Germany is working to accelerate visa procedures for foreign workers

The German Foreign Ministry is rapidly accelerating visa procedures for qualified workers needed for the economy, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a Green Party meeting in Berlin on Tuesday.

The waiting time for visas at the German Embassy in New Delhi was cut in two weeks, Baerbox said.

“used to be nine months”, she added, attributing the change, digitalisation and centralisation to foreign media, sends in to Telegrafi.

The ministry aims to digitise the entire visa procedure by the end of the current legislative period next year.

The number of national visas issued will have to increase by 63%, according to the ministry's predictions to accommodate 400,000 people who should enter Germany each year to keep the number of people in employment constant.

Backock, a Greens member, is currently engaged in a battle with Finance Minister Christian Linder of FDP liberal for financing its IT and staff plans, while Linder is trying to cut spending to balance the budget.

At the meeting, Katharina Dröge, head of the Greens Parliamentary Group, proposed a <x0Pakt social package for a welcoming culture”, calling for business, employees and politicians to end the pact together.

“We aim to further simplify barriers and access to the German labour market and are calling for a political debate that avoids promoting prejudices”, she told dpa.

Qualified foreign workers should feel at home in Germany, she added. /Telegraphy/