Filing a visa application for Germany from India

Hello,

I have got an offer from a German company. and i would be applying for long term visa/residence pemit but i have some basic questions .

1) in the work contract letter the period mentioned is for one year oct. 2007 to sept. 2008 and they have said that after one year they would extend the period. so now when filling the application form what should i fill at the place where the ask the intended duration of stay in germany? should it be oct. 2007 to sept. 2008. also there is a filed which asks residence permit for how many years. Can i enter any number of years or it has to be what is mentioned in contract document.
2) if i m suppose to fill in oct. 2007 to sep 2008 then when they extend the contract do i have to come back to india and again apply for the visa or it can be extended from Germany itself?
3) there is a question what is your means of subsitence ? i dont know what they expect there and what to fill ?
4)there is a question Will you be accomapnied by your family:- currently no family will be accompanying but in future i may invite my parents for a visit - tourist visa, so what to fill in here?
5) I had heard that for long term visa we dont need health insurance before hand while applying for visa but there is a field which asks do you have health insurance cover? - now i dont know if i write NO what will happen.

During the interview at the consulate is the interview taken by an Indian or a German? What questions do they ask at the interview?
Other than the submitted documents do i need to carry any additional documents, if so which ones?

and yes one more question is What do they expect in cover letter from the applicant? does anyone have sample letter? i know i am asking too many silly questions but i am just trying to make sure that i dont fill in something wrong and the visa gets rejected, i need the visa as others... :-)

please someone answer my questions, i need your help..

thanks in advance

1) They will only accept the time you will be in the country as what is stated on your contract/ letter of offer. This might also apply to your resident permit as well- usually those go hand in hand.
2) You can do this in Germany... Enjoy the KRV- it's my favorite place.
5) Where did you hear that about health insurance? I'm not a master on this subject, but one year is a long time- you will need health insurance. My guess is if you write 'no health insurance', you won't get a working or resident permit. All this needs to be proven prior to approval. Again, DON'T take my word on this- do your research, ask the consulate, ask the German company, and try the 'search' button as health coverage is a question asked frequently.
GOOD LUCK!

thanks for the reply, this has atleast reduced my confusion to some extent.

but regarding the health insurance still not clear.
i know that i would need to get health insurance but i would be going for public so it will be only after i go there that i will get one.
i thought while applying for visa we dont need it but int he form now there is a filed where it asks so now i am thoroughly confused .
tried to search in the forum regarding this but could not find

3- Means of subsistence will be your salary. You should provide a copy of your offer letter.
4- NO in this case. Your family can visit you once you are here, but that need not be mentioned now.
5- YES. You will have health insurance. You can always take a temporary overseas insurance cover for 30-60 days from India until your public insurance cover in Germany is sorted out. But the field should always be "YES".

1) Apply as long as your contract is valid for. In any case they would give you a temporary visa for three months and you will have to come here get your insurance , residence etc and apply for the one year residence permit.

2) From then on you can extend your residence permit in Germany itself.

3)salary, show contract

4)Mention No. Your family can still visit you on a tourist visa later on.

5)You don't need a health insurance at all when you are applying. You can come here and get one, or your company can get you one.

Cover letter should mention the reason for going to Germany and how is this helpful in your career.

Don't worry about the interview, it is usually a cake walk if you have the necessary documents.

Who on earth would be so silly as to think that they could actually come to Germany without Health Insurance???
Do you REALLY believe that the German Government is happy to cover the expenses if something bad happens to you while you are here and without Insurance???You have to be insured...either your company has to arrange that for you now,so that when you arrive here you are covered or you have to organize a Tourist Health Insurance for 30,60 or 90 days until you and your company have organised insurance here via one of the Medical Aids here.

You seem to think that many people on this forum are silly. You must be very intelligent.

@MB...

and you seem to think that you are here to correct all possible mistakes that anyone may make.Don't be so bloody pedantic.
I DID NOT read anywhere under the PUBLIC INSURANCE part,that there are people who are able to live and work in Germany without Medical cover...did you???
Answer to the original question: You cannot live and/or work here in germany without some kind of medical cover.I believe i stated that though in my previous answer.

Rani maybe you should just contact the company that has offered you the job and ask them for info on how to deal with the Health Insurance thing so that at least you know you will be filling in the correct answer...thats probably just the safest?

Hi Rani,
Congratulations !!!

