The Visa Warning File (VWD) supports authorities in issuing visas. This includes the German diplomatic missions abroad. It supports immigration authorities in checking declarations of commitment.

If you would like to know whether and what information the Visa Warning File stores about your organization, the Federal Office of Administration will provide you with information. To do so, you must submit an application.

The visa warning file stores information about an organization if persons have acted on its behalf and

• act as an inviter, sponsor or reference person in the visa procedure and in doing so
  • have provided false information or
  • have not fulfilled their obligations when making a claim or
• have voluntarily allowed their data to be stored, for example if there is a suspicion that declarations have been made under their name in visa procedures without permission.

The data that the Visa Alert File stores on organizations includes

• Name of the organization
• address
• registered office
• Tasks or area of activity
• the name and location of the register in which the organization is entered, as well as the register number
• the reason for the storage
• the visa warning file number of the Federal Office of Administration
• If a person acts on behalf of an organization, the person's data will also be stored in the WVD.

The application data is stored for up to 10 years, depending on the decision (positive, negative).