# Applying for visa - easy frage



## bkrahmer (Dec 30, 2013)

Hey guys. When you apply for a visa in Germany, do they hold on to your passport the entire time they are considering your application? I will be there for a month to apply, and I understand the visa process can sometimes take weeks... Thanks!


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

bkrahmer said:


> Hey guys. When you apply for a visa in Germany, do they hold on to your passport the entire time they are considering your application? I will be there for a month to apply, and I understand the visa process can sometimes take weeks... Thanks!


That depends entirely on what kind of visa you apply for.

A lot of decisions are made on the spot at the Ausländerbehörde and the permit is then issued in form of a biometric ID card.

If you apply for an employer-sponsored work-permit without prior clearance and you have to go through the labour market test...


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## bkrahmer (Dec 30, 2013)

I see. I will be applying for a freelance visa (I am a highly skilled IT pro with no college degree). If I walk out with a visa the same day, I would be ecstatic! Anybody with recent experience in this type of visa?

thanks,
brian


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

bkrahmer said:


> I see. I will be applying for a freelance visa (I am a highly skilled IT pro with no college degree). If I walk out with a visa the same day, I would be ecstatic! Anybody with recent experience in this type of visa?
> 
> thanks,
> brian



I think Nononymus might be able to answer this.

Where are you applying? Procedures can vary slightly from Ausländerbehörde to Ausländerbehörde.


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## tarun3kumar (Jul 5, 2012)

My friend applied for employment VISA and he was handed back his passport. After few weeks he was asked to come and have VISA stamped.
I would also be applying for employment visa soon


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## bkrahmer (Dec 30, 2013)

I will be applying in Muenchen. Thanks for the responses. Happy new year!


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

bkrahmer said:


> I will be applying in Muenchen. Thanks for the responses. Happy new year!


As far as I know, freelancer permits are being decided on the spot in Berlin. Googling around a bit shows some more instances of this elsewhere but I didn't find any specific case in Munich.

I think the possible holding of passports relates more to a visa application at a German Embassy than to a residence/work permit application in-country.

Healthy and happy New Year 2014!


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I am now back in Canada, emerging from the jet lag fog.

I had a work permit granted to me on the spot in Berlin. It was not the freelancer visa specifically, but rather a general work permit for the five months we planned to live in Germany. In my favour: I had a letter from an employer wanting to hire me for a project; it was a temporary stay due to my wife's academic sabbatical, we had her income and health insurance and all that so I didn't need to prove my ability to support myself, or show a business plan or any of that. I was a very easy decision for them.


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