General Information

Foreigners who wish to marry their partner living in Germany and subequently take up residence in Germany, have to apply for a visa with the resepective German Mission in advance.

Please note that a marriage visa can only be issued if both fiancés have reached the age of 18.

Prepare your application

You should start preparing your application as soon as you have plans for your long-term stay in Germany. Prepare your application according to the following list and submit the documents with 1 copy when applying for a visa:

• copy of valid passport (including all pages that are not blank)
• a completed and personally signed national visa application form (please use the online application form VIDEX )
• 2 recent biometric passport photos (not older than 3 months)
• Saudi ID or Iqama or Saudi Arabian visa & entry stamp
• formal marriage notification (“Anmeldung der Eheschließung”) from the respective registrar's office with provisioned date of marriage

• proof of basic knowledge of German at level A1

• copy of the rental contract of the fiancé(e) in Germany with his/her phone number
• formal obligation from the fiancé(e) in Germany
• passport or identity card and register certificate (“Meldebescheinigung”) of the fiancé(e) living in Germany
• if applicable: residence permit of the fiancé(e) living in Germany

Before the visa can be issued, the German Mission will request a valid “Incoming” health insurance for Germany.

All documents are to be presented in original or certified copy along with one set of copies.

Foreign documents issued in other languages than English or German have to be submitted with an official translation.

The German Missions reserve the right to request additional documents.

Important notes on the visa procedure

Please do not send unrequested documents to the German Mission, especially not before applying for the visa, as those cannot be kept. Please submit all documents when applying in person at the Mission. Incomplete applications will be rejected or denied.

Foreign public documents need to be duly legalized by the competent German Mission in the issuing country, or, if applicable, provided with an Apostille. For documents from some countries, individual document verification might be necessary, that process would require more time and an additional fee.

Processing

The processing of the visa application for marriage visas usually takes two to three months, sometimes longer.

The German Mission decides on your application based on the provided documents. You will be contacted as soon as the application has been decided. Please note that questions regarding the status of your visa application cannot be answered. Due to data protection regulation, no status updates can be given via phone.

Book your appointment

To submit your application, please book an appointment and appear in person at the German Embassy in Riyadh. The embassy will accept your complete application documents including the visa fee, will conduct a short interview with you and register your biometric data.

Please book an appointment through the online system of the Embassy in Riyadh.

Further information

For more information on language courses or examinations, please see the website of the Goethe-Institut Riyadh.

If you have any additional question that has not been answered in this article, you can use the contact form. Please refrain from questions that are explained on this website.