ENTreatment in Germany starts with your medical records, not with a visa or a ticket: a German doctor reviews them first, and the hospital, the estimate and the visa depend on that answer. With a diagnosis in hand, it seems everything must happen at once — writing to a hospital, visiting the consulate, finding the money — but the order is reversed: the consulate needs hospital papers, and the hospital needs your records.
The path has five steps: a remote review of the records, the hospital’s invitation, the visa, the journey and the first appointment. How to arrange treatment in Germany is an organisational question, not a medical one, and that is what this article covers.
It starts with your records
Everything begins with a complete set of records for a German doctor to review. You will need discharge letters, recent test results, CT, MRI or PET images on a disc or cloud link — the files, not photos of a screen — histology slides or blocks if tissue was examined, and a list of current medication. Original images matter because a report is only another doctor’s reading, and details it leaves out can change the treatment offered.
Translated into German or English, the file goes to a German doctor, who answers three questions: whether travelling makes sense, which specialist to see and what must be repeated on site. In effect this is a second opinion from a German doctor, and sometimes it shows that the trip is unnecessary.
How long this takes depends on how complete the file is: each missing disc or tissue block adds another round of emails. This step comes before booking flights, because the hospital, the dates and the need for the trip become clear only after the doctor replies.
The invitation letter and the medical visa
A treatment visa rests on two hospital papers: a cost estimate and an invitation letter with an appointment date. The invitation confirms that the patient is expected on a given day for a stated purpose, so without these documents a consulate will generally not process a medical visa application.
Consulates usually ask for the invitation and estimate, proof of funds or prepayment, travel health insurance for the whole stay and separate documents for any companion. Requirements differ by country: the German missions in Saudi Arabia, for example, want a hospital letter stating the appointment or admission date, the reason for treatment, its expected duration and costs, and whether they have been paid; for a companion, the hospital must state that their presence is necessary. Visa types and the application are covered on the medical visa for Germany page.
When waiting is not an option, the steps stay the same but run faster and partly in parallel, with the appointment and flight arranged while the visa is prepared; see urgent treatment and transfer. A tourist visa is technically enough to enter, but the hospital and the consulate treat that as a separate matter, since a visa is issued for the stated purpose, and risking a refusal to save time rarely pays off.
The journey and arrival
How you travel depends on the patient’s condition: someone who can walk takes an ordinary flight, direct or with a connection; for a seriously ill patient the flight is first agreed with the doctor and the airline, which may ask for a fitness-to-fly confirmation, and oxygen, a stretcher and a companion’s seat are booked in advance. Bed-bound patients do fly to Germany for treatment, but by prior arrangement, not on an ordinary ticket.
At the airport the patient is met and driven to the hospital or the accommodation; relatives do best to stay near the hospital. For the first days, have a local SIM card or roaming, some cash and a bank card that works abroad. Details are on the airport pick-up and accommodation page.
What happens at the hospital
The first appointment is a fresh start: the doctor takes the history again, examines the patient and often repeats part of the work-up before proposing the final plan. This is protocol, not distrust: the German doctor answers for the plan and bases it on recent findings obtained to German standards, and a scan from several months ago may no longer show the present picture.
Many German hospitals have international offices for appointments, paperwork and the bill, but an interpreter is needed at the consultation almost always. By law the doctor must explain the nature, risks and alternatives of a procedure orally and understandably (German Civil Code, § 630e); the patient, or someone entitled to act for them, such as a parent for a child, signs the consent and receives copies. Much is decided on the ward round, so know its time and keep the interpreter at hand; see medical interpreter and accompaniment.
Who pays and how much money you need
Without German health insurance, the patient pays the hospital’s bill, and the cost estimate shows in advance how much money is needed. It is a projection, not a fixed price: calculated from the records, it changes if the plan changes after the work-up.
Before admission the hospital usually asks for a deposit of a size it sets itself; after treatment comes the final invoice, and the patient either pays the difference or gets back what was not used. Travel, accommodation for relatives and interpreting are normally not in the estimate. For guide figures, see treatment prices in Germany.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get treatment in Germany?
Follow the order: records, a request to the hospital, estimate and prepayment, visa, journey. After a remote review, if the doctor sees a reason to come, the hospital sends an estimate and an invitation with an appointment date; after prepayment you apply for the visa, and tickets come last. Check the current entry requirements on the German mission’s website in your country before you fly.
How long does it take to prepare the trip?
There is no single timeline: it adds up from preparing the records, the hospital’s reply and the visa decision. An incomplete file slows things most — a disc missing scans, a discharge letter without the histology — because the hospital cannot answer properly and asks for what is missing. Visa processing times vary by consulate, so ask in advance.
Can a bed-bound patient fly to Germany for treatment?
Yes, if the treating doctor considers the flight acceptable and the airline confirms the arrangements in advance. On a scheduled flight a stretcher and, if needed, oxygen are booked, and a companion travels alongside; not every airline offers this. If a scheduled flight is ruled out, an air ambulance with a medical crew is considered.
How AlenMed arranges the trip
AlenMed takes on the organisational side: reviewing and translating the records, finding a hospital and doctor who deal with the condition in earnest, obtaining the hospital’s answer, estimate and visa invitation, meeting the patient, helping with accommodation, accompanying them at appointments and translating the discharge report back. One staff member who speaks the patient’s language handles the case from the first email to the return home, while treatment itself remains a matter for the hospital and the doctor.
The company’s office is in Munich, and it works with 86 partner hospitals in 38 cities and 345 doctors. That matters at the matching stage: hospitals are chosen not by reputation but by checkable criteria — whether the department treats the condition as its main field, holds relevant certification and performs the procedure regularly — and a wider choice makes it easier to find one that meets all three.
This material is for information only and is not an offer. Indications and the scope of treatment are determined by a doctor at an in-person consultation.