Visa and embassy

Which German mission handles your visa (Lagos or Abuja), how appointments work, fee, refusal.

You need a national visa for stays over 90 days. Nigeria is not on the list of states whose citizens may apply for the residence permit inside Germany after visa-free entry (that list is § 41 AufenthV), so the visa comes first. Start on the mission pages: Visa and the Visa Navigator.

Which mission

• As a rule the Consulate General in Lagos handles all visa applications for Nigeria (responsible mission).
• The Embassy in Abuja takes visas only if you live in the FCT or one of 19 listed northern and central states (20 areas in all) and belong to a listed group. National-visa groups include: spouses and children of Germans, only if a German birth or marriage certificate exists for all travellers or document verification is already finished with a positive result; scholarship holders funded by public money; the diplomatic corps; participants in visitor programmes or conferences of federal authorities, GIZ or foundations with full cost coverage; re-entry after loss of the residence permit. Request an interview by e-mail to [email protected] only then. If unsure, ask before you book. Source: responsible mission.

Appointments

• You can apply only with a booked appointment. Booking is free; each person, including each child, needs an own appointment. Bookings are not made by phone or e-mail (booking page).
• Online portal (Consular Services Portal) for the Opportunity Card, Blue Card, taking up employment, study or language course, vocational training and family reunion; you receive a link to book after you submit. Paper-form applicants use a waiting list processed in strict chronological order; portal applicants get appointments after those on the list.
• Wrong category or incomplete data means no admission and a new booking. Late arrivals are not admitted.
• Current waiting times for work, study and training visas are not published in a source we could check.

At the appointment

• Bring all originals plus one set of copies; documents sent in advance are not considered. Fingerprints are taken. Incomplete files cannot get a positive decision.
• Forged or falsified documents lead to immediate rejection, an entry in a warning database and a Schengen-wide entry ban.
• Minors: both parents normally attend, or a certified consent (certification only at a German mission, a German authority or a German notary).

Fee and processing

• National visa €75 (minors €37.50, § 46 with § 50 AufenthV), paid in Nigerian naira at the current rate, cash or POS (Lagos); not refunded if refused (mission page).
• Fee waiver: no visa fee for spouses, registered partners and unmarried minor children of Germans and for parents of minor Germans (§ 52 (1) AufenthV); also for scholarship holders funded from public money and their family (§ 52 (5)). Source: mission fee page.
• Processing varies; the consulate must involve the competent German authority. Status enquiries are not answered in the first 12 weeks for family reunion and 4 weeks for other categories. Do not buy flights or resign before you have the visa.
• Approved: show proof of incoming health insurance. Check the sticker at once.

If the visa is refused

• The remonstration (objection to the mission) was abolished on 1 July 2025 (mission leaflet, 12/2025). There is no objection procedure for visas (§ 68 (1) S. 2 Nr. 1 VwGO).
• You can sue at the Administrative Court of Berlin within one month of service of the decision (§ 74 VwGO). Court language is German (§ 184 GVG). The leaflet puts court costs at about €480 per applicant at a value in dispute of €5,000, payable as an advance.
• Or apply again with a complete file and a new appointment.

Next: Documents, Costs.