German Ambassador to Ankara Jürgen Schulz has offered assurances that his country is working overtime to process visa applications from Turkish citizens, according to the German office Thursday.
While gluing visa stamps on passports with his wife Sheila Stanton during a visit to the visa department of Germany’s Ankara Embassy, Schulz said he had the chance to get an accurate impression of visa procedures.
"Germany’s representative offices in Türkiye are working overtime, sometimes even on weekends, to process a very large number of applications as soon as possible," he informed.
Noting that the visa issue is a "priority" for Germany, Schulz said: "We want to shorten the wait time for application owners even more."
He thanked all German authorities for their "extraordinary efforts".
In an intensifying effect since last year, Turkish citizens have been subject to many hurdles in obtaining visas from the EU and the United States, including increased scrutiny and monthslong waiting time to even grab an appointment from embassies.
"It is understandable when applications without proper paperwork or applications that do not meet the requirements are rejected but we are seeing even the applications fulfilling all the criteria are rejected," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in August 2022 as he vowed Ankara would take extra steps to address the issue.
After a Turkish lawmaker filed a report titled "Misuse of the Schengen Information System as a Politically Driven Sanction by Member States of the Council of Europe" highlighting the "unnecessary and large amount of paperwork" required for visas, as well as high fees and the requirement that applications be submitted in person, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) in October approved a resolution calling for European states to avoid abusing the Schengen Information System (SIS).
Last week, Türkiye’s ambassador to Berlin argued the ongoing problems in visa procedures had snowballed into a "level where they are now hurting bilateral ties" between the two countries.
Ambassador Ahmet Başar Şen urged Germany to contribute to "simplifying" visa procedures as the country holds "the most important position in the bloc."
Türkiye wants visa practices to be made easier for people like academicians and businesspeople in terms of economic and educational activities. We actually want the visa requirement to be dismissed entirely for these people," Şen said, adding: "We expect steps like simplifying the visa procedure, reducing fees and allowing multi-entry visas."
Earlier this week, representatives of Ankara and Berlin also discussed the issue, with Deputy Foreign Minister Yasin Ekrem Serim noting he conveyed his country’s expectations for a solution from Germany.