Definitely difficult to find parking, paid or not. Do not count on getting lucky, I arrived 25 minutes before the scheduled appointment and just barely made it in time - had to park half a mile away where I finally found a spot after nearly 20 mins and then ran to Consulate. Also make sure to leave enough time on your parking meter - I paid for an hour and was concerned about getting towed since the people in front of me ran a good bit late and I had to wait 20minutes past my appointment time. There is no A/C in the waiting room so it took me a while to cool down after my run, beware on hot days. The Consulate is gated and you will only be let in if your name is on the appointment list. The lady behind the counter receiving my visa application was very nice. Be nice yourself and you will get treated fairly as well. Do make sure to have all your paperwork in order per website instructions, and that all your documents are clear and readable. Make sure the barcode on your application is printed at 100% and not shrunk. If additional unlisted paperwork is needed, you will be given a checklist with options to email, fax or courier. read more

Huge fan of this consulate. Needed a last minute appointment for Schengen visa. Reached out to this consulate and they gave me a next week appointment. Hassle free. I wish the Germans gave a long visa but great service nevertheless. read more

Feels weird writing a review for a consulate, but I am really impressed. We had gone to the consulate to apply for Visas, and the whole process was a breeze. No lines, and we got the visas as communicated. The staff was really helpful. I've been to another European consulate, and this one was just far better! read more

By far one of the best visa process I ever had. And believe me, I mean that, I hold an Indian passport and have to get Visa for pretty much everywhere. The consulate is in nice and quiet locality. Easy to find and navigate. There is a gate where is says you to ring the bell, if you don't see anyone ring the bell, otherwise just wave at them and say you have an appointment. They will let you after checking the appointment schedule. Security will check any handbag or backpack you have. No cellphones are allowed inside, but there is a cellphone only locker free of cost, security will ask you to put your cellphone in and give you the keys. Inside there are 2 windows, one for Visa and other for Passport. I had visa appointment and the process was easy and took about 7 mins. Make sure you have cash as the consulate does not accept cards. read more

I cannot believe that those people represent Germany abroad. So I need to apply for a working visa to Germany. And I need to ask a few questions since my situation is a little complicated. I emailed them twice. No response. I left a message. No response. I called for 15 times. Only two times went through. The first time was a lady who answered my phone. And she did not really answer my question. Second time was a guy. He only said that I should make an appointment and take all my paper work to the consulate. Then they would tell me if I can apply or not. For God's sake, no appointment is available for the next 20 days. Which means I have to prepare all the application material and then wait for twenty days only to find out if they would take my application or not. PS: Since I cannot get an answer from SF. I called the LA consulate. The people are really rude. They literally said that " Don't you know we have an office in SF? Don't you know we have different jurisdictions? I cannot help you. My boss need to help the next person". I also called Washington. They declined to answer my questions even after I told them that I tried to contacted SF office and failed. Is this the typical German attitude? It makes me not want to go anymore... Well the only polite person is the operator at SF office. She keeps helping transfer my call to the visa department during those 15 times since most of the time no one was picking up at the visa department and I kept calling. And she use the phrase" Good morning". read more

had visa appointment 1st week in August 2016 and got my passport with visa stamp on August 11, 2016 Awesome Service, Staff was very supporting and Nice If you have all the required documents are in place and arranged in a required manners/sequence than no need to worry about it read more

As Consulates go, this one is efficient, helpful and even friendly! First of all, you will need an appointment to get inside the gate. You can make one for various reasons - passport, visa, citizenship issues - on their website and be sure to bring your printed confirmation with you. Also make sure you bring any documentation you might need with you, otherwise you will have to go back. Ursla was very helpful in guiding me through the naturalization process and answered all of the questions I had. Dankeschoen! read more

