“Action plan”: How the Federal Foreign Office wants to speed up the issuing of visas

They are people in need who have to endure in crisis areas. They are students who are waiting for a university place in Germany but cannot travel. They are professionals whose families are still stuck in their home country because the interior authorities are still investigating the case.

Germany wants to be an immigration country and to attract workers, also a place of refuge for the persecuted – but the procedures for a visa to Germany are often bureaucratic and lengthy. The waiting times are immense, especially for family reunification, sometimes people have to be patient for more than a year.

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The Federal Foreign Office, headed by Annalena Baerbock (Greens), now wants to significantly speed up and digitize the visa process and expand the offices for processing visa applications in the responsible authorities. The Foreign Ministry is now positioning itself for this with an internal working paper that is available to our editorial team.

“It is clear that we need more than 100 additional visa decision-makers and local employees at the diplomatic missions abroad if we want to process 50,000 to 100,000 more visa applications per year for skilled workers,” the four-page document states entitled “Visa Acceleration Action Plan”, which places a special focus on the immigration of skilled workers.

In the paper, the Federal Foreign Office advertises that the entire visa procedure “from the receipt of the application to processing and communication between the authorities involved and the granting of the visa should be digital”. So far, the application has been made in paper form in almost all cases, which is “inefficient”.

In order to come closer to the goal of the complete digitization of the visa procedure, the Foreign Ministry wants to expand the foreign portal for online applications for skilled worker visas in 2023 and roll it out at the “most important diplomatic missions abroad”. In order for the ministry to be successful with the digital visa procedure, however, other authorities are also required, such as the immigration authorities. This is the responsibility of the federal states and municipalities – not the federal government.

In addition, the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA) is to be strengthened in terms of personnel and better networked with the interior authorities, according to the Federal Foreign Office’s wishes. “Our goal is to reach around 100,000 visas decided on at the BfAA annually by the end of 2024 and thus to quadruple the applications processed there within four years,” says the “Action Plan”. For the increase in personnel, however, the Foreign Ministry still needs the corresponding positions in the upcoming budget plans.

Labor market: Germany needs “up to 400,000 additional skilled workers annually”

The working paper, with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to set up a “modern and unbureaucratic visa procedure”, comprises a total of seven points. The Federal Foreign Office wants to expand German courses abroad and cooperation between the authorities in Germany and the diplomatic missions abroad.

The “Action Plan” states: “Visas serve people, so we want to pay special attention to family reunification. It must be geared towards the needs of families.” The Federal Foreign Office relies on forecasts according to which Germany will need “up to 400,000 additional skilled workers a year”. Many of these workers and their families therefore need a visa to stay in Germany before entering Germany.

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In order to speed up the visa procedure for skilled workers and their family members, the Federal Foreign Office proposes in the “Action Plan” to make visa-free entry “for immediate employment” possible for other “selected visa-exempt countries”.

The Federal Foreign Office also wants to implement “effective instruments” for humanitarian admissions to Germany from war and crisis zones. At the same time, the Foreign Ministry emphasizes: “At the same time, we know that visas can be misused. We still need safeguards that prevent abuse and contain terrorist threats.”

For years there has been sharp criticism from human rights organizations that visa procedures for professionals and humanitarian visas are too bureaucratic. People often have to hold out in crisis regions while part of the family is already living in Germany. At the same time, business associations emphasize the importance of fast visa procedures for recruiting skilled workers. According to statistics, the number of people available to companies on the German labor market is falling by 150,000 every year.

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The SPD, Greens and FDP 2021 had already announced in the coalition agreement that they would accelerate the issuing of visas and make them more digital. Just a few weeks ago, the cabinet decided on key points for easier immigration of skilled workers. The federal government is planning a points system for people moving to the German labor market.

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