Following the news in the weekly magazine “Focus”, the Berlin and Cottbus prosecutors stepped in. An investigation was launched into who gave orders from the Federal Foreign Office to the German Embassies and Consulates. It was alleged that in addition to Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey, there were also people from Pakistan and some African countries who came to Germany using the same method.
“A VISA SCANDAL CANNOT BE TALKED ABOUT”
The German Foreign Ministry spokesman made a statement on the subject, saying, “The laws and regulations are followed in granting visas,” and that the accusations and investigations of “improper visas with forged documents” only covered 19 transactions. “There is no visa scandal,” he said. However, he also stated that the investigations of the Berlin and Cottbus prosecutors covered many more visa transactions.
GERMANY FACES “VISA FRAUD” ALLEGATIONS
According to the news in the magazine, it was reminded that after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021, Afghans working in Germany’s diplomatic missions in Afghanistan were brought to Germany with their families without visas or passports, while it was also pointed out that the recent accusations of “visa fraud” have nothing to do with what happened at the time.
GERMANY GRANTED MORE THAN 157 THOUSAND VISAS
It was understood that Germany issued visas to 80 thousand people who wanted to come to the country as qualified personnel in the first six months of this year. According to data obtained by the German news agency from the German Foreign Ministry, 40 thousand of the applications fall into the status of qualified personnel. It was also stated that in all of 2023, the Foreign Ministry issued more than 157 thousand visas for employment purposes and 79 thousand of these were qualified workers, but the numbers fell short of the workforce Germany needs.