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Visa - short term (Schengen visa)

A Schengen visa entitles the holder to an accumulated stay of up to 90 days within a period of 180 days and is valid for Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (Schengen Area).

Please submit your application for a Schengen Visa to the representative of the country which is your main destination - considering length and purpose of your intended stay. If no such main destination can be ascertained, please contact the representative of the country of your first entry into the Schengen Area.

The German Missions in South Africa have outsourced the application process for Schengen visas to the external service provider TLScontact who will guide you through the application process.

Please note:
The German Missions only work with TLScontact and not with other brokers or agencies in the processing of Schengen visas. It is neither recommended nor necessary to involve any other agency as this will only incur additional fees and will not expedite the processing time nor lead to a different outcome.
The only cost incurred for visa applicants are the visa fee itself from the German Missions and the service fee from TLS. Application forms, general information, checklists and appointments are offered free of charge!

Application Process

Please prepare your application in the following three steps:

Fill in the application form in English or German
Compile the required documents according to your travel purpose/category:
Schedule an appointment to hand in your application at one of the Visa Application Centres of the external service Provider TLScontact .
Important: As the processing of your visa application will take up to 15 days or more, make sure to secure an appointment with TLScontact at least 4 weeks ahead of your scheduled departure to Germany!

To lodge your application, please appear in person for your appointment with our external service provider. Submit your complete application with the requested documentation, pay the fee and answer questions about the planned trip. In addition, your biometrics will be captured.

Please note, that no further documents will be admitted for submission -neither by TLS nor the German missions- once the application has been transferred to the German mission in charge (unless specifically requested by that German mission). Thus, make sure that your documents are complete at the time of lodging your application.

The German Mission checks your application and makes a decision. They ensure that your application meets the legal requirements. As a rule, this takes up to 15 days. Please understand that no questions about the processing status can be answered during this processing time.

Thereafter, the following applies: Only inquiries in writing from the applicant himself, his legal representative or a person authorized can be answered.

During the processing of your application your passport has to remain with the German Mission and cannot be withdrawn.

Once the German Mission has made a decision regarding your application your passport will be returned to the external service provider where you can collect it.

Should your visa have been declined, you will receive a refusal letter from the competent German Mission notifying you about the reasons for the refusal and the legal remedies. You will receive a refusal notification along with your passport. It is possible to submit a new application at any time with complete, verifiable documents.

If your visa has been issued, please check all the visa data for possible mistakes as soon as you receive your passport! Pay particular attention to

the visa’s validity (start and end dates)
the number of days of stay
(this is the maximum number of days you can stay in the Schengen area during the validity period)
the correct spelling of your name
the number of entries you were granted

The external service provider and the visa section must be informed of possible mistakes immediately and cannot be held responsible for any problems that occur as a result of incorrect data or a missing signature in the travel document.

Once all the information on your visa is correct, nothing will stand in the way of your trip.

For annual or multi-year visas, please note that you cannot exceed the maximum stay of 90 days within 180 days.

Having been issued a Schengen visa does not entitle you to entry. The final decision is made by the border police when checking entry into the Schengen area. Even though you a have your passport with a valid visa it is possible that the border police will ask you to provide further documentation , information about your financial means, the duration and purpose of your stay, as well as health insurance coverage. You should therefore take a set of your visa documents (including an invitation from Germany, hotel reservation, and travel health insurance) with you on the trip.)