Does your guest need a visa at all?

The question that decides everything else. Anyone entitled to visa-free entry usually needs no formal obligation — no appointment, no fee, no five years of liability.

✓ Verified: 17/08/2026

WHAT TO DO

Look up your guest's nationality in the Federal Foreign Office country list — nationality decides, not country of residence

For visa-free states check the passport is biometric: for Georgia, Moldova and Serbia the exemption hangs on exactly that
Add up the 90 days within any 180 — earlier Schengen stays count, including those in other countries
Only then decide whether a formal obligation is needed at all

AUTHORITY

Deutsche Auslandsvertretung (Botschaft / Generalkonsulat)

federal

The visa is issued by the German embassy or consulate general in the GUEST's country of residence, not by an authority inside Germany. Appointments only, waiting times can run to months.

This route does not begin with a form but with a question that governs everything that follows: does your guest need a visa for the visit at all?

Because the formal obligation is not a ritual of hospitality — it is a building block of the visa procedure. Where no visa is applied for, it is generally not needed either, and with it fall away the office appointment, the fee, and a liability that runs five years.

What determines the answer

What counts is your guest’s nationality, not their country of residence and not your status in Germany. A Ukrainian national with a biometric passport enters visa-free even after years of living in a visa-required country.

For short stays of up to 90 days in any 180, the entry conditions of Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 apply: a valid travel document, a visa only where prescribed, evidence of the purpose and conditions of the stay, sufficient means of subsistence, and no SIS alert.

Does your guest need a visa? Nationality decides, not country of residence.

Yes → No →

› Details and tips

👨🏻‍💻

Max recommends:

I already had the immigration office appointment and my payslips together when my sister mentioned in passing that her passport was biometric. The whole exercise was moot — she came without a visa. Check nationality first, everything else after.

👩🏼‍💼

Lea recommends:

I always count the 90 days backwards from the planned departure date, not forwards from arrival. A short trip to Poland in January shortened our summer plans by two weeks — the whole Schengen area counts.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who may visit without a visa? ▾

This depends solely on nationality, not on where someone lives. Most relevant for our readers: Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Serbia are visa-free — for Georgia, Moldova and Serbia only with a biometric passport. A visa is required for nationals of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Turkey, among others. The binding list is maintained by the Federal Foreign Office and changes occasionally, so check it there before planning.

What does 90 days in any 180 actually mean? ▾

It is a rolling window, not a calendar year: on each day of the trip you count back how many days of the preceding 180 have already been spent in the Schengen area. Stays in other Schengen states count too. Six weeks in Italy in spring leave correspondingly fewer days for a visit to Germany.

May a visa-free guest work here? ▾

No. The exemption covers visits and tourism; it does not permit gainful work. Anyone who wants to work needs a residence permit of their own — a different path, and not part of this route.

My guest is visa-free — is a formal obligation still worth anything? ▾

It is not required. It can help voluntarily, though: under Article 6(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 sufficient means may be evidenced by, among other things, guarantees. If you expect questions about funding at the border, it can be used — at the price of full liability. For most visits that is overkill.

Does your guest need a visa at all?

What determines the answer

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

OFFICIAL SOURCES