Germany Launches New Visa Application Digital Platform To Ease Immigration
- Germany's Foreign Affairs Ministry has launched a new digital application platform to ease visa application processes
- The Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, noted that the long paper applications and even longer waiting period had made Germany unattractive for skilled workers
- She hopes that this new administrative revolution would make more skilled workers want to come and work in Germany
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Ghanaians can now apply for a German visa through a newly launched digital application platform.
The country’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, described the digital platform in a press release as a real administrative revolution while announcing the launch.
Source: Getty Images
The digital platform aims to ease access to necessary documents for those seeking to work, study or join their family in Germany.
Applicants can choose between 28 categories of national visas online.
The new portal came online on January 1, 2025, and is accessible worldwide to all 167 of Germany’s visa offices.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock strongly approved of the new system, noting that it had been long overdue.
She said that given Germany’s dire need for skilled workers—at least 400,000—it was imperative that the country ease the visa application process.
She said the long paper application forms and even longer waiting periods may have put so many skilled labour off from coming to Germany, but she was hopeful the new system would make the country attractive again.
Baerbock stressed that Germany deserves a state-of-the-art, modern, digital, and secure national visa process as an immigration country.
UK rolls out new visa application centre
Ghanaians planning to apply for visas to the United Kingdom have been directed to use a new Visa Application Centre (VAC) starting October 22, 2024.
The change follows replacing the UK’s previous third-party VAC provider, TLScontact, with VFS Global.
Ghanaian applicants who began the process with TLScontact have been advised to complete their applications with VFS Global. This was contained in a communiqué posted on the UK.gov website.
It noted that affected applicants would be contacted concerning the changes and assured them that the change would not affect visa application decisions, processing times, or prices.
The statement noted that the change was necessitated by the need to improve services, particularly in shortening the submission times for biometric and application documents at the VAC.
The new VAC would be on the Mezzanine floor, Frand Oyeeman Building, South Liberation Link, Accra. Applicants are advised to visit the relevant page on the UK government website, www.gov.uk, for more information.
Applicants can also find their nearest VAC by visiting the visa application centre webpage on the same website.
US embassy rolls out pre-screening process
YEN.com.gh reported that the US embassy has rolled out a new pre-screening process for immigrant visa applicants. All applicants with immigrant visa interviews scheduled for September 2024 and beyond must attend a pre-screening appointment between three and four hours before their visa interview.
Per a notice from the embassy, applicants will receive a separate pre-screening email notifying them of their appointment date and all documents required. The embassy also explained that a document review will be conducted, and applicants will be notified beforehand if they are missing any documents.
Visa applicants will then be instructed to obtain the missing documents to be ready for subsequent interviews.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
