The Federal Foreign Office has decided to abolish the remonstration procedure for visa rejections worldwide from 1 July 2025.
This eliminates a legal remedy in the visa application procedure that is not statutorily prescribed and which up to now has been granted voluntarily.
This decision is based on a pilot project conducted in several German visa sections, where suspension of remonstrations for both Schengen visas and national visas was tested from 1 June 2023.
Evaluation of the pilot project has shown that Dispensing with the remonstration procedure has released considerable staff capacity in visa sections in some cases, freeing up staff to process more visa applications. As a result, it has been possible to process both more national and more Schengen visa applications and to reduce waiting times compared to the same period in the previous year.
The processing of a greater number of visa applications and a reduction in waiting times benefits all applicants. Adequate legal protection will also be guaranteed in the future, for judicial review under law will not be limited by the abolition of the remonstration procedure. Furthermore, it goes without saying that all applicants have the option of submitting a new visa application at any time in the case of a rejection.
