BERLIN – German consulates in Western Balkan countries are unable to process working visa requests, the number of which has doubled this year.
According to Spiegel, 52,000 working visa requests were submitted across the region in the first half of 2018, which is twice as many as in the same period of 2015.
“The number of visa requests has exceeded the capacities of our consulates, which lead to rising number of complaints from the representatives of business, politics and civil society”, reads the internal document of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, access to which was gained by German magazine, Hina reports.
Visas represent the key instrument for immigration control, the document reminds.
Germany categorized Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania as safe countries in 2016. The chances for being granted an asylum were thus minimized.
Majority of working visas have been granted in the areas of construction, gastronomy and medical care.