ifo Institute Welcomes Accelerated Visa Procedure for Migrant Workers

The ifo Institute welcomes the results of the German government’s summit on the shortage of skilled workers. Among other things, the participants committed themselves to speeding up visa and recognition procedures for foreign workers. “This sends the right signal that embassies need to employ more staff to work in this area,” says Panu Poutvaara, Director of the ifo Center for International Institutional Comparisons and Migration Research.

“It’s also the right way to cut down on red tape, digitalize procedures, and speed up the process as a whole,” he adds. “To further accelerate the visa process for migrant workers, embassies could charge migrants an additional fee for an appointment within a short period of time – say, within four weeks. The proceeds from this fee could, for example, be used to further increase the number of embassy staff or to recruit specialists from abroad.”