Germany’s Federal Government Draws a Positive Conclusion for 2024 on the Visa Acceleration Action Plan, Despite a Significant Rise in Lawsuits Against Visa Decisions.
According to a response from the Foreign Ministry to a question from the Left Faction in the Bundestag, reported by the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, the number of visa applications for work and study purposes has increased by 10 and 20 percent, respectively, compared to 2023. Wait times for skilled worker immigration have been reduced.
However, the Left Party views this development with skepticism. “The one-sided focus on high-skilled and work-based immigration falls short” said Clara Bünger, the Left Party’s parliamentary spokesperson, in a statement to the NOZ. “While faster processing of visa applications is good and important, the federal government must not prioritize economic interests over the right to family reunification.” Long waiting and processing times, particularly for family reunification of asylum seekers, are unacceptable, she added.
The visa decisions have brought more work to German courts. According to the Ministry, there were 5,410 lawsuits against visa decisions in the past year, a more than 50 percent increase from the 2,536 cases in 2023. A significant portion of the lawsuits related to family reunification visas, primarily from Syrian applicants, with about a third of the cases being successful.
Details on rejection rates and reasons are no longer publicly available, a criticism leveled by Left Party politician Bünger, who said, “Numbers that were publicly disclosed for almost a decade are now being kept under wraps without a transparent explanation.” This lack of transparency is unacceptable.
In total, 1,999,915 visa applications were processed by German authorities in the past year, an increase of about 80,000 from the previous year. Of these, 1,719,689 visas were granted, 264,553 were rejected (13.3 percent) and 15,673 were withdrawn (0.8 percent). The resulting personnel costs were approximately €125.5 million, while visa fees generated €129.5 million in revenue.