People from global south much less likely to get German visa appointments

A new study has found that people who are citizens of countries in the global south are much less likely to get appointments for a German visa and, when they do get one, the waiting times are longer.

Study reiterates inequality in German visa system

A study by the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) has found that people who are citizens of countries in the global south are much less likely to get an appointment for a visa at German consulates and embassies.

More specifically, the study found that there is a "considerable correlation” between the GDP of an applicant’s native country and how likely they are to get an appointment. The poorer the applicant’s native country, the less likely they are to get a visa appointment. 

If they do get one, citizens of countries in the global south also have to wait longer than applicants with passports from countries with higher GDP. Researchers found that those applying from Burkina Faso (75,7 days) and Madagascar (71,3 days) face the longest average wait times. In 17 countries the wait time exceeded one month.

Average wait times in Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Oceania were considerably shorter than those in many African countries. Of countries in the global south, average wait times were particularly low in Uzbekistan (one day), Singapore (two days), and Cuba (2,7 days). However, this doesn’t mean that there is always a visa appointment available at these German missions.

Current German visa system is opaque, say researchers

Contextualising their findings, the researchers from DeZIM, University of Flensburg and European University Institute in Florence, said that the German visa system was “quite opaque compared to other established immigration countries like the United States”. 

For example, the US Department of State publishes an up-to-date list of estimated wait times for visa interview appointments at missions across the world. “This transparency gives individual applicants a degree of predictability and enables media outlets to report on backlogs and shifts in wait times,” the researchers explained.

“The extremely unequal chances of obtaining a visa appointment in a timely manner are unfair, lead to frustration, and are rightly perceived as discriminatory by those affected,” study author and sociology professor at the University of Flensburg, Emanuel Deutschmann, added.

As a result, Deutschmann said that Germany’s reputation as a migration country and tourist destination was suffering, “urgently needed skilled workers are scared away, exchange and cooperation is limited and global inequalities are reproduced and strengthened”.

Co-author Niklas Harder called on the German government to launch a public tool on the Auslandsportal to inform applicants of current visa waiting times. “Transparency is also the basis for discussing the question of how the different waiting times arise,” Harder added.