

You should apply for a visa well before you travel! However, if for some reason you need to enter the Schengen area during your stopover (for example to change terminals or if the destination is in a Schengen country), you may require a visa please plan for this. The vast majority of foreign travellers benefit from the “transit privilege” - if during a stopover at a German airport, you do not leave the International Airport Area and if the destination is not in a Schengen country, you do not need a transit visa. The EU provides a guide to your rights as an EU citizen.Īre there special visa arrangements for EU citizens? If you have further questions, please visit the website of the relevant German mission or contact the mission directly. In this case, however, a facilitated visa procedure applies. If you and your spouse live outside the EU, your spouse will need an entry visa if he or she is from a country subject to a visa regime. 10(1) of Directive 2004/38/EC, he or she needs no visa for travel within the EU.

If the authorities of your country of residence have issued your spouse with a “residence card of a family member of a Union citizen” pursuant to Art. If you or your spouse live in an EU country where the Schengen Agreement does not apply or not apply in full, the situation is as follows:

Please check with the relevant authorities in your country of residence whether your spouse's residence permit entitles him or her to visa-free travel within the Schengen area. In any 180 days period you may stay for up to 90 days maximum in another Schengen country. If you and/or your spouse live in a Schengen country, the situation is as follows:Īs holder of a residence permit issued by a Schengen country, you need no visa for short-term stays in other Schengen countries - so you need no visa for Germany either.
