The Left party has raised suspicions that German authorities often reject student visa applications filed by African nationals.
In response to left-wing MP Cornelia Möhring’s question, the Foreign Office revealed that at least 20 per cent of all visa applications filed by African students have been rejected in the last ten years.
In total, 70,673 visas were issued to students from African countries between 2012 and 2022, and 2,349 were for African scientists, while another 18,570 student visa applications and 48 scientists from African countries were rejected between 2014 and 2022.
There are no records of the number of rejected visas between 2012 and 2014 but the rejection rate since 2012 is likely to be even higher. The number was particularly large between 2015 and 2019 when around 30 per cent were rejected each year.
With the federal government switching to the traffic light coalition, there was more recognition; last year, nine per cent were rejected.
It’s no wonder that students from Africa are still significantly underrepresented in Germany.
The Left has criticised the government saying that the examination of visa requirements creates “a general suspicion towards students from the Global South.”
According to the left-wing politician Möhring, even character and social characteristics are examined. The federal government denied the claims of discrimination against African students
When making their decision, the body issuing the title and the authorities involved in the decision are bound to the fulfilment of all the conditions for granting the right of residence.
According to Schengen Statistics, Nigerians, Ghanese and South Africans are the most rejected nationalities for short-term visas in Europe. More specifically, out of 86,815 visa applicants from Nigeria, around 39,189 were rejected in 2022, while the country that denied most visas was France – a total of 15,286.
Germany also denied 3,407 out of 7,914 visa applications by this nationality group, accounting for a rejection rate of 43.1 per cent.
Ghana applicants have also filed a total of 42,124 visa applications in 2022, 18,363 of which were denied. The country to have received the most visa applications from this nationality was the Netherlands – 9,603 and subsequently, had the highest rejection rate out of all – 4,896 applicants of 51 per cent rejection rate.
Germany followed second with 8,150 visa applications received and 1,972 rejected applications, accounting for almost a quarter of the requests being denied (24.2 per cent).
