Invite relatives for a visit: visa and sponsorship

If a relative is coming for a short visit, they check whether they need a visa and apply for it themselves. A host in Germany may separately sign a Verpflichtungserklärung to show how the visit will be funded. This declaration creates financial liability and does not guarantee a visa.

In short

• The ordinary short-visit Schengen route covers at most 90 days in any 180-day period. A visa can authorise less. Moving to live together is the separate family-reunion workflow.
• The guest normally applies to the German mission responsible for their ordinary residence. Check the actual itinerary and the mission’s instructions if several Schengen countries are involved. The host does not apply for the visitor’s visa at a German city office.
• A private invitation explains the visit and accommodation. A formal Verpflichtungserklärung is a separate undertaking to cover costs when used to demonstrate funding. Ask which proof the mission requires for this guest.
• The mission examines the visit’s purpose, funding, intended departure and travel health insurance. Paying for sponsorship does not remove these tests.

What you need to know

This guide is for a temporary private visit, such as relatives visiting family. First ask the competent mission whether a visa is needed for the guest’s nationality and existing status, and which route applies. Qualifying family members exercising EU free-movement rights can follow different rules: use the free-movement guide and the mission’s instructions. Study, taking employment and moving permanently are different purposes. A visit invitation is not a way to bypass their requirements.

What to do

1. Agree on a genuine visit. Write down the intended arrival and departure, where the guest will stay, who pays and any other Schengen destinations. Account for earlier Schengen stays when checking the available days. Do not promise an indefinite stay on a short-visit application.
2. Open the responsible mission’s website. Use the Foreign Office directory. Select its visit-visa checklist, application form and official appointment or authorised service-provider route. Follow that mission’s filing window, fees and document rules; another country’s consulate checklist is not yours.
3. Prepare the guest’s file against that checklist. Check the passport, form, photo, itinerary/accommodation, funding and evidence of the reason to return. For example, prepare the employment, study or family evidence the mission requests. Give consistent, truthful information; neither a purchased flight nor a host’s promise substitutes for a decision. Ask about reservation requirements before buying non-refundable travel.
4. Resolve the funding branch with the host. If the guest’s own funds suffice under the mission’s requirements, ask what evidence it accepts. If a formal declaration is needed, use the host procedure below early enough for the guest’s application. An informal invitation and the declaration serve different tasks; the mission may request visit details as well as funding evidence.
5. Check insurance and submit as instructed. The ordinary Schengen requirement is travel health insurance valid throughout Schengen and the whole stay, with at least 30,000 euros cover. Check the policy’s exclusions, dates and the mission’s acceptance requirements. A host’s ordinary German health insurance is not automatically cover for a visiting relative. Keep a copy of the complete file, submission receipt and case reference, and respond to further requests through the official channel.
6. Check the result before travel. Compare the name/passport details, validity dates, allowed duration and number of entries on the visa with the trip. Ask the mission about errors before departure. Carry the supporting visit, funding and insurance documents and comply with the authorised stay. A long validity period does not mean permission to stay for that whole period.

Host: arrange the Verpflichtungserklärung separately

Start with the Ausländerbehörde normally responsible for the host’s residence. Ask about its current procedure for a short-visit declaration, financial assessment, fee and required guest details. Have the guest’s passport details and intended visit dates ready, along with the host’s identity, residence and income or savings documents requested by the office. Dependants and other financial undertakings also matter to the assessment, so a single income figure found online may not fit your case.

For example, Berlin’s LEA uses an online application with a financial quick check, followed by an appointment. Its quick check alone is not the submitted application. Save the actual application confirmation and follow the appointment instructions. This is Berlin’s service, not a nationwide booking process. An issued declaration with financial capacity not demonstrated may not establish acceptable funding for the mission; check before relying on it.

Before signing, ask the office to explain the precise undertaking and keep a copy of the signed declaration and its liability notice. Give the guest the version/original and copies the mission requires. Check the mission’s current acceptance rules for the document’s age and intended trip rather than assuming it can be reused for every later visit.

Understand the financial liability before signing

Section 68 covers reimbursement of public funds spent on livelihood, including housing, sickness and care, even where the guest had a statutory entitlement. It excludes expenditure based on contributions. Its five-year period starts with entry enabled by the declaration; this is a liability rule, not a five-year visit permission. A humanitarian residence title or recognition of international protection does not automatically end it early.

Berlin’s supplementary notice explains that the undertaking can end with the end of the intended overall stay or an eligible change of purpose and title, with important humanitarian/protection exceptions. Do not assume that visa expiry, a private disagreement or simply withdrawing your invitation cancels liability. Have the actual end conditions explained before signing. Departure-enforcement liability under section 66 is separate; do not apply the section 68 five-year limit to every possible cost.

If the application is refused

Keep the refusal notice, reasons and date received. Since 1 July 2025, the Foreign Office’s remonstration procedure has been abolished worldwide. The current options include a new application and judicial review. Read the notice’s remedy instructions and obtain qualified advice immediately if considering court action; a fresh application does not protect the court deadline. Use legal aid for the help/cost route. For a new application, address the actual refusal reasons with appropriate evidence rather than buying another invitation package.

Common mistakes

• Treating the host’s city appointment as the guest’s visa application.
• Signing sponsorship before understanding uncovered medical and repayment risks.
• Reusing a family-reunion checklist for a visit, or calling an intended permanent move a holiday.
• Assuming sponsorship, a booked flight or an older visa guarantees the next decision.