriage according to Hindu Marriage Act
  - Marriage registration certificate
  - Temple OR Gurudwara OR Priest certificate
  - If applicable: Conversion certificate
  - Photographs showing all essential rites have been performed
  Marriage according to Sharia Law
  - Marriage registration certificate
  - Nikahnama
  - If applicable: Conversion certificate
  - Photographs of the ceremony (singing of the Nikahnama, Qazi, witnesses)
  Marriage according to Special Marriage Act (“Court Marriage”, “Civil Marriage”)
  - Marriage Certificate according to Section 13 Special Marriage Act
  - Photographs showing the marriage or function
  Marriage according to the Christian Marriage Act
  - Marriage registration certificate
  - Marriage certificate issued by licensed Church
  - If applicable: Conversion certificate
  - Photographs of marriage or function

  If the marriage did not take place in India or Germany

  - Marriage Certificate with Apostille or Legalization

• Proof of habitual residence of the reference person or child in Germany
  This will be requested if the child already resides in Germany and is not moving together with you. It means a current Certificate of Residence (“Meldebescheinung”) not older than 6 months.
• IF APPLICABLE - Residence permit of the reference person and child in Germany
  This would be the front and back of the German residence card of your child and child-in-law.
  If your child or child-in-law has a long-term visa, but not yet a residence permit, please upload the visa with the passport of the child and/or of the reference person.
• Under “optional documents” under the heading “other documents” please ALWAYS upload your Birth Certificate and your Aadhar card
• IF APPLICABLE – Pre-approval from the foreigners’ authority
  This is a special document of a “visa pre-approval” which could either be obtained just for you or it can be obtained by your child’s or child-in-law’s employer from the immigration authority. The German name is “Vorabzustimmung” or “Vorabzustimmung im Rahmen des beschleunigten Fachkräfteverfahrens gem. § 81a AufenthG”. It is not mandatory, but it can shorten the processing time.

Please note that the German Missions reserve the right to ask for additional documents or the verification of certificates, for which additional fees would be charged.

Submission of the above-mentioned documents does not guarantee that a visa is granted.
Submission of incomplete documentation or refusal to appear for a visa interview may result in the rejection of your application.