Good news for Indian skilled workers, Germany reduces visa processing time from 9 months to 2 weeks

The move has been done in order to address the labour shortage issues the country is facing.

Bringing a sigh of relief to skilled workers, the German government has reportedly reduced the visa processing time for Indian foreign skilled workers, according to a report by Schengen News.

The waiting time for long-term visas has been decreased from nine months to two weeks, confirmed the German Foreign Minister as per the report.(Unsplash)

The waiting time for long-term visas has been decreased from nine months to two weeks, confirmed the German Foreign Minister as per the report. The move has been done in order to address the labour shortage issues the country is facing.

“The Federal Agency for Foreign Affairs is the biggest visa office for national visas worldwide already today. And we urgently need skilled workers also here who can continue to support this. In India, in Delhi, we have thus been able to reduce waiting times for national visas to two weeks. That used to take nine months,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Schengen News.

The report also pointed out that the government aims to reduce the waiting period for 400,000 people who are affected by long waiting times when they apply for national visas.

As per an earlier analysis, the German Economic Institute (IW) had confirmed that Germany is facing a workforce shortage and noted that 570,000 jobs remained unfilled in the country in 2023. According to the analysis, the workforce shortage is consequently affecting the country’s economy. The German Institute (IW) has revealed that there were 570,000 unfilled jobs in the country in 2023.

Among the roles that are facing a workforce shortage include several sectors like transportation, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, engineering, and information technology, reported Schengen News in another article.