Please send TDS your current valid and signed passport. It must not expire within 6 months and must have at least one blank visa page. If your passport expires within 6 months, you must renew your passport and then we will secure your visa with the new passport.

Please send 2 recent professional passport-type photographs.
Digital and non-passport photographs are not acceptable.
Passport Photo Guide - Click Here

Original valid U.S. Alien Registration Card (Green Card) or valid US employment type visa (other than B1/B2 visa).

Please send a copy of your round trip airline tickets, or itinerary or e-ticket.   The itinerary must show the applicant's name, date of arrival and departure from the country, and flight information. The Embassy does not recommend purchasing your ticket prior to a visa being issued.

Proof of Health and Travel/Accident insurance of at least $50,000 US for tourist and business travel.

Letter of reference from your employer.

A copy of the applicant's most recent two bank statement or evidence of adequate finance, such as a letter from a bank, or money market statement. It is advisable to erase account numbers.

A business letter of responsibility is required, to be typewritten on your company letterhead and addressed to:
Consulate General of Germany, Visa Section, San Francisco, CA
The letter must explain all of the following:
Nature of business to be performed
Name and address of reference to be visited
This letter should request Multiple Entries visa if required
Guarantee of return transportation and sufficient funds for the visit
The letter should be signed by an officer of the company other than the applicant.

Letter of invitation on letterhead from a host company or organization in Germany. Invitation should detail intended dates of arrival and departure from the country, your name and passport number, and request any special visa conditions (Multiple Entries visa) if required. Fax or scan is accepted.

A copy of your hotel confirmation(s) is required.

A letter of invitation from your host friends or relatives.

Applicants may be required to appear in person for an interview after the embassy reviews the application.

Please Complete and Sign Two Application Forms and Completed Declaration Form. Application and Declaration Forms need to be notarized.

You must complete the Online Order Form.

The order form gives TDS your name, address, shipping information and payment method. Multiple applicants can be entered using one order form. You only need to complete one TDS order form per request. Please print two copies of the confirmation page. Include one copy with the documents you ship to TDS and keep one copy for your records.

While completing the online order form in this step, you will be asked how you want to pay TDS fees. You may pay our fees online with a credit card or enclose a personal or business check or money order.

Please forward the completed requirements detailed above to:

TRAVEL DOCUMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
3 Embarcadero Center
Lobby Level, Suite 2
San Francisco, Ca 94111

Urgent applications should be shipped to TDS using only the FedEx Company.
Please use FedEx Priority Overnight. Do NOT ship "First Overnight." This will delay the delivery of your package.

Visa Requirements, processing times, validity of the visa, and Embassy visa fees are subject to change without prior notice.

This information applies only to residents of the states of Alaska, California (apart from the counties Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura), Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming as well as the American overseas territories Baker-, Howland-, Jarvis-, Johnston-, Midway- and Palmyra island.

Please note - TDS fee is charged at time of submission of documents to the Consulate, and is not refundable if the Consulate elects not to grant the visa. If a visa is denied, half of the Embassy fee will be reimbursed.
In some cases there may be delays of several days, or even weeks, issuing visas for some foreigners traveling to Germany and/or a personal appearance for an interview at the consulate may be required. Call the consulate to confirm these details before sending an application or purchasing travel arrangements which may be subject to cancellation penalties.
The German Embassy advises that they may request additional documentation from any applicant as they deem appropriate to consider the application.