Germany needs international skilled workers — that much is politically undisputed. Yet anyone who actually tries to bring these professionals into the country encounters a visa system that exposes a deep gap between ambition and reality. The United Evangelical Mission (UEM), which has been engaged in vibrant exchange between Africa, Asia and Germany for decades, knows this contradiction all too well from painful experience.
Waiting times of up to a year for a visa decision, months spent struggling to secure embassy appointments, and arbitrarily shifting requirements from one country to another — this is the reality regularly faced by UEM staff, partners and young volunteers from Africa and Asia. For privileged German travellers, such conditions are almost unimaginable.
DNA Test Instead of Birth Certificate
The systemic failure becomes particularly evident in the case of Reverend Félicité Ngnintedem, Head of the Global Program Division and a member of the UEM Executive Council. For more than a year and a half, she has been trying to bring her husband and ten-year-old son from Cameroon to Germany. The documents initially requested by the German embassy in Yaoundé - including birth certificates - were submitted on time. Yet they were apparently deemed insufficient to adequately verify the identity of her family members. Further verification of the husband’s documents by the embassy itself cost the family around EUR 600. In addition, there were the costs of a DNA test for the son: although his birth certificate had initially been accepted, the embassy later demanded genetic proof of his relationship to his mother. The result is a lengthy, opaque and deeply degrading process for all those involved - one that also illustrates how official documents are increasingly being replaced by complex and costly substitute procedures.
No Presumption of Trust for Church Organisations
UEM’s volunteer programme is also suffering under the restrictive visa regime. Young people from the Global South face particular difficulty in convincing German embassy staff of their intention to return home. The result: for years now, no young volunteers from Cameroon or Sri Lanka have been able to participate in UEM’s South–North exchange programme. “Although the number of runaways in decades of youth exchange can be counted on one hand, the church is afforded no presumption of trust here,” says Maren Hager de Galindo, who is responsible for visa matters at UEM.
Arbitrariness as a System
Church partnership work faces similar obstacles. German embassies operate differently from country to country, rules change without notice, and newly required supporting documents must often be submitted at very short notice. For example, the German embassy in Windhoek has recently begun requiring formal declarations of commitment - originally intended only for private individuals - from church institutions as well. As a consequence, inviting church districts must first approach their local immigration authorities and demonstrate their financial capacity through a deposit. Similarly, partnership visas from Tanzania now require deposits amounting to several thousand euros before participants are allowed to enter the country.
An Appeal for Justice and Dignity
UEM calls on the relevant political authorities to fundamentally rethink Germany’s visa practices. A country that seeks to attract skilled workers from around the world and maintain international relationships, while simultaneously confronting people with bureaucratic hurdles, mistrust and degrading procedures, sends a contradictory message. Justice, dignity and a genuine willingness to engage must not end at the gates of a German embassy.
spenden@vemission.org
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