What do you need to know and what should you do to obtain a German visa in order to study the German language? First and foremost, you need to determine your purpose — do you want to study German with a view to later enrolling at an educational institution in Germany, or do you already have a higher education degree and want to study German in order to have that qualification recognized and to find a job, or do you have some other reason. Next, you need to decide how long a visa you want — short-term or long-term. For a short-term language course in Germany (3 months), you should obtain a short-term student visa. Documents are submitted in person at the German embassy in your country of residence. The following documents should be submitted: an international passport valid for at least 3 months from the date of your return from the trip, plus a copy; two application forms; 3 photographs; an invitation from the school confirming enrollment in the course, payment made, and accommodation arranged; a certificate from your workplace (or place of study); proof that your account holds the necessary funds (a bank statement); proof of health insurance; and a receipt for the consular fee. To obtain a long-term student visa (more than 90 days), essentially the same documents are required as for the short-term visa, except that more copies must be provided and the consular fee is higher. In addition, the official may ask to see your internal national passport. Remember that all documents drawn up in Russian must be accompanied by a notarized translation and copies.
However, you should also know that submitting the above documents to the embassy alone does not give you a 100% guarantee of obtaining the visa you want. See for yourself.
Appealing a Visa Refusal
A refusal to issue a German visa can be appealed in court — it's important to meet the procedural deadline and prepare a convincing justification of the purpose of the trip.
Our client — let's call her Vera — expressed a wish to obtain a German visa in order to study the German language and possibly later enroll at a university in Germany. She gathered all the necessary documents, wrote an application, and submitted everything to the German embassy in Russia. The documents were accepted, reviewed, and an interview was scheduled. After the interview, Vera received a refusal from the embassy with no explanation given. Following this, she called our law firm in Berlin from Russia, having found our phone number on our website. Our lawyer explained to the client that, at this stage, we could file a formal appeal complaint with the embassy, since we did not yet know all the circumstances of the case or the reasons for the refusal. In addition, we would need to request the case file — only after reviewing it would the reason for the refusal become clear. Vera said she needed to think it over carefully. A couple of days later, she called again and gave her consent for our law firm to handle her case.
The lawyer prepared and sent a formally drafted complaint to the German embassy in Russia — that is, without setting out all the arguments as to why he considered the embassy's refusal unlawful — along with a request for the case file. Once the file was received, the lawyer understood the reason for the refusal: Vera had simply not been prepared for the embassy interview. It should be noted that success in such matters largely hinges on this very "formality" — if you cannot answer the official's questions clearly, you will be refused the visa. The lawyer called the client and explained to her that there were no grounds for appealing the embassy's decision, and that the complaint should instead be withdrawn and a new application submitted. He explained to her in detail what prerequisites she needed to fulfill and what steps to take — in particular, that she needed to clearly articulate her goals and have some basic knowledge of the language — and recommended she enroll in German language courses in Russia.
The lawyer withdrew his appeal from the embassy and prepared a new application on the client's behalf, one that now clearly set out her goals and objectives. Vera herself enrolled in a short-term course in Russia and provided us with confirmation of this. Three months passed with no response from the embassy. The lawyer then called the embassy to find out what stage his client's application review had reached. The embassy official asked the lawyer to submit a written statement of justification. Being well acquainted with the mentality — that is, the way of thinking — of both German officials and Russian clients, the lawyer prepared and submitted the requested justification to the embassy. Following this, the embassy issued a positive decision. Vera is now studying German in Germany.
Here is another story. Galina, a mother of three living in Russia, decided to study German in Germany for herself, so to speak, for her own general development. She submitted documents to the German embassy in Russia and was refused. She turned to us for help. It should be said here that Galina's choice of our law firm was no coincidence — we had previously handled her husband's case, and he had been satisfied with our work. In conversation with Galina, the lawyer explained to her what about her application had raised doubts with the official and led to the refusal. As with Vera's case, the lawyer advised Galina to clearly articulate her purpose for wanting to study the language specifically in Germany. Her husband hired her as a manager at his own company (he owns a firm in Russia that, by the nature of its business, cooperates with several foreign countries). A purpose was defined: studying the language at the employer's direction, in order to improve her professional work performance. The lawyer prepared a new application on the client's behalf. Attached to the package of required documents was a letter from the employer requesting a visa for the employee to study German (this letter was also prepared by the lawyer), as well as agreements concluded with a kindergarten in Germany that the client's children would attend while staying in the country together with their mother. The embassy resolved the matter positively.
We would like to return once more to the topic of mentality. This word is usually used to describe the distinctive features of peoples and cultures. A definition of mentality might go like this: a rather complex, multifaceted expression of the psychological activity of social individuals, encompassing both the conscious and unconscious, and a specific balance between the rational and emotional in how they act. If we "translate" this definition into more everyday language, we might say: every person thinks in the categories instilled in them by their environment and upbringing. We often find it hard to understand Germans, and they find it hard to understand us. Everything may seem clearly and plainly stated, yet understanding still isn't reached. To achieve it, then, it isn't enough simply to live nearby — one must constantly work together with people raised in another country and study their way of thinking. A lawyer's work, practice, and accumulated experience offer an especially good opportunity to do just that.
All rights reserved. Copying or republishing this article requires a link to the original source.
