Appointment-System of the German Foreign Office — Kapstadt
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National Visa
Thank you for your interest in staying in Germany !
A national visa is the right visa if you want to enter Germany to work, study or live with your spouse or another family member.
Please note that a visa is not a guarantee that you will be allowed to enter Germany, as this is at the discretion of the German border police (Bundespolizei).
Citizens of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and EU citizens can enter Germany without a visa and apply for a residence permit.
To apply for a visa, your passport must have at least two blank pages and have been issued within the last ten years. A passport older than ten years and renewed for a period longer than ten years from the date of issue cannot be accepted.
Visa applicants must provide their biometric data, including fingerprints and a digital photograph. All documents pertaining to your visa application must be submitted in original and one copy.
To apply for a residence permit, the German Consulate General works closely with the immigration authorities of the intended place of residence in Germany. In order to issue a residence permit, it is essential that we obtain the approval of the relevant foreigners authority. The processing time may therefore vary from case to case depending on the foreigners authority. The standard processing time is 4-8 weeks.
Exception: applications to take up gainful employment. Here there are shorter processing times.
A residence visa is usually issued for a period of 90 days or 180 days. All visas entitle the holder to enter Schengen countries.
The visa processing fee is 75 euros and is payable in cash only at the time of application (in ZAR, based on the Consulate General's daily exchange rate). Minors pay a reduced fee.
If your visa application is rejected or you withdraw your application, you will not receive a refund of the fee already paid.
Each person wishing to apply requires a separate appointment. Therefore, please book one appointment per person. As far as possible, families should book contiguous appointments, at least on the same day. If this happens at different times on the same day, we will process them as a contiguous appointment. If you cannot find a coherent appointment, please write us by mail.
Please note that appointments at the visa office are usually booked up well in advance. Special appointments can usually not be assigned. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please cancel it to give other customers the opportunity to submit their application. If your appointment is more than 15 minutes late, we are unfortunately unable to accept your application due to scheduling reasons. A new appointment will then be required.
The Consulate General Cape Town is responsible for applicants residing in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape. If you live outside these districts, please apply for your visa at the German mission responsible for you in Pretoria. If you would like to make an appointment due to a (family / medical) emergency in Cape Town, please contact us in advance by e-mail. Emergencies must always be documented.
Please make sure you select the correct category, as appointments booked in the wrong category cannot be accommodated. If you book an appointment in the wrong category, it will be deleted without further notice.
Please note that appointments from applicants who are not from our jurisdiction will unfortunately have to be cancelled.
For more information, please visit: https://southafrica.diplo.de/sa-de/info-visaappl/494920
Security Notes:
Consular clients may bring one bag into the waiting area. The size of the bag allowed is: 35 cm (length) x 30 cm (height) x 20 cm (width). Bags larger than this size are not permitted.
For security reasons, it is not permitted to bring cell phones, laptops, tablets, or similar electronic devices into the Consulate General. Visitors carrying unauthorized items will be denied access.
The German Consulate has lockers for cell phones. Please make arrangements to store all other items elsewhere before entering.
Thank you for your understanding.
Welcome to the online booking system of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Cape Town
Appointments to apply for a German passport.
For each passport application an individual booking is required. For example, a family consisting of one adult and two children would require three appointments in total.
On the next page you can book appointments for the following consular matters:
I. Family Matters
- Name declarations
- Registration of a birth
- Registration of a marriage abroad
Before booking an appointment, please read the information provided on our website https://southafrica.diplo.de/sa-en/sa-consular and ensure to provide the relevant form duly completed as well as the required documents listed on the website as originals including one full set of very well readable copies.
For other family matters, e.g. recognition of adoption, kindly read the information on our website and contact us with further questions via e-mail to: rk-12@kaps.diplo.de
Please note: This is not a passport appointment!
II. German Citizenship
- Determination of Citizenship
- Naturalization process
- Retention approvol (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung)
- Retention, discharge and waiving of German citizenship
Please familiarize yourself in advance with the procedure and documents to be submitted on our website: https://southafrica.diplo.de/sa-en/sa-consular/sa-basics/2192782. Please bring the required documents in the original including one set of well readable copies as well as the completed application form to your appointment.
Questions (appointments) on citizenship law:
If you have any questions regarding citizenship law or wish to book an appointment, please contact: rk-1@kaps.diplo.de
Questions (appointments) on inheritance law (certificates of inheritance):
If you have any questions regarding inheritance law, please contact rk-110@kaps.diplo.de