The German Federal Foreign Office has formally confirmed that, from 1 July 2025, applicants whose Schengen or national visa is refused by a German mission will no longer be able to file a free, informal “remonstration” with the embassy or consulate. The announcement—re-published on 2 December 2025 across Germany’s global mission network—ends a decades-old practice unique to Germany in the Schengen area.
The ministry says the step follows a two-year pilot in 15 visa sections that showed abolishing remonstrations cut average processing times by up to nine days and reduced backlogs by almost one-fifth. Consular staff who previously handled appeal correspondence are being redeployed to front-line adjudication, allowing more fresh applications to be processed each day and shortening appointment queues—an acute pain-point for German business and family-reunification applicants worldwide.
![Germany scraps informal visa-remonstration appeals worldwide, freeing capacity for faster processing]()
Legal protection is not eliminated: disappointed applicants can still file a formal judicial appeal with the Berlin Administrative Court or simply submit a new application (paying the fee again). Immigration lawyers nonetheless warn that court action is costlier and takes months, so corporate mobility teams should build extra time into move schedules when a first application is borderline. They also advise strengthening initial document packages to minimise refusals now that the low-cost internal appeal is gone.
For employers, the key takeaway is strategic: build more “first-time-right” discipline into German visa packets, budget for possible second filing fees, and refresh onboarding timelines for non-EU assignees. HR teams should also prepare talking points for candidates who may read social-media criticism of the change. Overall, however, faster average visa issuance could benefit multinational staffing plans—especially during peak summer transfer season when German consulates historically struggle with volume.
The ministry says the step follows a two-year pilot in 15 visa sections that showed abolishing remonstrations cut average processing times by up to nine days and reduced backlogs by almost one-fifth. Consular staff who previously handled appeal correspondence are being redeployed to front-line adjudication, allowing more fresh applications to be processed each day and shortening appointment queues—an acute pain-point for German business and family-reunification applicants worldwide.
Legal protection is not eliminated: disappointed applicants can still file a formal judicial appeal with the Berlin Administrative Court or simply submit a new application (paying the fee again). Immigration lawyers nonetheless warn that court action is costlier and takes months, so corporate mobility teams should build extra time into move schedules when a first application is borderline. They also advise strengthening initial document packages to minimise refusals now that the low-cost internal appeal is gone.
For employers, the key takeaway is strategic: build more “first-time-right” discipline into German visa packets, budget for possible second filing fees, and refresh onboarding timelines for non-EU assignees. HR teams should also prepare talking points for candidates who may read social-media criticism of the change. Overall, however, faster average visa issuance could benefit multinational staffing plans—especially during peak summer transfer season when German consulates historically struggle with volume.
