Visa at the Bonn consulate
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2026 3:57 pm
Here's a quick report on my visa application experience at the recently re-opened Bonn consulate. First of all, they never pick up the phone. Ever. Secondly, the email address given on their website (public@afghanmissionbonn.de) is probably not being checked - the correct one seems to be info@afghanmissionbonn.de. I found out about this from the Berlin embassy, after unsuccessfully trying to reach the consulate for several days. I received a response shortly after writing to info@afghanmissionbonn.de - but perhaps this was also because the Berlin colleagues nudged them a little to get back to me. 
They currently don't require you to have an appointment; just turn up during their opening hours (which are not adjusted for special closures - e.g. carnival - on their website).
There was a long queue of Afghan nationals waiting to be let into the consulate. But when I asked whether I could apply for a visa, they opened the gate for me and took me straight to „Room 1“, where I submitted the following:
- 1 passport picture
- LOI
- 1 passport copy
- 1 copy of my German identity card, both sides, to prove my current address
They also wanted to see the confirmation for my flight to Shymkent/Kazakhstan, which I found weird, because it's quite a long way from Afghanistan - but anyway.
They did *not* want to see:
- health insurance
- proof of sufficient financial means
They didn't accept the visa application form that I had prepared because it had the wrong logo. They don’t have this updated application form on their website. The person I spoke to said something about this not being fully official yet and they were therefore not allowed to put it online. Content-wise, it was exactly the same as what I had prepared. I have no idea whether it would have been possible to apply without a LOI.
Then I was taken to Room 3 where I paid 80€ in cash after which I was escorted back to Room 1 with the receipt. I left a prepaid registered envelope for them to send the passport back - something they didn’t seem to have encountered before and he needed to ask for confirmation from a colleague. I did not put any sender information on the envelope, and when I finally received it, I saw that no sender had been added by them - even though it is required for registered letters. I suspect this was the reason why the letter was not delivered the following day but took a day extra.
The whole application procedure took less than 30 minutes.
I was not given an option for same-day processing (but didn't ask). It was quite stressful to have to wait without having any way of contacting them. But in the end it worked out...
They currently don't require you to have an appointment; just turn up during their opening hours (which are not adjusted for special closures - e.g. carnival - on their website).
There was a long queue of Afghan nationals waiting to be let into the consulate. But when I asked whether I could apply for a visa, they opened the gate for me and took me straight to „Room 1“, where I submitted the following:
- 1 passport picture
- LOI
- 1 passport copy
- 1 copy of my German identity card, both sides, to prove my current address
They also wanted to see the confirmation for my flight to Shymkent/Kazakhstan, which I found weird, because it's quite a long way from Afghanistan - but anyway.
They did *not* want to see:
- health insurance
- proof of sufficient financial means
They didn't accept the visa application form that I had prepared because it had the wrong logo. They don’t have this updated application form on their website. The person I spoke to said something about this not being fully official yet and they were therefore not allowed to put it online. Content-wise, it was exactly the same as what I had prepared. I have no idea whether it would have been possible to apply without a LOI.
Then I was taken to Room 3 where I paid 80€ in cash after which I was escorted back to Room 1 with the receipt. I left a prepaid registered envelope for them to send the passport back - something they didn’t seem to have encountered before and he needed to ask for confirmation from a colleague. I did not put any sender information on the envelope, and when I finally received it, I saw that no sender had been added by them - even though it is required for registered letters. I suspect this was the reason why the letter was not delivered the following day but took a day extra.
The whole application procedure took less than 30 minutes.
I was not given an option for same-day processing (but didn't ask). It was quite stressful to have to wait without having any way of contacting them. But in the end it worked out...