1. Your children need a visa ...
   When they are citizens of the Member States of the European Union* or of EEA (European Economic Area) States** or are from the following countries (please look at the list of the German Foreign Office to whether their land is marked "No Visa")
   
   * Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic , Hungary, Cyprus
   ** Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
   
   If you are a national of Andorra, Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Switzerland or the United States of America and have enrollment confirmation from a school, then you should apply for a residence permission at the Foreigners Registration Office via our S.A.B. office, in order to avoid long waiting times.
   If you have any questions, please contact us. We will gladly explain the visa process and offer advice.
    
2. You need a visa if your country ...
   Has a "Yes" after the name in the list of the German Foreign Office. We will send you a registration form for the visa application, and if necessary additional required forms / documents.
   You are coming from a country, which is highlighted "VISA required", then you need to visit first the German Embassy in your country, and there you make the appropriate requests for a longer stay in Germany.
   Foreigners from countries requiring visas (e.g. China, Russia, Mexico) need a visa for each entry and for any purpose.

Applying for a visa:

If a visa approval is necessary (especially for intended longer duration of stay), the German Foreign Embassy sends the visa application with the request for comments to the German Foreigners Registration Office. The forwarding of the data will be send electronically in advance via the courier service of the Foreign Office. This takes on average two to three weeks.

Upon receipt of the application, the immigration authorities check the documents and make further required research. Often it is necessary that your contact person in Berlin (e.g. S.A.B. or school principal) need to provide additional documents or information. After finishing the process, the German Foreign Registration Office sends a statement to the foreign embassy.

The foreign embassy will then take sole responsibility in the decision to grant the visa.