1) Whatever period you mention in the application form, your visa will always be for 3 months. Once you are here, you have to register yourself and get a residence permit. You need not mention the period while doing so, the smart Germans will have a look at your work contract and grant you the residence permit accordingly. For the Indian form, just enter the period mentioned in the work contract.
2) You don't have to go back to India for extension. Your employer here will have to give you your new contract and you can get it extended in Germany itself - a new residence permit, and so on.
3) Mention 'Salary' as your means of subsistence.
4) If your family is not travelling with you, then mention NO in this field.
5) You do not need a health insurance while applying for the visa. However, there is a small declaration form that you have to sign saying that you will have a health insurance once you are in Germany. Do not write NO in the field. Your travel agent will give you 90 days of travel insurance with the tickets anyways. So better answer YES in that field.

Indian / German interviewer: Which consulate are you applying? For long term visas (like yours), at the Mumbai consulate, its always the head consular (German guy) who conducts the interview. He is very pleasant and nice guy. Don't worry. I am not sure about other consulates.

Cover Letter: Did you get it. Still looking for it? Drop me a PM with your email ID and I will send one across to you.

Best Regards,
Bandu.

If YOU DO NOT NEED Health Insurance then 1) Why fill in yes on the form and 2) Why bother taking the insurance that will supposedly be given to Rani with the tickets???
Isn't that a contradiction?

thanks a lot to everyone for the answers it has helped me a lot
i love this site and discussion forum.

to SouthAfrica06: i knew that i need a health insurance but i had heard that during the time when I apply for the visa (for long term visa) I dont need it , we can take it after reaching germany, so i was confused, check my question correctly before commenting. anyways

and yes to the rest : in the meantime i also tried to checkout with the consulates and they said you can fill in the health insurance field form that "will be taken after reaching germany" ---- its applicable only for long term visa

One more option is request your employer that the health insurance will be covered when you arrive there as i did, i asked the company to send such a letter and they did it. but i am not sure if all the companies would provide it, but you can try

now i am ready with all the documents hopefully i get the visa...:-))
thanks again to everyone

Rani-I did check your question correctly before i commented.I said that it would be wise to take a Tourist Health Insurance so that you are covered for the ´1,2,3 or however many weeks it will take until you have your health insurance here from your company.I was not disputing the fact that you need insurance.
I had to do exactly that-I was covered by the Tourist Health Insurance until the company here in Hamburg organized a Public Health Insurance for me here.The Embassy would not allow me to travel here without proof of Insurance.
Anyway,good luck and i hope it works out for you.

I do? Perhaps it's just the tone of the way you answered to this perfectly reasonable question and the tone in which your responded on a different thread which made me wonder what you are really trying to tell the people who posted. I am probably just imagining it. Sorry about that, my mistake.

Btw, when I came to Germany I had no health insurance. I got myself health insurance long after moving here and it didn't stop me from getting a visa at the time.

That is the one thing i don't miss about good old SA...the complete lack of humour-next time i will be sure to type the word 'sarcastic' next to the sarcastic comment...that way,no one can mistake my pointing out of the hard German ways regarding visa's,as an uncalled for comment.
but i trust you feel better,now that you have once again taken me to task for something i have typed.GOED SO!
(P.S. Didn't you say that you came to Germany many years ago...things change...)

Grumpy old people 'can't help it'


There you go.

- The Yes in the form is at the place where you declare that you will get yourself a health insurance after reaching Germany. A separated declaration form signed by the applicant has to be attached as well.
- The insurance with tickets (Travel Insurance, as it is called - valid for 90 days) although not a must, is always handy to carry along. Some airlines can create hassles at boarding time if you do not have the travel insurance. I am not sure which airlines. Air India certainly does not ask for any, but I think Emirates Airlines does.

Regards,
Bandu.

i have finally applied for my visa now just keeping my fingers crossed to get it through.

For other people like me who would like to have template of the Cover letter, i have attached the same for them.
I dont say this is a standard, i have attached the one i used, you can have your own also.

could not attach word, txt or pdf documents, so tried with jpeg file but didnt expect that it would get embedded in the message this way

Perhaps this is the wrong thread, but maybe someone reading the earlier replies can answer this: Is a work visa ever refused once the processing has started? It's been over 12 weeks now since I applied at the embassy in Mumbai, India' Had no problems there, and about 3 weeks ago the organization which I will be working for in Berlin found out that the papers have finally reached the labor office. Since then, no further news. My life has been in limbo, wondering if i should start packing and looking for a tenant for my flat prior to my move. Or give up and start looking for work elsewhere. I kind of feel if its taken so long and not been yet been rejected, it means that the visa is pretty much a sure thing and i can start burning my bridges here... or is that being too optimistic? Anyone has a similar experience?

Hello,

In the application form for residence permit there is a question "Do you intend to maintain your permanent residence outside the Federal. Republic of Germany".

Does anyone know the implication of answering this Yes or No?

Thanks
Nims