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An Iranian colleague will travel from New Zealand to Iran and Europe with the following rough schedule:

New Zealand (currently working here) -> Iran (5 days) ->
Germany (2 days, conference) -> Switzerland (2 days, conference) ->
Germany (to depart) -> Iran.

As he is Iranian, he will need to apply for a Schengen visa in person. Where will he get his visa from? According to the German embassy in NZ, he requires a visa from the German Embassy in Iran, as he is going from there to the Schengen area. But he only has 5 days in Iran, which is not near enough time to apply for and be granted a Schengen visa.

How can my colleague get into Schengen?

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    The correct consulate to apply for a Schengen visa at is the one in your country of residence. Perhaps the person your colleague spoke to somehow got the impression that your colleague lives in Iran and were only present in New Zealand for a short visit? – hmakholm left over Monica Jul 7 '17 at 1:01
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    @HenningMakholm that's good enough for an answer, IMO – JonathanReez♦ Jul 15 '17 at 13:36
  • "as he is going from there": People often speak imprecisely about these sorts of things. They normally think about the common case, which is that the person is traveling to the destination from the country of residence. They also tend to assume that people reside in their country of citizenship. The case that one visits the country of citizenship between leaving the country of residence and arriving at the visa destination is no doubt uncommon. Of course, it wouldn't be necessary to consider these cases if people just stated the rules precisely in the first place, as in pbu's answer. – phoog Jul 15 '17 at 17:08
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Is he resident of New Zealand? If he has a valid residence permit in NZ, he can apply for German visa at the German consulate in Wellington, NZ.

Residents of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Samoa may apply for Schengen Visas at the German Embassy in Wellington.

Source: http://m.wellington.diplo.de/Vertretung/wellington/en/05__ConsularMattersPassports/Living_20and_20working_20in_20Germany/_C3_9CS__Working_20Holiday_20and_20Visa_20Requirements__en.html

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To add to pbu's answer, if he is a resident of New Zealand then the German representation in Iran will not consider his application. My source for this is the page that describes how visa applications are processed at the German embassy in Tehran (emphasis added):

Zuständigkeit

Die Botschaft Teheran ist für Ihren Visumantrag zuständig, wenn:

...

Sie außerdem Ihren gewöhnlichen Aufenthalt in Iran haben. Dies ist der Fall, wenn die Umstände erkennen lassen, dass Sie für mindestens sechs Monate hier verbleiben wollen (z. B. als Student, Arbeitnehmer u. A.). Die Botschaft ist nicht zuständig für iranische Staatsangehörige, die ihren gewöhnlichen Aufenthalt im Ausland haben.

...

Translation:

Jurisdiction

The Tehran embassy is responsible for your visa application if:

...

You furthermore are normally resident in Iran. This is the case if circumstances indicate that you will remain here for at least six months (for example as a student or worker, among others). The mission is not responsible for Iranian citizens who are normally resident abroad.

...

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