A. Facts
What had happened?
In this case, a VISAGUARD immigration lawyer assisted a foreign skilled worker in obtaining a visa appointment under the expedited skilled worker procedure . The applicant was a highly qualified senior marketing expert from Turkey who was required to hold an EU Blue Card to work in Germany. Due to the employee's special qualifications, the German employer was absolutely dependent on him starting work promptly.
Despite a proper application, careful preparation of the required documents, continuous monitoring of appointment availability on the website of the relevant foreign mission, and repeated contact with the embassy, a visa appointment was not granted. Instead, there were repeated blanket references to capacity bottlenecks and staffing problems.
In order to avoid significant economic losses, the employer finally commissioned an independent VISAGUARD specialist lawyer for immigration law to enforce the visa application process in order to ensure that employment could still begin on time.
B. Legal solution
How did the VISAGUARD lawyer resolve the case?
To solve the problem, the lawyer commissioned initiated a change of procedure and, instead of the normal visa application at the embassy, submitted the employee's application for the accelerated skilled worker procedure in accordance with Section 81a of the Residence Act (AufenthG) to the central immigration authority responsible for skilled worker immigration.
After submitting the complete application documents along with the required authorizations from the employer, the immigration authorities received the applications, reviewed them, and issued the necessary approvals for visa issuance. Subsequently, the lawyer informed the responsible German diplomatic mission in Turkey, presenting the approval, of the legal obligation to schedule a visa appointment within three weeks (see Section 31a, Paragraph 1 of the Residence Ordinance (AufenthV) .
In view of this legal obligation, the foreign mission was forced to provide a visa appointment at short notice, which enabled the employee to enter Germany and take up employment on time.
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C. Conclusion
What can we learn from this case?
This case illustrates that foreign workers are not left without protection if appointments are unavailable. By initiating an accelerated skilled worker procedure under Section 81a of the Residence Act and obtaining the approval of the central immigration authority based on this, the responsible foreign mission can be obligated to schedule appointments within three weeks (Section 31a (1) of the Residence Ordinance).
The accelerated skilled worker procedure can therefore be an effective tool in certain cases to avoid delays in visa appointments, provided the legal requirements are met. However, the appropriateness of this procedure must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis, as individual central immigration authorities may experience significant processing delays that could offset the benefits of the procedure. However, in cases of urgency and full application maturity, the accelerated skilled worker procedure can be crucial in ensuring a timely start to work.
Further information on the accelerated skilled worker procedure can be found in our VISAGUARD specialist article for employers on the accelerated skilled worker procedure pursuant to Section 81a of the Residence Act.
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