German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the decision to simplify visa procedures for Turkish businesspeople will be implemented quickly. He said all relevant units had been tasked with carrying out the measure.
Wadephul addressed the issue while answering lawmakers’ questions in parliament, responding to a question from CDU lawmaker Tijen Ataoğlu about visa procedures for businesspeople. Ataoğlu recalled that North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst had announced during his September visit to Türkiye that visa facilitation for Turkish businesspeople would be provided in coordination with the German government.
Ataoğlu asked when the first step would be taken and which conditions would apply. Wadephul said the decision would be put into practice very quickly, adding: “All units have been tasked with this.”
The German foreign minister said procedures needed to be simplified in order to speed up visa processing. To the best of his knowledge, he said, the system was already “working quite well.”
Wadephul also said the government was assessing whether additional steps could be taken in Türkiye, including the possibility of opening an extra foreign mission. Such a mission could handle preliminary interviews, visa applications and certain consular services; he added that faster visa processing was directly linked to staffing capacity.
