Visa application: where and how

Consular districts by province, the online portals, appointments, fees and processing times.

Your current main residence decides which German mission handles your national visa – not your place of birth, your hukou or your nationality.

Students with an APS certificate file the visa at APS Beijing or APS Shanghai if they live in those districts; elsewhere at the consulate general.

How to apply

1. Form: Blue Card, skilled workers and the Opportunity Card can apply through the Foreign Office's online portal digital.diplo.de. Otherwise fill in the national visa form online (VIDEX) and print it.
2. Appointment: booked online only, through the appointment link on the mission's page. It is free.
3. In person: you attend with your originals, a set of copies and give your fingerprints. Documents not in German or English need a translation.
4. Fee: €75 (€37.50 under 18), paid in RMB in cash at the mission; at APS by bank card.
5. Return of passport: by EMS courier.

Processing times (Embassy leaflets)

You can apply at most 6 months before entry. The missions ask you not to send status enquiries during the usual processing time. Do not book flights before you have the visa. Since 1 July 2025 a refusal can no longer be challenged by "remonstration" anywhere in the world (a pilot without remonstration ran from 1 June 2023; whether China took part in it is not documented).

If your visa is refused

You can either submit a new application or sue at the Administrative Court of Berlin (Verwaltungsgericht Berlin): within 1 month of delivery if the refusal contains instructions on legal remedies, otherwise within 1 year (§ 74, § 58 (2) VwGO). Source: Federal Foreign Office. This is general information, not advice on your case.

VFS Global appears on the Embassy page for Schengen visas; we found no sign that it handles national visas from China.