Maxi-Pedia Forum

I am planning to go to Berlin in June for research. I am a PhD student, and a professor there invited me to Berlin to do research for one month. Although he will support me financially in terms of accommodation and flight tickets, I will not be paid a salary. So applying Business visa sounded to me the correct one to apply. I have a question regarding items 31 and 32 on the visa form:

31. Surname and first name of the inviting person(s) in the Member State(s). If not applicable, name of hotel(s) or temporary accommodation(s) in the Member State(s).

32. Surname, first name, address, telephone, telefax, and e-mail address of contact person in company/organisation

I believe that for 32, I need to give the name and address of this professor I mentioned. Should I write the same things for 31 as well (After all, he is the inviting person in the Member State)? Or should I write down the address of the place that I am going to stay?

Thank you very much in advance.

Hi and welcome, it is great that you are going for a PhD to Berlin. Which school and what major? To answer your question, if you can have an official invitation on the university's letterhead (or at least stamped by the university), it would be a great help for you. It "sounds" better if you are invited by an official body (university) as compared to an individual (although a professor). In that case, you would put the university's name on line 31 and the professor's information on line 32. In any case, have the inviting professor provide his academic titles on the invitation letter.

Hi porsche,

Thank for your reply, but I believe there is misunderstanding about my situation. I am not going to Berlin for my PhD. I am already a PhD student at a Canadian university, and I am going to Berlin to do research with this professor for a month. He happens to be in Berlin (at Humboldt University), that's why I am going there. So Humboldt University is not much related to this plan, and it is not possible for me to get an invitation letter from them. The invitation letter that the professor sent me is with the universities letterhead, so that part is OK I guess. But I still believe I shouldn't write the school address for 31.

By the way, my major is mathematics :)

In that case you are correct. And ya, invitation on a university letterhead will look good. Good luck in your studies, and let us know your experience with the visa process.

Here is an update for my visa interview: I arranged my temporary accommodation with a private company, and for item 31, I wrote the name of the company and for the address I gave the address where I am going to stay. They didn't ask me any questions regarding that, so I believe I made the correct choice. I got my visa and I am going to Germany this summer :)

Congrats on getting your visa. Did you apply in Ottawa? I plan to apply for one in May and am hoping everything goes fine. I tried at the French consulate and they were very rude and rejected my application. How long did it take you to get the visa?

Hi IndianStudent,

I applied in Toronto. Once I applied to Schengen Visa through French Consulate in Vancouver, they were not very pleasant. They also required much more documents! The good part was that the French consulate was quite fast and I got my visa one hour after my application, and they gave me visa for 1 year with multiple entries although I asked only for 20 days with single entry. German consulate gave me 2-entry visa covering exactly the dates I required, nothing more. My appointment was on Tuesday, I got my passport back on Wednesday.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your application!

Yeah, the French consulate asked for a ridiculous amount of extra documents, which is why my visa wasn't accepted. One day isn't much at all though. I hope everything goes fine with my application. Thanks!

Wow, quite a difference in how the same thing can be handled differently in two separate offices. Looks like the system still has a long way to go before it is perfect. :)