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How to make an appointment for a visa application

This information is applicable only to residents of the US States of Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV) as well as the District of Columbia (DC).

To make an appointment to apply for a visa, please call: 1-800 380-0088 (to pay using your credit card) or 1-900 776 4444 (calls cost $2.49 per minute) . Opening hours for this line are 8.30 am to 8.30 pm Monday to Friday except for Christmas Day, December 26th, New Years Day and Good Friday. All appointments are handled by Abtran. This enables the visa section staff to concentrate fully on processing visa applications as quickly as possible.

The lines above are to be used for appointment setting only. All applications must be submitted in person.

If you have a complaint regarding this service only, please email details to: GerEmbWashcustomerservices@abtran.com for follow up. This e mail address is specifically for complaints.

Once you have made an appointment, you will receive an e mail with your reference number, date and time. You will also receive information on what supporting documentation to include. This can also be found on www.germany.info . It is recommended that you read the information carefully in order to be fully prepared for your application.

Please note that appointments will automatically be cancelled if you are more that 30 minutes late.

Please see our website for a full list of public holidays at www.germany.info. The Consulate will be closed to the public on all of those days and appointments will not be set.

Visa applicants without appointment will have to wait for a free slot. The Embassy cannot guarantee that your application will be accepted the same day. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you arrange an appointment.

Many thanks,

German Embassy Visa Section, Washington

Note: Some premium numbers (1-900) are blocked by workplaces and also by some cell phone companies. We suggest that you contact your cell phone company to have the number unblocked. Alternatively, you may call the 1-800 number from most phones and pay via credit card.

At this time, holders of US travel documents issued as refugee travel documents do not require a visa to travel to Germany for tourism, transit or business. Please note that the document must be valid for at least four month upon arrival to Germany, this only encompasses Germany, as other countries of the Schengen agreement may require you to hold a visa. This may be subject to change, therefore check for changes on this website before each trip. As this exception may not be known to some airlines or immigration officers, we suggest you print this information and take it with you. The printout quotes the address of this website and the date, enabling you and others to verify the information and to check if the printout is up to date.

Holders of US travel documents issued as Permit to Reenter need a visa according to their nationality