Visa requirement

Citizens of Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland may apply at the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) for their residence permits after arrival in Germany and without having obtained a visa prior to travelling to Germany. Please note that you need to register your new residence (Anmeldung) with the authorities (Meldebehörde) within two weeks of having moved in and apply at the local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) for your residence permit within the first 90 days of your stay in Germany.

Please note that you may only take up the research activity once you have been issued a residence permit explicitly authorising the research acitivty. You may also choose to apply for a visa prior to travel, effectively permitting employment from the first day of visa validity.

All other nationalities require a visa prior to travel to Germany in any case.

Visa appointment
 

You need to book an appointment for the visa application via our appointment booking system.

In case of an application at the Embassy in Tokyo, you'll need to book an appointment in the category national visa (D-visa). If you stay less than 90 days, please book an appointment in the category Schengen visa (C-visa). In both cases you'll need to provide the same documents as listed below.  

Required documents:
 

The following documents are required and have to be submitted in the following order:

Please do not staple the documents and remove all stickers or attachments!

• One (1) completely filled out and signed national visa application form. Please use the VIDEX website to fill out the application online. Please ensure to print out and submit all pages of the application form, including the barcodes. Sign (according to your signature in the passport) the form on pages 5 and 6.
• One (1) signed declaration of accuracy of information and consent for returning passport by mail.
• One (1) signed declaration § 18 (2) no. 4 Residence Act (AufenthG)
• One (1) original passport picture 35 x 45 mm,
  biometric standard: portrait style, mouth closed, looking directly at the camera, white background, no older than 6 months
  digitally altered passport photos cannot be accepted, print-outs on regular paper are not accepted
  Resolution 600 dpi/sharp and clear photo
  strict requirements, see details
  Please stick one of the passport photos in the space provided on the application form
• Valid passport (original) and one copy of the identity page and, if applicable, of the signature page
  We will keep the passport during the evaluation of your visa application. If you require the passport after application and during the processing procedure, please submit an informal written justification (English/German) at the time of the application and your passport will be returned to you. However, your passport must be sent in upon our request.
  Passport must 
  • be valid for at least 15 months longer than the intended day of entry to Germany if you are staying one year or more. If you are staying less than a year, your passport has to be valid at least for another three months on the planned date of departure from Germany. 
  • have at least two empty pages
  • have been issued within the last 10 years
• If applicable: copies of previous national visa / permit of stay in Germany
• Japanese residence card (original and one copy of both sides)
• For Japanese citizen: proof of address in Japan (registration certificate or electricity bill, etc.)
• Proof of Health insurance upon day of entry to Germany (Confirmation of health insurance cover by the German Public Health insurance, if employment health insurance starts later than the day of entry to Germany a Schengen travel health insurance for the time being can be provided) – copy sufficient.
• Return-envelope with your address in Japan
  • For applicants at the Embassy in Tokyo:
    Letterpack PLUS (600 yen) – self addressed; Only the return of the passport by post is possible.
  • For applicants at the Consulate General in Osaka-Kobe:
    If you wish to receive your passport in return by mail, you can return it by takkyubin cash on delivery. In this case, please enclose a self-addressed return DIN A4 envelope.

• Hosting Agreement/Contract (copy sufficient), signed by you and the German university or public research institute 

  A Hosting Agreement or a corresponding contract for the execution of a research project shall be concluded between a researcher and a research institution, irrespective of whether the research institution is a research organization recognized by the Federal Office for the execution of the special admission procedure for researchers in the Federal Republic of Germany or not.
  The form of the hosting agreement according to Section 18d of the German Residence Act (§ 18d Aufenthaltsgesetz) contains all required information which must also be reflected if there is only a corresponding contract. 
  The Hosting Agreement must be completed in German and can be supplemented in English. It must contain the signature of both parties.
  The monthly pay or monthly award or the monthly income by the Japanese institute must be at least 1.091,00 Euro/month (as of 2025). If self-financing, this must be proven for the duration of your stay or at least for one year (e.g. confirmation by the Japanese institution of continued payment of your salary)

  Form of the Hosting agreement
  
  More information here

•  Letter of invitation from the German research institution (copy sufficient)
• University degree, original and one (1) copy, AND if applicable: official translation in German or English
• Curriculum vitae of professional career, including certificates, diplomas, etc. in English or German (one copy sufficient)
• Visa fee for national visa 

Please note that the German Embassy Tokyo / the Consulate General Osaka-Kobe reserves the right to ask for additional documents at any time during processing. Submission of the above-mentioned documents does not guarantee that a visa is granted.

Processing time

In this visa category, most applications take approximately at least two weeks to be processed. This also applies to accompanying family members. 

Nevertheless, it is not guaranteed that the process will be finished within this time frame. For example, if you have stayed in Germany before, the process may take up to three months or in certain cases even longer. Therefore, we do not recommend booking a flight before you have received the visa. 

Although we will provide you with a file number, please understand that we cannot respond to questions regarding the status of your visa application. Should we have any questions or should we require additional documentation to process your application, we will contact you by email.