Invitation Letter for a Visa: Template, Sample and What to Include

An invitation letter is a signed letter from the person or company you are visiting, confirming who they are, who you are, why you are coming, where you will stay and for how long. Your host writes it and you file it with your visa application. This page gives you the 8 points it needs, a fill-in template, 2 sample letters and the countries that want an official form instead, as of October 2026.

What an invitation letter is and who writes it

The host is whoever you are visiting: a relative or friend you will stay with, a company that has invited you to meetings, or the organizer of a conference or other event. They write and sign the letter, not you.

In a Schengen application the letter answers 2 questions at once: why you are traveling and where you will sleep. The Visa Code’s list of supporting documents names “an invitation from the host if staying with one” for private visits, an invitation from a firm or an authority for business trips, and an invitation or program naming the host organization for events. You file it with your passport, insurance and bank statements, and it replaces none of them.

Three letters get mixed up in a visa file, and each comes from someone different:

• Invitation letter: from your host. It confirms the visit, the dates and where you will stay.
• Sponsorship letter: from whoever pays, which can be your host too. It is a promise to cover your costs, backed by evidence of the sponsor’s own funds.
• Cover letter: from you. It sets out the trip in your own words, and its dates should match the invitation night for night.

What to include in an invitation letter

Keep it to 1 page, date it and sign it. It needs these 8 points:

1. The host: full name, date of birth, nationality, address, phone, email, and passport or ID card number. A host who is not a citizen adds their residence permit type, number and expiry date.
2. The guest: full name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and home address.
3. The relationship: “my mother”, or “a friend since we studied together in 2014”.
4. The purpose: 1 sentence, such as a family visit, a wedding or the birth of a grandchild.
5. The dates: arrival and departure, matching the guest’s flight reservation and insurance.
6. The accommodation: the full address, and whether it is free of charge.
7. The costs: who pays for flights, insurance, food and day-to-day spending.
8. The signature: signed and dated, with the host’s name printed underneath.

The list mirrors what EU law puts on the official forms some countries use instead of a letter.

For a guest staying with family or friends, the invitation takes the place of a hotel booking as proof of where they will sleep, so it has to cover every night of the stay.

The host attaches a copy of their passport or ID card, their residence permit if they are not a citizen, and proof of address, such as a registration certificate or tenancy agreement. Germany’s missions in India, for example, ask for the host’s signature, proof of address and a copy of their passport or German ID card. For a family visit, the Visa Code also lists proof of family ties with the host, such as a birth or marriage certificate.

Invitation letter template

Copy this, replace every bracketed field and delete any line that does not apply. The host signs it.

[Your full name], [your full address], [your phone number], [your email]

[City], [date]

To the Visa Section, [Embassy or Consulate of country] in [city]

Invitation for [guest’s full name], passport number [passport number]

I, [your full name], born on [your date of birth], am a citizen of [country] / hold a [type of residence permit], number [permit number], valid until [expiry date]. I live at [your full address] and work as [your job].

I invite [guest’s full name], born on [guest’s date of birth], a citizen of [country], passport number [passport number], who lives at [guest’s address]. [Guest’s first name] is my [relationship].

The purpose of the visit is [purpose]. [Guest’s first name] will arrive on [arrival date] and leave on [departure date], and will stay with me at [address of the accommodation] for all [number] nights, free of charge.

[Guest’s first name] will pay for [what the guest pays for]. I will pay for [what you pay for].

Enclosed: a copy of my [passport, ID card or residence permit] and proof of my address, [name of the document].

Please contact me at [phone number] or [email] with any questions.

[Your signature]
[Your full name]

Sample invitation letter for a Schengen visa

This is an invented sample. The people, addresses and numbers are not real.

Samuel Mensah, Lindenstraße 48, 50674 Cologne, Germany, +49 151 0000 4821, samuel.mensah@example.com

Cologne, 15 March 2027

To the Visa Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Accra

Invitation for Abena Mensah, passport number G2849173

I, Samuel Mensah, born on 9 August 1988, am a citizen of Ghana and hold a German settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis), card number Y8F2K71N3, valid until 14 March 2031. I have lived in Cologne since 2016 and work as a software engineer.

I invite my mother, Abena Mensah, born on 2 May 1961, a citizen of Ghana, passport number G2849173, who lives at House 12, Kotobabi Road, Accra. She is a retired teacher.

The purpose of her visit is to meet her granddaughter, born on 20 January 2027. She will arrive in Cologne on 4 June 2027 and leave on 25 June 2027. For all 21 nights she will stay with us at Lindenstraße 48, 50674 Cologne, in her own room, free of charge.

My mother will pay for her return flight, her travel medical insurance and her personal spending from her own savings. I will provide her room and meals at no cost.

Enclosed: copies of my passport and residence permit, my registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung), my tenancy agreement, and my birth certificate naming Abena Mensah as my mother.

Please contact me at +49 151 0000 4821 or samuel.mensah@example.com with any questions.

Samuel Mensah (signed)

The letter covers the room and the reason. Abena’s own file still carries her bank statements, insurance for 4 to 25 June and a flight reservation for the same dates.

