Getting a Schengen visa will be harder for some starting July 1
If you are planning to travel to Europe this summer and have booked a Schengen visa appointment with a German mission, it could be a tough ride for you.
Starting July 1, Germany’s federal foreign office has decided to abolish the remonstration procedure for visa rejections worldwide.
What is the Schengen visa remonstration?
What this essentially means is that candidates whose visa applications have been rejected will no longer be able to file an appeal.
Until now, such candidates had been able to apply for a new examination of the visa application, as long as it was done within a month of receiving the visa refusal letter.
“This decision is based on a pilot project conducted in several German visa sections, where suspension of remonstrations for both Schengen visas and national visas was tested from June 1, 2023,” the German mission said.
Why is Germany doing this?
According to an official statement, scrapping the remonstration process has freed up staff to process new visa applications, and has also increased staff capacity at several visa sections.
“As a result, it has been possible to process both more national and more Schengen visa applications and to reduce waiting times compared to the same period in the previous year,” the mission said.
Is all hope lost?
No. Even though the German mission is no longer accepting appeals against rejected visas, candidates can still file a fresh application.
Also, tourists are welcome to apply for a visa at any of the other Schengen countries, although they may have to change their itineraries to arrive or depart from that country, or spend a significant number of days there.
What is a Schengen visa?
A Schengen visa is an entry permit for non-EU nationals to make a short, temporary visit of up to 90 days in any 180-day period to a country in the Schengen area.
The Schengen area is composed of 29 countries: 25 EU member states and four non-EU countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).
