German Embassy Kathmandu: How the Student Visa Appointment Works

You can no longer pick your own visa appointment at the German Embassy in Kathmandu. The Embassy changed the system at the end of 2025: you now register on a waiting list and appointments are handed out in order of registration, so anything you read that was written before then needs checking. This guide covers how the Embassy itself handles a student visa today: getting an appointment, what happens at the counter, how long you wait and what you can do if the answer is no. The full document checklist and the money rules are in our student visa guide.

Appointments now come from a waiting list

From 1 December 2025 you can no longer pick a slot yourself. For every visa type, applicants register on a waiting list, which opened on 20 November 2025, and the Embassy hands out appointments in order of registration as capacity allows. The national visa page also warns that appointments are sometimes only available four to six weeks ahead, so do not leave this to the last month.

The booking rules are strict:

• One appointment per person. Multiple bookings are not allowed.
• The passport number in your booking must match the passport you bring, or you will not be let into the visa section.
• If you miss an appointment without cancelling it, the system blocks you automatically. Misuse can lead to a cancelled appointment and a blocked email address.
• You can submit no earlier than three months before your planned trip.
• Appointments cannot be arranged by phone or email.

Appointments cost nothing. The Embassy says it does not work with brokers or agencies, that there is no such thing as a registered visa agent for Germany, and that no agent can influence the outcome, speed up processing or guarantee a visa.

Online first, then the counter

Study visas can be applied for through the Federal Foreign Office's Consular Services Portal. You upload your documents, the Embassy tells you whether the set is complete, and you can correct it online. At the appointment you then show the originals, give fingerprints and a photo, and pay the fee.

For a paper application, the Embassy asks for one complete set of documents plus a copy of everything, along with your originals. Do not staple or clip anything; the papers are scanned straight after you hand them in. An incomplete application is not accepted: it is handed back without charge and you need a new appointment.

Do not post or email documents before you have applied. The visa section cannot store unrequested papers and will not know which application they belong to.

Nepal-specific papers the visa desk checks

Next to the admission letter and proof of funds, the Kathmandu study visa checklist includes items that only Nepali applicants bring:

• your citizenship certificate (original plus one copy) and your birth certificate;
• your School Leaving Certificate with mark sheets, and your Higher Secondary Education Board certificate with mark sheets;
• a German certificate, if your course needs one, from Goethe Center Kathmandu, VHS (Bhaktapur, Kathmandu or Pokhara) or telc, with IISC Study Hub and ECL also named on the national visa page; it has to be handed in with the application, not afterwards (see our Goethe-Zentrum guide);
• certified translations of anything not in German or English.

APS is mandatory only for Chinese and Indian school or university degrees, so a Nepali qualification needs none; our APS guide explains the exception for Indian degrees. A blocked account is not required to apply, but the Embassy may ask for one during processing; see our blocked account guide. Your flight booking and health insurance are handed in only after approval.

The fee

A national visa costs EUR 75 for adults and EUR 37.50 for children up to 17. You pay the rupee equivalent in cash at the current rate, and nothing is refunded if the visa is refused. Holders of scholarships from German public funds, such as DAAD, pay no fee.

At the counter

Only the applicant enters at the booked time. Relatives stay outside; the exceptions are guardians of a minor who is not applying and people helping an applicant with a disability. Staff will ask about your plans in Germany. The Embassy can request more documents or call you to a separate interview, and refusing to attend one can lead to rejection. It may have your documents checked by specialised lawyers, and it reserves the right to pass fake documents to the police.

If someone else will collect your passport later, say so during this interview; that person will then need your written power of attorney.

Waiting for the decision

The study visa page gives about 3 to 4 weeks as the minimum processing time. The national visa page says checking can take up to three months, and the visa FAQ up to four months depending on the purpose. Plan for the longer end.

Asking about your status does not speed it up: the Embassy acknowledges status enquiries but no longer answers them. General visa questions go through its contact form or a phone hour on Wednesdays from 14:00 to 15:00 (+977 1 421 72 00, then 33 in the menu), where pending applications cannot be discussed.

When the decision is made, the Embassy contacts you. Passports are collected Monday to Thursday from 13:30 to 14:30 and on Friday from 10:00 to 12:00. Check the visa label at once and report any mistake straight away so a corrected visa can be issued. Once your visa is in hand, our flight booking guide covers the next step.

If the visa is refused

The refusal letter gives the reasons. The Federal Foreign Office abolished remonstration, the informal request to reconsider, for visa refusals worldwide from 1 July 2025. You can lodge a new, complete application at any time, and review by a court remains open. Read the reasons, fix what they point to and apply again; resubmitting the same file rarely makes sense.

Other Embassy services students use

Copies are certified on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (08:30 to 10:30) on a walk-in basis, at fees from EUR 20 to EUR 250, so bring your own photocopies. Legalisation of Nepali public documents has stopped. When a German registry office, foreigners authority or court needs a Nepali birth or marriage certificate checked, that office asks the Embassy, which works through a lawyer; applicants cannot start this themselves, and it takes roughly 3 to 6 months.