Interesting that my very thorough review of one month ago does not show up here. Wonder what protocol is kicking in. I didn't even use any colorful words. So, my story: I called the SF Consulate in early August and did not get specific answers to questions I had about acquiring a working Visa as a freelancer. In fact, as I asked more specific questions (and this was why i was calling: the website did not provide answers to what I was asking) the woman I spoke to became testy, exactly as has been reported by others here. I'm sorry, I thought this was the job, to provide information. I called back another day, hoping for someone else. Same thing. Worse, in fact, as she seemed to recognize me. When I called the Washington German consulate, I did get some advice, somewhat contradictory. When I then called back SF to confirm what I'd been told (as it included detail she had not provided) this same woman asked me - seemingly angry - "Why did you call Washington?" Needless to say, she did not illuminate anything. I am getting on a flight in a few weeks. My girlfriend in Munich is meanwhile trying to see if anyone there will answer our rather simple questions about the checklist of requirements so I have the necessary documentation when I go. This is some seriously dysfunctional horse-puckie, ladies and gentleman. read more

German Embassies and consulates all over the world seem to have the same vibe! LOL They are strict on details, cold borderline rude, unwelcoming and treat everyone like crap! I have to say though that once you open your mouth with German, the process becomes much smoother and they are just cold without the rude part. I am an Egyptian citizen married to an EU citizen (I require a visa, but get it for free), my sister lives in Germany and I speak fluent German (long story). I filled the application online and printed it. Initially I started the process in English and the lady was unhappy to be answering any questions I had, plus I forgot to make a copy of my green card. Annoyed is the right word. She was annoyed to be working and I prevented her from not working LOL I switched to German (knowing how Germans soften once one speaks in German), she did soften and even gave me a smile at some point. Then she was interested in knowing my trip plan, since I am asking for a multiple entry visa; it seemed like she was actually interested in the story :) Or maybe I kid myself, but she did not sound quite as annoyed. When I wanted the passport to be sent to me, it cost $18, I had $20 and she had no change ????? Anyways, thank God I managed to collect change from my bag, my husband and a couple of coins to make up the $18. And she gave me a smile too :) Overall, I was not surprised at my experience! read more

Horrible, horrible experience renewing my passport. It has been 1.5 years and the passport still hasn't been renewed, despite me having all the required paperwork and dozens of phone calls. They have made so many mistakes and have basically been hostile, even after they admit to those mistakes. Terrible service, very rude, and incredibly unprofessional. read more

I am not very happy with the place. I need to travel to Germany on the 25th. I am having a conference at Germany. However, there is no appointments for the visa application up until June. I was told to check if there are cancellations. BUT I KEEP DOING THAT FROM THE BEGINNING OF APRIL. I also went to the consulate directly to see if I can talk to someone and the guard did not even let me in. So far, bad experience. Anyone wants to give their reservation to me ? read more

It is currently taking 9 WEEKS for even an appointment. That is crazy! It takes 24-48 hours to get an Indian visa where everything is done online especially if you have been to the country before. And to think that the German system is way worse than the Indian system is ... really bizarre! What happened to German efficiency? Why would they make getting a visa so difficult for an American who has already been to their country? Very disappointed. :-( read more

One of the most efficient consulates ever!! I opted for mail-in application as it was my second time applying through German consulate. The next day after my documents reached, I got a call regarding a missing signature. They asked to sign the paper and send a scanned copy of it. Next day, the visa was issues and mailed back to me. read more

I have been trying to call and make an appointment. for 5 days in a row I get the message: Our operators are currently busy, please call back...click No ability to hold or leave a message...very fine GERMAN customer service so far I hope once I get through the experience improves read more

Very unprofessional service. I came here to renew my German passport which was about to expire. The guy behind the counter was very rude and impatient. When I asked him how long he thinks the process is going to take he said: "Das ist dein Kaese!" (That is your cheese, not mine!) The woman on the counter told me that I will receive a call within 4-6 weeks that my passport is going to be ready to be picked up. After not hearing from them for 8 weeks, I called them and the woman on the phone told me to call back another time, everyone is about to go on their lunch break. When I called the next day another woman told me that my passport is going to be ready in 2 weeks. 2 days later I get a call that my passport is now ready to be picked up. Very disappointed by the service here. read more

