How long does it take to get a Schengen visa in Germany now?

Usually it can be done in half a month to a month.

Germany is divided into Schengen visa and German visa:

Schengen visa: Seven EU countries signed the Schengen visa agreement in June, 1985 in the small town of Luxembourg. Anyone with a Schengen visa can travel to 15 countries with this agreement, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Schengen visa is a short-term visa, which is divided into one or more valid entry visas and transit visas, and the stay period within half a year is 90 days.

German visas: visas for travel, business, transit, family reunion, marriage, work and study abroad. According to the immigration laws promulgated by Germany and New Zealand, German embassies and consulates abroad can independently examine and issue short-term visas valid for less than 90 days and visas valid for more than 90 days. For example, a family reunion and work visa must be approved by the German foreign nationals' administration before issuing an entry visa, and then apply to the authorities for a residence permit for family reunion or work for a limited period after arriving in Germany. To apply for a visa to study abroad, you must first apply to the International Student Audit Office of the Cultural Office of the German Embassy in China (provided that you have a two-year college degree), apply for an entry visa to the German Embassy and Consulate in Germany with the certificate of the Audit Office and other materials, and apply for a residence permit for studying abroad with the university admission notice after going to Germany. To apply for a marriage visa, you must apply for marriage registration certificates and other materials issued by German civil affairs bureaus. After going to Germany, you should go through the marriage registration formalities first, and apply for the corresponding residence permit with the marriage certificate to the local foreigner management agency.

If you only go to a specific Schengen country (meaning that you can only provide proof that you have been to that country when applying for a visa), you must apply for a visa from an overseas institution in this country; If you want to stay in more than one Schengen country, in principle, you must apply for a visa in embassies and consulates in China, the country with the longest stay (the main stay country) according to the submitted itinerary; If you can't determine the main country of stay, you can apply for a visa for the first country of entry.

According to general experience, it is very important to apply for a visa from the country with the longest stay, otherwise it is likely that the embassy or consulate will directly refuse to accept the application.

There are several ways to apply for a Schengen visa:

1) If you just travel to a member country, you must apply for a visa for that country, that is, a "country visa". The "country visa" can only be valid in and out of the issuing country, and it is not allowed to enter the issuing country from other Schengen countries, otherwise you should apply for a "Schengen visa". The number of days of stay on the visa is only valid within the validity period of the visa;

2) When transiting a member country or several member countries to another member country, they should apply for a visa from another member country (country of entry);

3) To visit several member countries, you need to apply for the visa of the member country that mainly visits or stays for the longest time. If you can't determine the main country to visit, apply for a visa for the first country to visit.

4) Those who go to overseas territories or trust places of France, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries should still apply for visas from their own countries;

5) When passing through or visiting several Schengen countries, you need to fill in the itinerary, that is, the details of the countries and routes visited and the schedule of stay, and provide invitations to visit the countries; To apply for a visa from any country, use the visa application form of that country. If necessary, the receiving country may request additional materials. Schengen countries sometimes issue their own visas and can only go to this country, but not to other Schengen countries; The number of days of stay on the visa is only valid within the validity period of the visa;

6) Long-term visas exceeding 90 days are still examined and issued by the host country. Persons who have already held a long-term residence permit in a member country can freely enter any member country without a visa with valid international travel documents, and the stay period shall not exceed 3 months;

7) Apply for a valid "Schengen visa" with only one entry, and you can only travel in Schengen countries within the validity period, and you cannot transfer to non-Schengen countries and return to Schengen countries.

Schengen visa type:

Schengen visas are divided into entry and transit.

1) There are two kinds of entry visas: single entry and multiple entry. Visa holders can stay for 90 days at a time or not more than 3 months every six months. If you need to stay for a long time, you can apply to a member country for a national visa that is only used in that country;

2) Transit visa refers to a visa for transit to a country other than the agreed country. Generally, there are one or two kinds of transit visas, and multiple transit visas can be issued under special circumstances. Each transit time is generally 3 days, and the longest is 5 days;

Direct statement: For these 25 Schengen countries, all visas obtained for short-term stay are multiple entry and exit Schengen visas. Within 3 months (excluding 3 months) is regarded as short-term. Generally, you will apply for a Schengen visa from the embassy of the country with the longest entry or stay. If you are not going to one country, but also to several Schengen countries, then when you apply for a Schengen visa, you must submit invitations from these Schengen countries at the same time, and the embassy will give you the corresponding allowable stay days according to the time you need to stay in these countries. You can travel back and forth between these 25 countries within the validity period of the visa (allowed to stay), with a green light all the way. For example, although you applied for a Schengen visa at the German Embassy, your first country of entry is not necessarily Germany. You can choose any of these 25 countries to enter and stay.

Indirect Schengen: a visa that used to be valid only for one country. To these 25 Schengen countries, all those who apply for long-term residence and get visas fall into this category. Three months (including three months) is a long time. Long-term D visa does not directly grant Schengen visa. To apply for a visa from any country, you can only enter from the issuing country, and you can go through the long-term residence formalities in that country about one week after you arrive in that country, and then you can freely enter and leave Schengen countries with a long-term residence card.

TypeC: the most common short-term Schengen visa, which allows one, two or more entry within the validity period.

Type: In principle, this type of visa is only allowed to enter the country indicated in the visa, but if necessary, it will also allow transit from another Schengen country (within 5 days) before entry.

D+C (TypeD+C): This kind of visa combines the basic characteristics of C and D. On the one hand, it belongs to a single country, and it can also enter other Schengen countries.

Class b: transit visa.

Do I have to enter/leave the Schengen area from the country where the visa is issued? Can I only go to other Schengen countries and not to countries that issue visas? Holders of Schengen visas issued by Schengen countries can enter and leave any Schengen country in principle. In principle, there is no problem for countries that do not issue visas in the actual itinerary, because the itinerary submitted when applying for a visa is generally not binding, but it does not rule out the possibility that there may be trouble when applying for a Schengen visa from that country again.