Germany to scrap free appeals for rejected visas

From July 1, anyone whose visa for travelling to Germany has been rejected will no longer be able to appeal the decision for free. Here’s what applicants should know:

Visa rejection appeals no longer free in Germany from July

Until now, anyone who had their German visa application rejected could appeal the decision for free within one month of being notified. This appeal process, also known as “remonstration”, forces the German authorities to reconsider the application. 

If immigration authorities concluded for a second time that the application should be rejected, they were required to issue an explanation of the rejection in writing, also known as a “Remonstration Notice”. 

Unsuccessful applicants could also appeal their Remonstration Notice, but only by filing their case with the Administrative Court in Berlin, which costs 483 euros in court fees. This is on top of the 1.500 to 2.500 euros typically charged for legal advice.

From July 1, the first and free stage of this appeal process will be scrapped, meaning that anyone who would like to appeal their remonstration may have to fork out thousands.

Applicants can reapply to avoid court fees

Filing a court case also takes considerably longer than the previously free remonstration process, meaning people looking to get a visa at relatively short notice could be stuck without a decision on the day they're due to move to Germany.

So, with the free remonstration process scrapped and court fees potentially unaffordable for many, what alternative routes are there? Applicants are free to go back to square one and reapply, but this process means re-dedicating time to the task and repaying application fees.

Why is Germany scrapping its free visa remonstration process?

According to the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), immigration authorities are scrapping the free remonstration service in the hope that it will allow employees to process more visa applications.

A Teufelskreis of sorts, the recently departed traffic light coalition introduced more visa schemes to encourage skilled workers to move to Germany and plug its worker shortage. But administrative bodies are some of the worst affected by shortages, meaning many administrative processes in Germany are currently being restructured to reduce bureaucratic hurdles. 

Berlin’s decision to centralise its German citizenship application office, and the coalition government’s announcement that patients will soon have to visit their GPs (Hausärzte) for medical referrals, rather than being able to go directly to a specialist, are other examples of where the red tape is torn aside in a rush.