The staff members I dealt with were friendly, courteous and professional. One recommendation I have for anyone dealing with consular matters is to do your research and show up prepared. read more

Booked an 8:00 am appointment one month back Arrived at 7:30 am, its hard to find parking, but there are free spots around in the morning if you are lucky. Got inside at 7:55 am, my name was on the list The whole process was smooth, i was out in 20 mins. I had all the documents arranged in order. Lady at the consulate was very courteous, checked my original documents and gave me a Fedex form to fill, they use priority overnight shipping, visa arrives after 5 business days. It's better to book 8:00 am appointment, less crowded and convenient. read more

I would give more than 5 for the service I received. Booked refundable tickets through Lufthansa without knowing the new requirement of airport transit visa if the US visa is expired. Only option was to get the German visa and when I looked on to their portal for appointment where the latest available dates was Sep 19th. But due to email request and being on waitlist, Team at German Consulate SF(Specifically Monika who called me up) provided me an appointment in very short time and I was ready with all the documents. At the consulate office we were the last one as per appointment, we were on time with all the required documents, process went very smooth. Visa officer Carina verified all the documents and took our passport. Overall we are very thankful to the German Consulate team at SF. Just within a week our stress level was reduced by half because of the smooth process at consulate office. Received my passport with visa within 4 days from the appointment date. Thanks again German Consulate Team! read more

Generally very easy to take care of some errands there. But why can Germans taking care of their business pay by credit card while visa applicants in the room next door have to pay in cash? read more

German Consulate General - Embassy Near Me - San Francisco, California

All the reviews here had scared the hell out of my. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. When I called for a few questions I had , they were considerate & heard me out. Infact one guy was actually waiting while I looked up for some details in my inbox. Had it not been for him, I'd to actually postpone my trip coz I was not able to get an appointment in switz consulate, which was my first choice. The security at the gate was so warm & welcoming. Even though I'd reached on time I'd to wait for about 10-15 minutes. This actually help me calm myself down. And the lady issuing visa was so patient & calm. Especially after visiting an American consulate which is soo stressful this was awesome. Even the ambience inside is very good. Nice wooden interiors . Calm & nice location . Not too hard to find parking. Am soo. Glad I chose this consulate. read more

We had a good experience here getting a passport for our son. Its in a random residential neighborhood in SF so parking can be a pain. We were in and out quick enough and were delighted to receive decent customer service from the Germans (which is rare). The staff was friendly (or as friendly as German customer service gets) and helped us with the process and paperwork. As for people with the bad reviews I can totally understand where they are coming from. Germans are notorious for being robots and unfriendly regarding customer service. If your paperwork is not in line I could definitely see how they become annoyed but if you show up squared away you shouldn't have an issue. read more

Contrary to what I read in most of the bad reviews here, I had a good experience with the staff at the German Consulate. I went there for Short term visa and came prepared. The staff were nice, efficient and down to the point. If you come prepared and did all your research then there shouldn't be any problem. Got my visa 1 week later. Bonus points because I was about 15 mins late due to extreme Bay Bridge traffic, I explained to them why I was late and they were still accomodating. read more

Horrible experience. I have in many occasions met with German people and my experience have always been pleasant. My expectation that German embassy would embody that very pleasantness was a grave mistake. The person who interviewed was extremely rude and not patient at all during the interactions with me. Of course I understand, the German embassy representatives are expert in what they do especially as you do this day in and day out, but that does not make people like us experts in that. Patience is something such government officials needs to have, which the person who interviewed me lacked 100%. I should have tried and provided this feedback at the German embassy itself, but I hope someone from the embassy sees this and takes this as an area of improvement. All that needs to be done, is training on how to be compassionate to people who come. read more

