Sponsors residing in the United Arab Emirates can submit a “letter of obligation” for the beneficiary’s visa application at the German Consulate General in Dubai. The Consulate General then assesses the sponsor’s creditworthiness on the basis of voluntarily provided documentation to verify whether the inviting party is able to sufficiently support the beneficiary. The following documents are regularly necessary:

• Personal bank statement of the last 6 months, stamped & signed by bank
• Sponsor’s wage certificates

In case your bank balance and monthly income is low, you may add the following documents:

• savings account book from a bank in Germany with blocking notices or bank guarantees with a duration of at least one year issued by a bank in Germany
• Rental contract or proof of rental allowances if provided by company
• Proof of other means of income or other substantial financial assets

Please note that such letters of obligation are applicable ONLY if the sponsor’s assets are situated in Germany or the sponsor is a German national.

For long-term (national) visa applications, e.g. by students, jobseekers see our information on national visa.

1. Extent of obligations / What does the obligation include?

The obligation includes reimbursing all public funds spent for living expenses, including housing, care in case of illness or need for long-term care, e.g. expenses for food, clothing, housing (private or in a hotel), for physicians, medicine, hospital, nursing home or other medically necessary treatments. This also applies to expenditures made on the basis of legal entitlement, as opposed to expenditures based on contributions paid. It is recommended to take out health insurance coverage for the reasons given. In case of illness, the sponsor is also responsible for expenses not covered by health insurance or in excess of the insured amount.

According to §§ 66, 67 of the German Residence Act, the sponsor also has to bear the costs in case of enforced deportation. Such deportation costs are for instance but not only travel expenses (flight ticket and/or other transportation costs), costs for any security escort as well as detention awaiting deportation.

2. Duration of obligations entered into

The obligation resulting from the formal obligation applies for the length of the entire stay, regardless of the period of validity of the residence title on which the stay is based, i.e. it also includes the length of any illegal stay.

The obligation normally ends when the planned stay ends or when the original purpose of the stay changes and a new residence title will be issued for the new purpose.

3. Enforceability

The public funds which were expended can be collected by means of enforcement.

4. Voluntary provision of information

All the information and documents given by sponsor are provided on a voluntary basis. Creditworthiness, however, cannot be positively assessed if the information given is not complete.

Providing incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information may be a criminal offence and and may result in legal consequences (§ 95 German Residence Act – Imprisonment up to three years or fine).

5. Process

All applicants residing in the UAE, regardless in which Emirate they live, address the Consulate General in Dubai. They need to book an appointment (online) at the German Consulate General in Dubai under the following link:

Booking an appointment at the Consulate General Dubai

Assessment of the sponsor’s creditworthiness regularly takes one working day after receiving the a.m. documentation. The fee for the “letter of obligation” amounts to 56,50 EUR has to be paid upon submission of a.m. documents. At the Consulate General in Dubai, the fees for consular services can be paid only in cash in AED.

1. Information of the sponsor (please provide passport + copy)

2. Information of the beneficiary

(please provide identity card or passport and valid German resident visa)