The German government is progressing towards faster processing of skilled worker visa applications. Talking at the labor and skilled worker congress of the Green parliamentary group in Berlin, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed that Germany is now processing the work visa applications quicker than ever reports German newspaper Tagesspiegel.
The best example is at the German embassy in New Delhi, India, the waiting times for a national visa (including work visas) have now been reduced to two weeks. Significant efforts have been made amid the digitization and centralization of procedures involved in processing long-term visa applications. The goal of the German government is to have the entire visa process fully digitized by the end of the current legislative term next year.
Efforts for faster processing of work visas
According to Foreign Minister Baerbock, the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA) in Brandenburg, which assists foreign missions with application processing, is already recognized as the largest national visa office globally. With the help of the projections showing that Germany needs 400,000 skilled workers annually to maintain its workforce levels in the local labor market, it’s expected that the issuance of national visas will need to rise by approximately 63 percent.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr emphasized that speeding up visa procedures is crucial for boosting labor market immigration. He further said:
“Waits of nine months or more would likely drive potential immigrants to other countries. He praised the coalition for significantly speeding up visa processing, stating that this step brings much-needed order to migration policy. Dürr also underscored the necessity of attracting immigrants to the labor market rather than the social security systems.”
Advanced efforts to gain skilled workers
Germany is indeed making a lot of efforts to overcome the shortage of skilled workers in the labor market. The country kept on introducing easy laws for work and training visas. The German skilled worker visa rules were introduced back in November 2023 with the first round. The second round started on March 1, 2024, and brought easy work visa rules for skilled workers. It also made it much easier for vocational training and university preparatory courses student visa holders to work part-time.
The federal government also introduced a job search visa named opportunity card on 1 June 2024, which helps professionals, skilled workers, and degree holders to apply for a year visa without a job offer. From 27 June 2024, the new citizenship law will also help foreigners not only retain dual nationality but also a shorter period for naturalization (5 instead of 8 years).