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I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places (varies from Bundesland to Bundesland or even from town to town), it is possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not. Note that if things go wrong, your sponsor will still be held responsible for any costs caused by you that exceed the deposit.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.

I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places (varies from Bundesland to Bundesland or even from town to town), it is possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not. In any case, this means that the sponsor pays the deposit to the Ausländerbehörde and gets it back after you have returned to your home country and shown your passport (with exit stamp) at the embassy (in case you decide you do not want to travel, the sponsor gets his money back after the visa expires and you show your passport (without entry stamp) at the embassy). Note that if things go wrong, your sponsor will still be held responsible for any costs caused by you that exceed the deposit.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.

Additionally, the embassy will require a health insurance for the Schengen area, so at least this rather considerable financial risk is already taken care of.

I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places (varies from Bundesland to Bundesland or even from town to town), it is possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.

I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places (varies from Bundesland to Bundesland or even from town to town), it is possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not. Note that if things go wrong, your sponsor will still be held responsible for any costs caused by you that exceed the deposit.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.

I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places, it is (was?) possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.

I assume your friend is willing to go to the Ausländerbehörde (foreigner office) and sign a Verpflichtungserklärung (sponsorship form). This would imply that you are travelling on a visitor visa rather than a tourism visa.

The Verpflichtungserklärung is a formal document in which your friend declares that he will accept any financial responsibilities that may arise from your visit. If there are any problems that lead to detention or even deportation, the related costs will be collected from your sponsor.

The Ausländerbehörde will mark on that document whether his income is above a certain threshold and if (and how) both of you are related (e.g. siblings, cousins, not related etc). The data from this document is then sent to the German embassy abroad, and (I think) additionaly you are expected to hand in the document when you apply for a visa. If your sponsor said that you are related, the embassy may also request evidence such as birth certificates.

My limited experience with the whole process is

• Sponsorship letters from people that do not meet the income threshold are only useful if the sponsored person has a sufficient regular income. Since your sponsor is a student and you do not have much money either, this looks like a rather big problem.
• In some places (varies from Bundesland to Bundesland or even from town to town), it is possible to replace this monthly income requirement with a financial deposit of several thousand Euros. But I am not really sure if that is considered a full equivalent to a monthly income or not.
• Sponsorship letters from friends are a lot less useful than sponsorship letters from family members. The reasoning probably has to do with family members being more aware of the financial risks involved in these sponsorship letters.
• Even if you hand in a sponsorship letter from a relative with a good monthly income, the visa can still be denied. This is more likely if you are young, do not have a good job and/or property, are unmarried and do not have children.