More than four months after third-party provider TLScontact halted appointment scheduling in Tehran, hundreds of Iranian students accepted by German universities have no pathway to obtain national (D-category) study visas.
Reporting by The Local on 27 May features first-hand accounts from applicants who risk losing places at Leuphana University and other institutions after investing years in language courses, blocked accounts and preparatory exams.
Germany’s Federal Foreign Office confirmed that the visa section of its Tehran embassy remains “temporarily closed due to the security situation”, a reference to escalating regional tensions since mid-2025.
Some in-progress files have been diverted to the embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, but new applicants have received no guidance.
Green Party MP Boris Mijatovic told the Bundestag that the workaround is “too slow and too limited”, warning that German universities and companies will lose talent.
![German Visa Freeze in Tehran Leaves Iranian Students Stranded]()
For global-mobility teams, the disruption underscores the vulnerability of outsourcing models that rely on single-city visa application centres.
VisaHQ can step in here: the online platform tracks appointment availability across multiple German missions, helps compile documentation, and arranges courier submissions for clients unable to lodge in their home country. Its Germany hub (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) provides real-time updates on policy shifts, which can prove invaluable for students scrambling to secure a slot in Ankara, Dubai or Tbilisi before university deadlines lapse.
Employers recruiting directly from Iran for STEM roles must now budget for relocation via third-country processing or postpone start dates.
Students face deadlines to take up courses or risk mandatory military service at home.
Stakeholders are urging Berlin to expand capacity in neighbouring missions such as Dubai, Ankara or Tbilisi and to publish a transparent priority queue.
Until then, the episode dents Germany’s image as a welcoming study destination just as its reformed Skilled Immigration Act seeks to woo international talent.
Reporting by The Local on 27 May features first-hand accounts from applicants who risk losing places at Leuphana University and other institutions after investing years in language courses, blocked accounts and preparatory exams.
Germany’s Federal Foreign Office confirmed that the visa section of its Tehran embassy remains “temporarily closed due to the security situation”, a reference to escalating regional tensions since mid-2025.
Some in-progress files have been diverted to the embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, but new applicants have received no guidance.
Green Party MP Boris Mijatovic told the Bundestag that the workaround is “too slow and too limited”, warning that German universities and companies will lose talent.
For global-mobility teams, the disruption underscores the vulnerability of outsourcing models that rely on single-city visa application centres.
VisaHQ can step in here: the online platform tracks appointment availability across multiple German missions, helps compile documentation, and arranges courier submissions for clients unable to lodge in their home country. Its Germany hub (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) provides real-time updates on policy shifts, which can prove invaluable for students scrambling to secure a slot in Ankara, Dubai or Tbilisi before university deadlines lapse.
Employers recruiting directly from Iran for STEM roles must now budget for relocation via third-country processing or postpone start dates.
Students face deadlines to take up courses or risk mandatory military service at home.
Stakeholders are urging Berlin to expand capacity in neighbouring missions such as Dubai, Ankara or Tbilisi and to publish a transparent priority queue.
Until then, the episode dents Germany’s image as a welcoming study destination just as its reformed Skilled Immigration Act seeks to woo international talent.
