US passport holders who want to enter Germany for destinations other than tourism, business or airport transportation. Foreigners in the US with residence permits with shorter validity than three months outside the planned date to leave Germany must get a visa to be allowed to enter Germany.

If you are a citizen of the EU, no visa is needed to enter Germany. British citizens can also enter Germany without a visa to stay up to 90 days in the 180 days period. The same thing applies to citizens where the EU has abolished visa requirements.

For other countries, traveling to Germany for unimportant purposes requires a German tourist visa/visitor.

Applying for tourist visas/German visitors involves searching and visiting the nearest German mission to your residence. All required documents must be submitted directly after the gathering promise. Be sure to consult with the previous German mission website to ensure that you have all the required requirements.

The best time to apply for your German visa is 1-2 months before the date of your trip. However, if you lack time, we might be able to process your visa on faster services on the embassy policy. You need to send your true passport, not a copy. 

German visa is labeled on your passport and will be one of your passport pages. Visa requests cannot be processed without your original passport. Because of the importance of your passport, we strongly recommend that you send your application using our safe collection service. If you have old passport then you should need  renewal passport.

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, England and the United States only need a valid passport (without a visa) if entering Germany as a tourist for three months in a period of six months. Passport renewal is important to begins a new journey.

 Passports must be valid for four months outside the date of departure that you mean. If you plan to stay more than 90 days, contact the nearest German embassy or consulate, and start your visa application long before.