Germany work visa: Processing time cut from 9 months to 2 weeks for Indians, ‘aims is to reduce wait time’

Germany work visa: Germany has decreased the time taken to process long-term visas for Indian foreign skilled workers from nine months to two weeks, as per a report by Schengen News.

The report quoted Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying that the country "urgently" needs skilled workers and has thus reduced waiting times for Indian applicants to two weeks.

"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 Baerbock.

Labour Shortages, Jobs Unfilled

In 2023, Germany had around 570,000 job vacancies, as per the German Economic Institute (IW). Further, those invited for training and conferences are also delayed due to prolonged visa processes, as per the report. Also, Indian companies invested in Germany rely on expedited issues of visas to bring their specialists into the country, it added.

The IW told German news publisher Deutsche Welle (DW) that the lost production potential from unfilled jobs is expected to reach €74 billion by 2027.

The report said that, according to data from the Federal Foreign Office, the country granted 80,000 employment-related visas from January to June 2024. Of these, skilled workers comprised 50 per cent of the beneficiaries, with 40,000 issuances — an increase of 3,000 visas for the category compared to the same period in 2023.

The Foreign Ministry launched a 'Visa Acceleration Action Plan' in 2023, but IW felt that this may not have the "best results" and "risks causing an economic loss of €49 billion".

India-Germany Relations Expanding

On August 14, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar welcomed German MPs Jurgen Hardt and Ralph Brinkhaus to India.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Jaishankar said, “A good conversation with German Bundestag MPs Jurgen Hardt and Ralph Brinkhaus today in Delhi. Appreciate their strong and consistent support for the growth of ties. Also exchanged views on developments in our respective regions.”

On August 13, German Ambassador Phillip Ackerman attended the joint exercise ‘Tarang Shakti’ in Silur (Tamil Nadu). This was the first time the German Air Force conducted exercises with the Indian Air Force (IAF), ANI reported.

On August 12, the German Embassy in India and Fraunhofer hosted a conference titled ‘Sustainability: The Technology Imperative for Our Future: German Innovations in India’ in New Delhi, ANI report added.