The Visa Warning File (VWD) is intended to prevent the misuse of visas when entering Germany. It primarily supports the authorities responsible for issuing visas. These include the German diplomatic missions abroad.

If you would like to know whether and what information the Visa Warning File stores about you, the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) will provide you with information. You must submit an application for this.

The visa warning file stores information about persons (and organizations) if you

• have been convicted of a specific criminal offense.
  • Relevant criminal offenses include human trafficking, forced prostitution, narcotics offenses and illegal employment.

• have submitted, procured or produced forged or falsified documents as a person applying for a visa or have obtained authentic documents by providing false information.
• acted as an inviting person, a person making a commitment or a 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 your data to be stored, for example if there is a suspicion that declarations have been made under your name in visa procedures without permission.

The data that the visa warning file stores on individuals includes

• Personal details:
  • Surname, first name
  • different spellings of names
  • other names and former names
  • Gender
  • date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • nationality

• the reason for the storage
• the visa warning file number of the Federal Office of Administration

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