Staff were very accommodative and flexible, contrary to few other reviews. They treat with respect. Few things to note: 1. Their website is a complete mess. You need to be a human Google to find any meaningful information navigating their website. Do your research in gathering all necessary documents. 2. If you did miss any documents, finding a place to print is not easy. 3. Finding a parking nearby is not easy. Take a taxi. 4. Getting someone answer over phone is almost impossible. Try emails instead. 5. Allow yourself 2-3 weeks for passport to be ready. Regardless of lack of technology and lack of process, the staff are very helpful. read more

Yahoo! Worst consulate experience in my life! Emails? They don't respond. Phone calls? Well, they have to pick up the phone in the working hours. However, there are many ways to deflect you. First, they can promise to call you back. Of course, they won't. Then they can redirect your to an automated response system where they will explain to you in many words that they will handle your application with "utmost efficiency". There is no way to leave a message on this system, by the way, so redirecting serves purely sadistic purposes. Then, they can put you on hold and leave you there for some time to cool down and meditate about the true value of time and life. Then, of course, they will drop the call. If you live a message off the working hours, it is obvious that they will not respond. I highly enjoyed the diversity of the ways of putting a potential visitor in his place. Unfortunately, it does not look that I will be able to continue experiencing this joy in Germany. The utmost efficiency of the German consulate left me without visa. read more

I have to say I travel a lot, and I had an opportunity to visit a lot of embassies, by-far this German Consulate provides the best service. They have a pretty good website which will help you, get all the necessary documents you need for the interview. Also out of all other embassies in Bay Area, German Embassy has the fastest available appointments. They also called couple days in advance to confirm my appointment. When I was at the Consulate they called my name at the exact time my appointment was scheduled(they don't overbook like some other embassies do). Their staff was very helpful and explaining their Visa process, they were also trying to save me money by suggesting to pick up the passport instead of mailed out. Overall Great Service,,,,, read more

Seriously flawed - Telephone system leads you nowhere, non-responsive service. emails don't get answered. It says public hours from 9 to noon, but it's actually not open - you need an appointment to get in. Nobody responds when you call. I wanted to renew the passport, and stood in front of the building, without getting in. I called the emergency number and the embassy in Washington answers. They gave me another email to use, and then told " Jetzt ist aber Schluss!" German efficiency? What a joke. Germany should be ashamed of this! read more

They were super friendly and on time. The lady handled everything super quick. I'm amazed! I've only ever been to an US embassy and must say, it's really nice to get treated with dignity and respect unlike at the American embassy. read more

I'm very unhappy with the experience at German consulate Atlanta. Next time will try other country consulate. I've prepared everything but the visa officer said I'm missing 5 items and in the end 2 hours later I've given up cuz I've only brought credit card and check... These people are the most difficult people to work with, they follow the letter of the law to an illogical extent, they try to apply existing rules to non applicable situations. The worst part is the people's attitude, they don't care! They're very snarky and useless, you can't talk to them like humans, because the part of the human brain that extrapolates based on given information is not there. read more

I had a great experience with the German Consulate regarding a Schengen tourist visa. It took only 5 work days for me to get my passport back. As long as you bring the necessary materials outlined on the website, you should have no trouble getting the visa. Even if you do forget something, they allow documents to be e-mailed to them, which is super convenient. I noticed that the staff at the visa window doesn't necessary call out your name when it is your appointment time. Instead, you should approach the window when it's about time. If this is your first time applying for a Schengen visa, they usually only approve you for the dates shown on your flight itinerary. If you apply again in the future, they will give you a visa with longer validity. read more

Called to get information about bringing my American wife to Germany. The switchboard operator answered without any friendliness, as if I had disturbed her; same happened when I got connected to the VISA section, asking about necessary paperwork or information. The reply was "you did not do your research?" after I asked if documents needed to be legalized. Well, I am sorry! Their customer service score: ZERO! Good luck! read more

