Does the German Embassy in the US keep your passport when you apply for an Employment Visa?

May 19, 2010 6:48 PM

Does the German Embassy in the US keep your passport when you apply for an Employment Visa?

I know they do if it's for a tourist visa, but I've applied for an Employment Visa and can't find my passport, nor can I remember if they kept it or not. I know I can probably call in the morning and find out but I would really like to just know now.

So, if you've applied for an Employment Visa for Germany, did they keep your passport at the embassy until they issued the visa?

Consulate in San Francisco, South African passport, if that matters.

posted by christy to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Does the German Embassy in the US keep your passport when you apply for an Employment Visa?

I don't know what you mean by keep it -- do you mean whether the consulate would hang on to it for the entire time as they processed the visa? -- but according to the German consulate's web page re: employment visas you need a valid passport in order to apply for a visa, with two photocopies of the data page.
posted by the cat's pyjamas at 8:06 PM on May 19, 2010

Every country for which I've applied for a visa keeps the passport until they finish the application process. I usually have mailed it though instead of doing it in person.
posted by JJ86 at 6:20 AM on May 20, 2010

Response by poster: In case people find this question later:
The question was, after doing the application, will your passport remain at the embassy.

And the answer is: YES, so don't freak out and think you lost your passport.
posted by christy at 10:59 AM on May 20, 2010