MiGAZIN reports growing frustration among Iranian professionals after Germany’s embassy in Tehran reduced visa-appointment slots following July’s change of external service provider and the summer’s domestic unrest. Despite Germany’s acute labour shortages, many engineers, nurses and trainees with signed German contracts have waited months without interview dates, leading some employers to withdraw offers.
The Foreign Office confirmed on 27 November that consular services remain “temporarily at reduced capacity”. While priority is given to reuniting families and humanitarian cases, employment and vocational-training categories languish on an undefined waiting list. Protesters have gathered outside the embassy holding signs such as “We have contracts—give us visas!”
![Iranian skilled-worker visas stalled as German consulate cuts capacity]()
Sector impact is tangible: a Hamburg care provider told local media it lost two Iranian trainees after a three-month delay; a Munich tech firm rescinded an engineer’s contract. Under Germany’s revised Skilled-Immigration Act, qualified third-country nationals may enter with a recognised degree and job offer, but only once a D-visa is issued.
Global-mobility teams recruiting from Iran should prepare contingency plans: relocate onboarding to a third-country Schengen post with shorter queues, use Germany’s new “Opportunity Card” (Chancenkarte) for trial employment, or extend remote work arrangements until appointments materialise.
The Foreign Office confirmed on 27 November that consular services remain “temporarily at reduced capacity”. While priority is given to reuniting families and humanitarian cases, employment and vocational-training categories languish on an undefined waiting list. Protesters have gathered outside the embassy holding signs such as “We have contracts—give us visas!”
Sector impact is tangible: a Hamburg care provider told local media it lost two Iranian trainees after a three-month delay; a Munich tech firm rescinded an engineer’s contract. Under Germany’s revised Skilled-Immigration Act, qualified third-country nationals may enter with a recognised degree and job offer, but only once a D-visa is issued.
Global-mobility teams recruiting from Iran should prepare contingency plans: relocate onboarding to a third-country Schengen post with shorter queues, use Germany’s new “Opportunity Card” (Chancenkarte) for trial employment, or extend remote work arrangements until appointments materialise.