Countries that use an official form instead of a letter

Article 14(4) lets each Schengen country require its own sponsorship or accommodation form, and some use a guarantee. These are the ones national rules and consulate checklists name, as of October 2026.

Country	Document	Who issues or certifies it	What it means for the host
Germany	Verpflichtungserklärung (formal obligation letter)	The local foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) or a German mission abroad	€29 fee; the host repays public money spent on the visitor’s living costs, housing and medical or nursing care for 5 years from entry
France	Attestation d’accueil	The town hall (mairie) where the visitor will stay; the host applies in person	€30 in tax stamps, not refunded if refused; needed for a private or family visit under 3 months
Czech Republic	Official invitation issued by the police	The police of the host’s place of residence	The Embassy in Amman wants the original
Belgium	Letter of guarantee	Signed by the host, authenticated by the host’s municipal administration	An optional way to prove funds; covers stay, health care, accommodation and repatriation
Malta	Declaration of proof	Form from Identità (formerly Identity Malta), witnessed and notarized	Needed when a host in Malta pays costs or provides accommodation
Italy	Fidejussione or polizza fidejussoria (bank or insurance guarantee)	An Italian bank or insurer	For a hosted applicant without enough money of their own

The Czech, Maltese and Italian rows come from single consulate checklists (Amman, Libya and London), so check them with the consulate that covers your guest.

Under section 68 of the Residence Act, whoever signs Germany’s formal obligation letter repays public money spent on the visitor for 5 years from the entry it made possible. Germany’s missions in India list it as an optional item for a sponsor living in Germany.

Staying with a host can also lower the daily amount of money you must show: in the Commission’s reference amounts table dated 8 June 2026, Belgium sets €45 a day for a visitor staying with a private host and €95 a day for one in a hotel.

Business and event invitation letters

A business invitation comes from the company or organization you are visiting, on its letterhead, signed by someone who can speak for it. The Czech Embassy in Amman, for example, wants a company invitation signed and sealed, with the signatory’s name, position and contact details. On top of the 8 points above, it names the company and its address, the purpose (meetings, training or a trade fair, with the program if there is one) and who pays for travel, accommodation and daily costs.

For a UK business event or conference, the gov.uk guide to supporting documents, updated 8 October 2026, asks for a letter of invitation from the event organizer. A permitted paid engagement, such as a talk at a conference that has invited you to speak, needs an invitation letter from the UK organization showing why you are doing it and how long it lasts.

Invitation letter for a UK visit

For a family or private visit, the same guide covers your host under sponsorship. If someone in the UK pays for your travel or stay, or puts you up, you show what support they give and how, that they can also support themselves and their dependants, how you are related, and their legal status in the UK, such as a British passport. The guide lists notarial certificates and a sponsor’s utility and council tax bills among the documents that are less useful as evidence.

Invitation letter for a US visitor visa

For a US B1/B2 visa the letter is optional. The US Embassy in Uzbekistan states that it is not a required document, that its consular section has no specific requirements for one, and that it does not assume the writer bears responsibility for the visitor’s actions. The US Embassy in Armenia adds that in most cases a letter does not heavily influence the officer’s decision, and that a relative’s promise of support is usually not enough to show strong ties to home.

So keep a US letter short and factual, and put the effort into your own evidence of work, family and property at home. The consular section in Armenia does not accept or screen support letters before the appointment unless it asks for them, so you bring the letter to the interview.

This is an invented sample. The people, addresses and numbers are not real.

Liza Ramos, 2417 Maple Ridge Drive, Columbus, OH 43221, +1 614 555 0187, liza.ramos@example.com

Columbus, February 8, 2027

To the Consular Section, US Embassy in Manila

Visit of Ramon Ramos, passport number P4827561B

I am a US citizen, born on June 14, 1990, and I work as a registered nurse in Columbus, Ohio.

I invite my father, Ramon Ramos, born on October 3, 1958, a citizen of the Philippines, passport number P4827561B, of 14 Mabini Street, Marikina City, to attend my wedding on May 15, 2027.

He plans to arrive on May 8, 2027 and leave on May 26, 2027. For all 18 nights he will stay with my fiancé and me at 2417 Maple Ridge Drive, free of charge. He will pay for his own flights and spending money, and we will cover his meals and local travel.

My father owns a hardware store in Marikina City, which my brother will run while he is away.

Enclosed is a copy of my US passport. Please contact me at the number or email above with any questions.

Sincerely,
Liza Ramos (signed)

How to write and send the letter

8 steps from the consulate checklist to the appointment

1. Read the checklist of the consulate your guest applies to, to see whether it wants a plain letter or an official form.
2. Agree the dates with your guest, so the letter matches their flight reservation, insurance and cover letter.
3. Fill in the template on 1 page, with your residence permit details if you are not a citizen.
4. Sign and date it, with your name printed under the signature.
5. Copy your passport or ID card, your residence permit and your proof of address.
6. Add proof of the family tie for a relative, and evidence of your funds if you are paying.
7. Send a scan by email, and the signed original by post or courier if the checklist asks for originals.
8. Remind your guest to bring the letter and its enclosures to the appointment or interview.

Every date and address in the letter should match the rest of the file. Under Article 32 of the Visa Code, reasonable doubts about whether a supporting document is authentic or its contents true are grounds to refuse the visa.