Serbs co-operate, for working visa in Germany wait for 1 year

To speed up procedures in late November last year, the German Embassy in Belgrade simplified the procedure by removing employers' obligation to request employment permission from the Agency for Employment in Germany. Now this part of the procedure involving German authorities and German employment agencies is conducted by the embassy itself.

By this change, however, the problem was not resolved because to hand in visa requirements, candidates wait for months, and as they say, the waiting time has not been cut, but extended.

The wait was four to five months by June and since June the wait has lasted up to seven months”, DW Dejan M says. From Belgrade. He received a working contract in Berlin's IT sector in February and immediately applied for visas, but has not yet received a date to submit the application.

Connect to operator

The German Federal Republic Embassy website notes that depending on the working category to submit the application, you have to wait five to ten months. Then it takes up to nine or ten weeks of waiting for answers, and as they say, “is particularly the time of waiting is even longer”.

Various measures have been taken, and efforts have been made to cut the waiting time for application delivery, DW sources from the embassy say. The visa department has engaged additional staff, at the same time it is optimised to receive relevant information on the embassy site, in order to facilitate access to information, and all applicants have exactly an explanation for the documents needed to apply. We also offer extensive explanations via email”.

It is impossible to receive an e-mail response, says Dejan, who currently has no positive experience with the German administration. He says employees provide very unclear information so visa competitors get more information at internet forums and Facebook groups, where people write about their experiences and try to help each other.

“They do not answer for what they ask for, but they have the same model response to all the questions they ask. When you try to call the embassy, they don't say their name, and yet when you're talking to them they drop off the phone and they don't give any room to ask”, Dejan complains.

Standardized responses provide detailed information, and for other aid we have engaged a greater number of employees who provide information on the phone so that the application process to accelerate” is said by the embassy. They also stress that due to private data protection, it is not possible to provide data and information concerning current cases on the phone. The “Despite all embassy efforts, a large number of applications last long, and as a result there is dissatisfaction. Colleagues are trained to give kindly answers in unpleasant situations” said in the embassy's response.

The Remote Family

More than waiting for the workplace, Dejan is concerned about the time he will have to wait in Germany to get his wife and son. This procedure may be even more complicated than obtaining a visa for work because it is necessary for the family union to meet additional conditions: a husband who has a job in Germany should also have enough income to support his family and have adequate housing.

In the case of the Milosevic family, the family union procedure lasted about three years.

My husband left in October 2015. He's a medical technician, and the visa got quick, because in that year, the waiting time at the embassy wasn't long”, Nina recalls. But then things got complicated. “No one told him that dating may take place after a year. This information was hidden from the administration and they're guilty that we've been waiting so long for”, it's still on hold today.

So it's been almost two years for the graduation nomination and job research. When her husband finally received a contract in Bavar, he had to find an apartment that would meet the administration criteria.

Last year's <x0 years in October, we applied for an embassy meeting and waited four months, hoping to find an apartment in the meantime, but without success. Finally he left there and went to Dresden. There he finally found a flat and a job, so we went back to apply at the embassy”, Nina says. In March of this year they managed to hand over the documents, and three months later she finally obtained a visa for herself and their two children.

Life in the state-by

Both Dejan and Nina say the same, all who begin this adventure must have great patience because legal migration can be anything, but not simple.

When he finally received news that the visa approved, Nina says, he could not believe it.

I was extremely happy, after all that time and embarrassment... Dejan reminds Nina that day and smiling: “will open a humanitarian agency”.