I'm a simple emigrant and I love to host guests

I especially love it when relatives or childhood friends come to my neck of the woods. These days that's not so easy. Frankfurt airport has begun to think of itself as the residence of kings: tickets are now far too expensive. German visas were never the easiest to obtain, and now even more so. Nevertheless, visas are issued to Russians in 2025 as well, but only with an official invitation. Such an invitation is super easy to obtain; you need to register for the service Invitation for visitors from abroad. At the appointment you will need a passport, a residence permit, the last three payslips, a form about yourself and your guest, and consent. The invitation costs 29 euros; you can pay in cash or with an EC card. When you apply for this procedure, the confirmation letter in bold states: "if you do not speak German well enough, come with a translator." The same note greets you on-site if you choose English in the ticketing terminal. I hoped that this was only a formality and that it was written for those who can't express themselves in any language at all. And it turned out to be true: my visit was super pleasant. I arrived on time, and after a couple of minutes they invited me in. The loveliest consultant spoke wonderfully, hinted at what I should have written where I was unsure. She had a sore throat, and I tried to remember if I had something in my bag that I could offer her. In the next moment she took a sucking lozenge from the edge of the table, then turned and offered me one too; I was taken aback, but it was very nice. Then she said: "Usually in salary letters they write the office address; you don’t have one, but it’s not a problem, I already googled it." I was taken aback a second time. All the time she was processing the documents, we chatted, joked, and laughed. I told her what the Armenian SSR is, and she told me that her parents moved from America when she was three years old and she is very happy about it: "Every time I come on vacation to my family in America for six weeks, they think that I’m unemployed here." Moreover, all communication was indeed in German, but I’m sure that if needed, I could switch to English. The invitation itself is issued on the spot. The physical original needs to be handed to the guests so they can attach this paper when applying for the visa. Then all that remains is to hope and wait. #useful