For a safari holiday in Tanzania we required entry visas. The embassy in Berlin appeared to us to have a very informative website as far as the visa application was concerned - passport, application form, passport photo plus fee of € 50 each in the form of a crossed cheque (Verrechnungsscheck). Applicants are also instructed NOT to submit their visa applications earlier than 3 weeks in advance.
The vital piece of information that was NOT included was that if you are British (or presumably any other nationality than German) and live in Germany, you can only apply for your visa in Germany if you also submit your "Meldebestätigung" (which confirms your residential address). I was told this just 5 days prior to our departure for Tanzania, having phoned the embassy as we had heard nothing from them. I sent a scanned copy of the "Meldebescheinigung" immediately and was told not to worry, the visas would arrive in time. They did - the DAY BEFORE our departure! read more