The possibility to appeal after a visa refusal will be temporarily suspended for citizens of Morocco, Turkey and China, due to a considerable increase in the number of applications, the German Foreign Ministry announced. According to a statement, the lifting of travel restrictions after the health crisis and the resumption of applications for residence permits have resulted in some visa sections being unable to process all requests, leading to long waiting times for available slots.
“In order to create additional visa processing capacity, allowing us to reduce waiting times, we are launching a pilot project in China, Morocco and Turkey in which admonitions – as it is called an objection against the rejection of a visa application – will be suspended,” the statement from the German Foreign Ministry said. The latter said that despite the suspension of appeals, the decision on a visa application will be taken on the same legal basis as before. As long as all the required documents are submitted, German missions in these three countries will continue to issue visas, the department assured.
According to the ministry, admonitions are a legal remedy granted voluntarily and therefore not provided for by law. As part of the pilot, the department said it wants to examine whether the suspension can help its overseas missions increase the number of applications processed, thereby reducing wait times for all travelers.
This decision comes at a time when an increasing number of people are complaining about the rejection of their visa applications for Germany. Last May, a special report revealed that Turkey had the highest rejection rate among five countries, for the number of Schengen visa applications. These countries are Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Ukraine, whose nationals have submitted the most applications over the past eight years.
Turkey’s refusal rate for Schengen visa applications, which stood at around 15% last year, soared to 50% in 2023.
