Short Stay Visa for Germany

here is some info about schengen visa from german embassy: Embajada Alemana Santo Domingo - Visa
it's becoming increasingly difficult to get this visa as it is valid for most of europe. for new year's eve i would start the process in mid november.

My personal experience, applied this far twice, twice granted: You need to make an appointment via the site dv8 pointed out above (please make sure you make the appointment for short term visa, NOT residency, as this is mentioned on a very small print there). Cannot say until when booked at each given moment, but we have always gotten an appointment within 3 weeks notice.

You go for the appointment, bring all the required documents, and if they take the application into processing (= no missing documents etc.), you are given the results the same day after 2pm, when the visa is also printed to your passport if it?s granted. I?m not stating this as any fact, just personal experience, could vary of course.

If your documents are fine, there should be very little hassle.

We have done this just a couple of months ago, so happy to help out if needed.

i will only add two things:
the visa is valid from the day it is granted so make sure you balance the timing and have both enough time in advance for an interview and the visa is still valid for travel.
the visa will not be issued is the passport is short to expiry date so i recommend changing the passport if it is due to expire within less than a year or at least 6-8 months.

dv8 said:

i will only add two things:
the visa is valid from the day it is granted so make sure you balance the timing and have both enough time in advance for an interview and the visa is still valid for travel.
the visa will not be issued is the passport is short to expiry date so i recommend changing the passport if it is due to expire within less than a year or at least 6-8 months.

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With all due respect, I have to disagree here. From my experience it is not, by default, valid from the day it?s granted, but usually according to your travel plans. I have had no issues doing this well in advance, and then they have even postponed the starting date two months.

The allowed time to stay in Schengen is 90 days with one visa, so what I recommend checking, is that they also put the validity to 90 days. The validity of the visa itself can be even 6+ months, but within this time frame you are only allowed to stay within Schengen for 90 days.

Agree with the passport part, although I would never travel internationally with any passport close to the expiry date, that?s just unnecessary risk while new passport can be obtained easily.

i may just as well be the case for some applicants but every time miesposo got a schengen visa it was valid from issue date so my post was based on those experiences.

Is Germany currently the easiest embassy in the DR to get a Schengen Visa or do people have experience with others that might be less difficult?

theoretically you apply in the country of destination of the country you will spend most time in. you could say there is a certain flexibility there. not sure how well it works in practice thou.

If you have a Visa to Germany for example you go there first. Then you can travel to any of the Schengen countries, as there is no passport control going to and from these countries.

dv8 said:

i may just as well be the case for some applicants but every time miesposo got a schengen visa it was valid from issue date so my post was based on those experiences.

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Just to be clear, I only responded to what?s discussed in the op, as in visa from German embassy, I cannot comment on other embassies (except Netherlands, to where I would not return again...), so this might well be the case. I mentioned Schengen visa only because that?s what it is, but as you said, issued by German embassy and for first entry to Germany.

I think it could also be the case here, that it differs from one clerk to another, from which date they put it to begin, not sure if there is specific ruling here. Like said, this was what happened with us, along with the validity of the visa, which is max. 90 days, but can be shorter.

SKY said:

If you have a Visa to Germany for example you go there first. Then you can travel to any of the Schengen countries, as there is no passport control going to and from these countries.

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Flying to Europe does not necessarily mean you are going to land in the country in which you are going to stay. I am certain there are many countries in the Schengen area that do not have direct flights from the DR.

windeguy said:

Flying to Europe does not necessarily mean you are going to land in the country in which you are going to stay. I am certain there are many countries in the Schengen area that do not have direct flights from the DR.

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I believe you have to enter the Schengen at the Country where your Visa is from. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

SKY said:

I believe you have to enter the Schengen at the Country where your Visa is from. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

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miesposo's visa has been issued by poland and he entered schengen via various countries: germany, france and spain.

windeguy said:

Flying to Europe does not necessarily mean you are going to land in the country in which you are going to stay. I am certain there are many countries in the Schengen area that do not have direct flights from the DR.

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dv8 said:

miesposo's visa has been issued by poland and he entered schengen via various countries: germany, france and spain.

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Exactly as I suspected. Not an issue to fly to a different country in the EU than the one that granted the visa. It is a visa for all of the EU so why should the point of entry matter? dv8 has shown that the point of entry does not matter. I suspect there are no direct DR to Poland flights so the visa holder would have no choice but to enter through another country.

there are no direct flights from DR to PL, indeed. options to fly from DR to europe are very limited anyways. i know other folks who had visas issued by a country of destination and entered via different country entirely.

ricky11 said:

you are incorrect.

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Agreed, read my post again. Could be wrong and proved wrong.

SKY said:

I believe you have to enter the Schengen at the Country where your Visa is from. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

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My girlfriend (Ukrainian but living in DR) got her Schengen visa from Germany Embassy (in Sto Dgo) and we entered Brussels Belgium no problem (cheap flights Sto Dgo - Brussels via Jetair btw). However, be careful with the return date and the required health insurance. The visa/health insurance expires midnight the day before it really expires (if it expires May 15th, it really expires midnight on the 14th), so she was stuck in Kiev and couldn't get her flight back out of Brussels the next day. I had to buy brand new tickets via Moscow and New York (she had US visa), this cost me an extra $700 and a big headache.

I think they make the length of visa dependent on how long you book the health insurance, maybe I had this one day short since the return was an overnight flight from Kiev to Brussels and then back to Sto Dgo.

Most of our stay was in Germany, thats probably how it was approved.

SKY said:

I believe you have to enter the Schengen at the Country where your Visa is from. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

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Issuance of Schengen visa corresponds to either of the three countries (in the order of importance and application process):
1) Country of principal stay
2) Country of first entry
3) Country of longest stay in case of staying in multiple Schengen countries

So a person whose principal destination is Spain but enters via Amsterdam can get Schengen visa both from Spanish and Dutch embassies. Though, they should principally apply at the embassy of the country of principal stay, the other options basically cover the "when no embassy present" situations. For example, a person traveling to Slovenia for 2 week's vacation but entering via Germany - if Slovenia has no embassy in the DR, Germany can issue visa if entering via Germany. If entering on Air France via Paris, the issuance would correspond to the French embassy.

But under no circumstances you should get Schengen visa from Czech embassy if you are traveling to stay in France and enter through Germany, not even if you plan to visit Prague for a day or two on your two-weeks' long itinerary.

Though I do nto know what would happen in such case, or in case of aforementioned travel to Slovenia when you have German Schengen visa but later decide to travel on Ar France. But I guess, at the point of entry, it really does not matter much, as they just scan the passport and visa.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

rubio_higuey said:

But under no circumstances you should get Schengen visa from Czech embassy if you are traveling to stay in France and enter through Germany, not even if you plan to visit Prague for a day or two on your two-weeks' long itinerary.

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once you have a long term visa you can travel however you want.