Schengen Visa Germany (London post)

I was very impressed with the Italian visa application centre in London, although the office is difficult to find I was seen promptly as soon as I arrived and the staff at the counter were relaxed and helpful. My visa came through in 7 days but the oly downer was that i had to queue for half an hour to collect it; they do have there options to have it delivered to home address. It really is a straightforward process if you prepare all the documents they request and have enough funds to cover your trip. I'm looking forward to my holiday now!

The Germany Embassy in London is awful if you're a tourist wanting to obtain a Schengen Visa (a visa that let's non EU people travel around Europe).

I have obtained a few of these visas before (Spain, France and the Netherlands). In all the other countries I had little trouble in obtaining the visa and to be honest, I had no trouble in getting my visa from the German embassy in London. So what was the problem? It was the massive hassle I had to go through to get it.

Instead of being able to go through an agent (as I don't like taking days off work simply to get a visa) as MANY real embassies do, I could not. Also the Germany Embassy has not yet caught up with the times as it still does NOT have any features to use your Visa/Mastercard. But perhaps the worst of all was the length of time the visa was valid for. I was given a mere 3 days after paying almost GBP80.00!

How can any decent embassy think that is worth it? When I went through the French, I obtained a 6 month visa for the same price.

If you're looking for a Schengen Visa to travel around Europe, I'd suggest that you avoid the German Embassy in London like the plague! Rather go to another European country.

Pros: Fast Service (it only took 4 working days)

Cons: Poor value for money, had to pay cash (no 21st century equipment), waste of time, VERY expensive setup (you had to dial a premium number that charges 1GBP a minute. This call lasts a total of 15 minutes!)