Do you live in Germany and are you thinking about inviting your family or friends to Germany from a country which requires a schengen visa? – yes, then this post might come handy.
Recently I had the whole experience of getting a “Verpflichtungserklärung” or commonly known as invitation letter, when my family wanted to visit me from India.
There are various kinds of visas available for you and please look at the German Embassy’s website for your country. Here is an example from German Embassy in Delhi
After going through the list if you decide to go for a schengen visa for them, consider inviting them on a visit visa, rather than a tourist visa. Need reasons?
- Faster visa processing
- higher chances of getting the visa
- no need to book hotels for them, they can stay with you upto 3 months
I think for beginning these reasons are enough to convince you. But now comes the main question: how do I get this letter then?
I live closer to Heidelberg, so I will give you an example. You always need to go Foreign Office or “Ausländeramt” for it, the normal “Bürgerbüro” cannot provide this letter.
- Find the responsible foreign office based on your residence. For Heidelberg, this is the one.
- Call them and ask if you need an appointment. Mostly it should work without an appointment but better safe than incovenience.
- Check what documents they need. Here is a rough list:
- 3 months salary slip
- Passport – in original
- Aufenthaltstitel : in original
- Rental agreement : in original
- Details of the people you are inviting : Name, passport number, birthdate and birth place
- Currently the fee is €29, but confirm on the page. Ususally you should be able to pay by card or also by cash.
- If you need an appointment, book it and appear for it with the necessary documents. It is usually advised to apply for the letter atleast 3 months in advance before you plan to invite someone.
- Number of people you can invite depends on your monthly gross salary. It was around €1900 for 4 people in Heidelberg.
- Fill the provided forms with all the details, and pay the fee and after that you will get the invitation letters immediately.
- These invitation letters need to be presented in original, when your friends and family appear for visa interview, so send it over to India via DHL Express or something similar. Also visa officer will need a copy of your passport and Aufenthaltstitel together with invitation letter.
Check out DHL ExpressEasy to send documents to all over the world.
This was the simple and easy process of getting the invitation letters. I hope it will help someone in the land of complicated processes.
Please leave in comments, if you need any more info regarding the process.
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