How to invite parents/ friends/ relatives to Germany using formal obligation letter

By Pingme Admin

I know from my personal experience that many Indian students/ employees are unaware of the fact that they can bring their dear ones to Germany using a formal obligation letter. This is not a much-discussed topic and that is why I would like to unveil the procedure behind it. It is very simple. But the lack of information/ vagueness can actually make it feel complex. All you need to have is to get a formal obligation letter from the German Embassy in your area and send it to your dear one. Formal obligation letter as the name implies means that you are ready to sponsor the person staying with you by financially supporting their expenses. Generally, you can apply for a period of maximum 3 months. Irrespective of the time your friend/spouse/relative staying with you, you have to open a blocked account in Deutsche bank or any other bank with an amount of approximately 1400 euros.

Let’s go through the application procedure step by step.

• Get the application form for formal obligation letter from embassy                                                                                                                You will have to get the application form from them or you can already download the form online and fill it with all the necessary details. It is not complicated. Basically, you will have to provide the person’s details, his purpose of visit, where he will stay etc. If he I staying in your apartment, you can provide your address or if it’s in a hotel, you have to provide the hotel address. When you hand over the application form, they will give you a letter, which you can show in the bank for opening an account. This brings us to the next step.

• Opening a blocked account
  When you show the letter from the embassy, they will understand that you want to open a blocked account for your friend. But you have to make sure that you have the amount of 1400 euros already in your account. Because they will usually take it from your account for blocking. For opening a blocked account, it will take up to 2 weeks. You will be informed of this through a letter from the bank. Once you get the letter from the bank, you have to make another appointment at the embassy for getting the obligation letter.

• Getting obligation letter from the embassy
  It is only when you open a blocked account and get a confirmation from the bank, you will get obligation letter from the embassy. Therefore, you have to wait till you get the letter from the embassy. You do not have to show the letter from the bank at the embassy as they will be already informed by the bank. All you have to do is to take the obligation letter from the guy sitting there. If he is nice, he will also explain the procedures in detail.

• Sending the obligation letter to your friend/relative/spouse
  After getting the letter, you have to send the original letter by post to your dear one. He/She has to submit this with their application at the embassy. With this, the whole procedure is complete.

One thing you should be aware of is that this amount will remain blocked and it is not meant to use when he/she arrives. This is just a way to ensure that he/she is safely returning back to India and if there is any misconduct during your stay, this amount will not be returned. Once your friend returns, you have to take a copy of the immigration stamping in the passport and show it to the embassy. They will then initiate the process of unblocking your account. Again you will get a letter from the embassy which you can show in the bank so they will proceed further. Within 2 weeks, your amount will be credited back to your account.

If you want to invite your friends/relatives/spouse for enjoying a short summer vacation or a festival or any important occasion, you can actually make use of a formal obligation letter. There is no limit on the number of persons you can bring at a time using the invitation letter as long as you have the money. Also, you can bring n number of times as there is no restriction as well for this. But please note that the person you invite is not allowed to work with this visa as it is illegal. This is equivalent to a visiting visa where he/she can stay for a longer time with you. And the person you invite can also freely move within Europe just like your Schengen visa. Even if you are a student or an employee, you can bring your dear ones if you can make a blocked account for them.