Good luck to anyone who's trying to make an appointment and apply for a visa. I encountered so many hurdles on the way of getting the things done right and efficiently, only to find out that there are some special tricks and unlisted rules to get your travel visa in time. Sorry for taking it here, but i feel like there are not so many ways to get heard and to ask for help. And I just felt like it's not fair or right. And of course I am very disappointed to be canceling my travel plans last minute, because appointment system eternally encountered an error and my phone calls and emails were never returned, even though I tried to start the process three months ahead of my planned trip. Icing on the cake: Almost 3 months after my first attempt to get a hold of the consulate and after canceling my trip, I received a call from a consulate staff member who nicely explained me that I didn't need an in-person visit and submitting my documents via mail is enough, since I had another Schengen visa from a different country granted less than 3 years ago. And that I was supposed to learn it from the website. I went back to the website again and after reading each line on tourist visa section, I still don't see this info :( read more

I'm a Russian citizen, and having gotten used to the cold harshness of the Russian consulate employees (even towards their own Russian-speaking people), I was fully prepared to be petrified of the Germans when I applied for a tourist visa here. To my surprise, the entire process was quick even by mail (received my visa exactly a week after I mailed in my docs). Even more surprisingly, every time I called, the person on the other end was courteous and willing to put up with my barrage of paranoia-induced questions, without being condescending at all. As far as consular experiences go, this was about as good as it can get! read more

Window service is ok, they told me to take a week to receive it, but waited for 2 weeks, when called, the lady is rude, she said I need to wait for 2-3 weeks after hanged up my phone for 2 times... Called back 3 days later, finally get processed, I saw the time to process is on the same day as I called in the second time... When try to talk to the supervisor, the lady said there is no such person and she refuse to tell me her name... It's a mess, totally mess up my thought about Germany, wouldn't go for vacation if I know it earlier, recommend guys to pick up the visa in person. read more

Reading all the previous reviews, I was a little nervous about receiving the visa (if approved) on time. I had my trip scheduled exactly 3 weeks from the appointment. I was pleasantly surprised to get my passport fedexed overnight within 2 days of my appointment. Tuesday 12:15 was my appointment in San Francisco and I had the stamped passport delivered to me in Washington on Thursday morning at 10:15am. The lady who collected my documents and fingerprints was super nice and helpful. They were also nice enough to let me in and process my case although I went there nearly an hour earlier!! My visa validity was only for the duration of the trip - I think this is probably because this is my first time to Europe. read more

This is the worst experience I ever had getting a visa. First of all they won't let you go inside and talk to any one if you have questions and when you call, there is no way to get thru and talk to a live person which is ridiculous and annoying and they are very rude and unprofessional. I am planning to change my travel plans to a different country instead. I would definitely not recommend going to this consulate and deal with their unprofessional people. VISIT A DIFFERENT COUNTRY IF YOU PLAN TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE, NOT GERMANY. read more

Everybody on her saying the stuff is rude probably came unprepared. German's like people who did their research before coming there and actually bring all the paper work they needed to bring. Myself being German and being raised that way had no problem and have to say the staff... Especially Mrs Butler were SUPER nice and helpful and went out of their way to help me ! I wish I could hug her! read more

Very unfriendly, unsupporting and cranky staff. Among all the EU consulates it is the worst one. Why would Germans deliberately spoil an impression about their country? read more

Very efficient service, everyone is helpful, nice and accommodating. The processing is quick. The building is like a mansion converted to an office. The consular service is a parlor/small ballroom with an elegant chandelier and a big table in the middle to do your paperwork. read more

1 star is only because i can not choose 0 stars. I got tourist visa from them. Then had to change my plans in Germany and they refused extend visa just 1 day forward. The woman in consulate said: "I don't BELIEVE you did not know you need more days." WTF!!! She is not there to believe or not. I'm going to their country to spend money and such attitude is not acceptable. I will stay away from German consulate in SF. Rude and irrespective. Think twice before going to that consulate to apply for visa. Try to choose something more friendly like France or Italy. read more