Securing admission to a German university and filling the visa application form will never assure the visa. You have to satisfy the German embassy and fulfill their requirements to secure a student visa. Otherwise, the German embassy will refuse to give you the visa, and you have to appeal against this refusal. The requirements of the visa can be non-identical for all students because of their educational and financial backgrounds.
Documents mentioned in the checklist usually remain the same for all the students, but additional documents can make a difference. For example, Prem and Patrik are best friends and want to study in Germany. Both got admission to TU Berlin and appeared in India’s German embassy to get a student visa.
Both of them compiled documents according to the checklist of the German Embassy India, but Patrik successfully secures the visa, and Prem receives the refusal with a note ‘unable to finance studies‘.
What happened with Prem when both had the same documents?
The answer is additional documents. Patrik placed some additional documents to improve his visa file, but Prem depended only on the checklist. These additional documents were related to Patrik’s source of income that made the difference. Most of the students make the same type of mistake as Prem has done in his case.
When Patrik told Prem about these additional documents, he decided to appeal (remonstration). Now Prem wants to file an appeal in the German embassy in India, but he doesn’t know what to do. I will try to help Prem and explain the complete procedure to file an appeal in the German embassy.
What is remonstration?
Request for a re-assessment of a visa application is called remonstration or appeal. Suppose your student visa (national visa) application has been rejected by the German embassy, and you completely disagree with this decision and want to reverse it. In this case, you can submit a visa appeal.
How to appeal a rejected visa at the German embassy?
First of all, you must be clear about the reason for visa rejection. You cannot convince the German embassy without clarification about the root cause of a problem. So, don’t go too fast. Just relax your nerves and cross-check all the documents, and compare them with the requirements of the German embassy and the objection mentioned in the visa refusal letter. Now think like Patrik, not like Prem. Prem tried to prove his financial strength only with the blocked account, but Patrik proved it with a blocked account plus with other sources. Therefore, you and Prem also need to change this thing.
Keep in mind, just writing that decision of the embassy was incorrect and blaming them is not called an appeal. You have to give them solid reasons why you believe that refusal of the visa must be reversed. These reasons must be proved with valid documents like Prem realized his mistake and proved his financial strength with the income sources of his family. He nicely portrayed his financial situation with an example, proved it, and finally got the visa.
Example
Degree duration: 2 years
University tuition fee: 2,000 EUR (500 EUR per semester)
Already paid: 500 EUR (receipt attached)
Remaining fee: 1,500 EUR
Blocked amount: 11,000 EUR
Cash: 3,000 EUR (1,500 EUR for a fee and 1,500 EUR extra for initial use, currency conversion slip also attached)
This portray of finances proves that I have enough finances to cover all my living and educational expenses. Furthermore, when I needed it, my father will also support me. My father’s financial documents are also attached to the appeal.
Father income: 2,000 EUR per month
Father savings: 10,000 EUR
Rental income: 3,000 EUR per month
Whatever Prem wrote in his appeal letter proved it with valid documents. You too have to do the identical thing. I took Prem’s situation as an example, but you have to write according to your state of affairs.
What should I write in an appeal letter?
These are the essential points that you should write in an appeal to German visa refusal.
Voice clearly
You should clearly voice that you are applying for a re-assessment of your visa application.
Personal information
It would be best to write your full Name, birth date, passport number, mobile number, email, and home address.
Dates for reference
Must write the first interview date (first appearance in the embassy) and the visa rejection date as a reference.
The reason behind the visa refusal
Write the reason for visa refusal mentioned in your refusal letter. This reason can help to keep the attention of the decision-maker only on this particular point.
Your clarification
Give clarifications with reliable references and try to prove why you think your visa was rejected by mistake. Be respectful and write in a requesting manner.
Additional documents
In the closing section, you can also write to provide any additional documentation that they will need. Sometimes they recall the applicant for an interview to take these additional documents.
Supporting documents
Must attach all the supporting documents with the appeal letter. As I mentioned above, supporting documents depends on your situation. Don’t forget to add a copy of the refusal letter as well.
Signature
Your visa appeal letter must be signed by hand. Don’t send an unsigned letter to the embassy. Print it, sign it, scan, and then send it to the embassy.
Sample of appeal letter for German visa refusal:
Here is the sample appeal letter for German visa refusal. You can change this appeal according to your personal data and argumentation on which you received visa rejection. This appeal letter was written against the denial reason’ doubt about the seriousness of study ‘.
Remonstration Against Visa Denial
Visa Section of the German Embassy,
India.
Date: 19 November 2019
To whom it may concern,
At this moment, I submit an appeal against the denial of my visa application (submitted on 21 September 2019). I received this denial on 5 November 2019.
Dear sir,
I have the distinction of being a position holder (proof attached) in the Pre-engineering examination conducted by the Maharashtra Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Note that; I secured 3rd position with 90.54% marks in an examination where 55902 students appeared. I was also awarded a distinction award by Chief Minister Maharashtra (proof attached). With such a remarkable achievement, I was awarded admission to the University of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow (one of India’s first and most prestigious institutes).
I have also concluded my early ten years of schooling with 89.88% marks (A+ division). With my academic record, I successfully convinced the admission committee of the Master’s Program Media Technology at Ilmenau university of technology (TU Ilmenau), Germany. The language of instruction of the subjected program is English, and I have proved my skills with a remarkably high 7.5/9 band in IELTS (proof attached).
Unfortunately, the subject program is not offered in India and is also quite rare in other parts of the world. Research contributions like mp3 (multimedia media standard) from TU-Ilmenau in this field are well understood. I am well aware of it due to my academic interests developed during my bachelor studies.
Apart from the program’s uniqueness, I am also motivated to study in Germany because of free education. Considering my academic profile, raising any doubts on my study motivation and even higher studies cannot be justified and not realistic. For me, it’s highly painful after 16 years of hard work in studies. Considering my family background, my siblings -.
The point of mentioning my siblings here is that we are a family dedicated to education, as shown by the credentials. Moreover, considering my academic record, it is evident that we have utilized all the educational resources in the best possible way with the intended purpose.
With my academic background, doubting my seriousness of study purpose is unfair. Regarding financial expenses, I have given proof of 11,208 € blocked amount in Deutsche bank Germany. My M.Sc. studies’ total duration is 1.5 years, and I have provided significant evidence to show that my family can give me any financial aid during my studies.
However, if required, I can also deposit second-year expenses in my student blocked account. Note that I have never been notified to submit second-year expenses. Therefore, any finance concerns are, in fact, not valid and can be managed easily.
Based on the above positive notes of my visa application, I will request you to reconsider my visa application and grant my visa to continue my studies without any further delay. If there are still any ambiguities, I would be more than happy to answer them face to face. If you need any additional documentation as well, I will provide that.
With kind regards,
Full Name: (signature)
Date of Birth:
Passport #:
Phone number:
Email:
Address:
List of documents attached (In Order):
What is the time limit/deadline for filing an appeal to German visa refusal?
If the refusal letter contains the right to appeal, then the deadline to file an appeal will be one month after receiving the refusal.
Suppose the refusal letter doesn’t contain the right to appeal (typically student visa or national visa not included in this category). In that case, the deadline to file an appeal will be one year, starting from the day of refusal.
How to send an appeal letter to the German embassy?
You can send an appeal letter by email and by post to your concerned embassy. But don’t forget to sign it. Usually, the embassy responds to an appeal within three months, so be patient.
