The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin has ruled that Afghan staff working for Germany in Afghanistan cannot sue the country for not granting them entry visas.
Such a ruling from the Court was made following a case involving an Afghan man and his family who were not granted visas on such grounds, Schengen.News reports.
According to the Court, the government of Germany decides on a case-by-case basis whether to grant or not a visa to Afghan local staff under the government’s discretion, suggesting that the authorities are not legally obligated to approve an application even if certain conditions are met.
As German media have explained, the Afghan man initially had some success in his case, trying to get a visa to Germany. However, the higher court later overturned the decision.
The Afghan national stated that he had held some literacy courses for Afghan police officers and is now in danger from the Taliban due to that work.
The Afghan man had his German visa application denied in August 2021. He filed the lawsuit in April 2022, and the Court has now ruled that the lawsuit is unfounded.
Afghan Family Has Also Sued Germany Over Visas
In May of this year, a 14-member Afghan family also took the German Foreign Office to court. A woman of the family filed a lawsuit against Germany, saying that the country has failed to grant them visas, despite them receiving a promise of admission.
The Afghan woman, who is a writer and a scientist, was granted admission to Germany under the Federal Admission Program, a programme which is aimed at those who are “individually at risk” and “particularly exposed” due to their work.
She and her family have been staying in Pakistan for 16 months, waiting for the German authorities to grant them visas permitting entry to Germany.
However, the German authorities did not take any steps on the matter, with the Afghan woman saying that Germany failed to keep its promise of admission.
These are not the only cases. Data show that around 2,500 Afghan nationals are undergoing admission procedures in Pakistan and are part of the admission programme.
The German Chancellor previously said that the new government intends to put an end to such programmes. This has raised fears and concerns among many who are part of the programmes and hope to be granted entry to the country.