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Visa Information in English
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Who needs a visa?
Depending on the duration of your stay, your nationality and your residence status in Spain you may need a short-term or a long-term visa:
Short-term visas are also called „Schengen-Visa“ as they allow a stay up to 90 days in a 180-day timeframe in the Schengen area.
For short stays you do not need a visa if
- You are a citizen of an EU member state
- You hold a valid Spanish residence permit. Note: a „autorización de regreso“ is not sufficient
- You do not want to work
If you intend to stay longer than 90 days, you would need a long-term visa (also called „national visa“).
For stays of more than 90 days you do not need a visa if
- You are a citizen of Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the USA or the UK
- You are a citizen of Andorra, Brazil, Honduras, Monaco or San Marino and do not want to work
- You are in possession of the Spanish residence permit „residencia de larga duración UE“ / „RE larga DU UE“ (autorización de residencia de larga duración UE de conformidad con la Directiva 2003/109/CE de 25 de noviembre 2003)
You are then allowed to enter Germany without a visa and apply for the residence and/or work permit at the local Alien Authority (Ausländerbehörde). We suggest you contact them previously to consult all requirements and necessary documents. In any case you are not allowed to initiate any professional activity until you are in possession of the corresponding working permit.
Additional general information can be found here.
What type of visa do I have to apply for?
Please use the Visa-Navigator (available in English or German) to check if and whta type of visa you need.
How do I apply for a visa?
| Au-pair | paper application (s. below) |
| Blue Card | online application |
| Employment without special qualification | paper application (s. below) |
| Employment with working experience | online application |
| Family reunification with foreign nationals | online application |
| Family reunification with German nationals | online application |
| Family reunification with EU citizens | paper application (s. below) |
| Highly skilled workers with university degree | online application |
| Highly skilled workers with professional training | online application |
| Internships | paper application (s. below) |
| IT Specialists | online application |
| Language course | paper application (s. below) |
| Opportunity Card | online application |
| Professional training | online application |
| Research | paper application (s. below) |
| Self-employment | paper application (s. below) |
| study at a German university | online application |
| van der Elst Visa | paper application (s. below) |
| Volunteer service | paper application (s. below) |
| Working Holiday/Youth Mobility Visa | paper application (s. below) |
| any other visa type | paper application (s. below) |
In case, you cannot use our online service, you also need an appoitment to submit your visa application.
For working holiday/youth mobility visa you can book an appointments through our online appointment system.
For all other visa applications, please send the documents for your intended stay to visa(at)madri.diplo.de. We will check them first and then help you to arrange an appointment.
At the moment the German Embassy in Spain does only provide information on the visa procedure and the required documents in German and Spanish. You may also consult the website of the German mission in your home country as the visa process is similar at all German missions abroad.
For any additional question, please contact us via the contact form.
What are the requirements for a health insurance for a national visa (type D)?
Please see the information provided here.
FAQ
How do I pick up my visa?
Click here to find out more
