Starting July 1, 2025, those who have their German visa applications rejected will no longer have the possibility to make an administrative appeal, as Germany’s Foreign Office has decided to abolish the remonstration procedure for visa rejections worldwide.
The remonstration procedure has so far allowed visa refusals to be appealed administratively via an internal Federal Foreign Office process. As soon as the new rules enter into force, visa applicants will only be able to appeal visa rejection through a formal judicial process, Schengen.News reports.
The Federal Foreign Office has decided to abolish the remonstration procedure for visa rejections worldwide from July 1, 2025. This eliminates a legal remedy in the visa application procedure that is not statutorily prescribed and which, up to now, has been granted voluntarily.
The formal judicial appeal process is more expensive and time-consuming than the administrative appeal. Data show that an average judicial appeal can take up to two years from the date of filing.
On the other hand, an administrative appeal is generally resolved within a three-month period. Taking this into account, it is expected that people will be less likely to make appeals in the future when the new rules are in place.
Decision Taken Following Pilot Project Conducted in a Number of German Visa Sections
As the German Federal Foreign Office has explained, the decision to abolish the remonstration procedure for visa rejections was taken based on a pilot project conducted in several German visa sections.
In these visa sections, the suspension of remonstrations for both Schengen visas and national visas was tested since June 1, 2023.
Once the pilot project was over, the evaluation period followed. The evaluation period showed that the visa centres were able to free up staff to process more visa applications. Consequently, the visa centres where the pilot project was taking place were able to process more visa applications and reduce the waiting times compared to the same period last year.
According to the authority, the faster processing of visa applications and the reduction of waiting times benefit all applicants, suggesting that the decision is the right one since staff will now be able to focus on other duties.
Statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo show that Germany receives a large number of visa applications every year. In 2023 alone, Germany accepted 1,459,560 visa applications. However, not everyone had their visa approved. Figures revealed that a total of 208,155 German visa applicant had their visas rejected.