Germany reduces visa processing time from nine months to two weeks for Indian skilled workers

The German government has reduced the visa processing time for Indian foreign skilled workers, with the waiting time for long-term visas decreasing from nine months to two weeks.

The news was confirmed by the German Foreign Minister, who also pointed out that her government aims to reduce the waiting time for 400,000 people who are affected by long waiting times when they apply for national visas, Schengen.News reported.

“The Federal Agency for Foreign Affairs is the biggest visa office for national visas worldwide already today. And we urgently need skilled workers also here who can continue to support this. In India, in Delhi, we have thus been able to reduce waiting times for national visas to two weeks. That used to take nine months,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

German companies count on visas being quickly issued so that they can fill in labour shortages, such is the case for training courses and conferences.

In addition, Indian companies that invest in Germany also rely on visas being issued promptly and have their specialists sent to the EU country quickly.

“With an open society, with a genuine culture of welcome… one that starts in our embassies and visa offices, but which stretches as far as the kindergarten around the corner,” said the Foreign Minister.

Germany needs new workers as the German Institute (IW) has revealed that there were 570,000 unfilled jobs in Germany in 2023. This is affecting the country’s economy, which could be working better and faster if there were more workers.

Workers can come to Germany if their visas are processed faster and can revive the economy of “the sick man of Europe”. IW told DW that the lost production potential is expected to reach €74 billion by 2027.

According to the Federal Foreign Office, Germany has granted 80,000 visas for employment purposes between January and June of 2024.

Skilled workers were the main beneficiaries of national visas for this period, as half of the visas (40,000) were granted to this group. That is 3,000 more visas than in the first half of 2023.

This initiative is part of the “Visa Acceleration Action Plan”, which was started by the Foreign Ministry last year. However, the implementation of such a plan might not bring the best results as the German Economic Institute (IW) reveals that it risks causing an economic loss of €49 billion.

Source: Schengen News