German Embassy Increases Visa Fees

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany has announced an upward adjustment in the fees for application for all short-term visas valid for all Schengen countries beginning from January 1, 2007.

This is the result of the decision by the Council of the European Union to raise the fee for the handling of short-period visa applications.The Schengen countries in Ghana are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and the Belgian Visa Office attached to the Embassy of The Netherlands.

From January 1, 2007, 60 euros (about �720,000) will be charged for airport transit visa (Category A), transit visa (Category B) and short-stay visa (1-90 days) instead of the current 35 euros (about �420,000).A release from the German Embassy said national long-stay visa (Category D) fees would, however, remain unchanged.

It said the new visa fees were also to apply in those cases where a particular Schengen mission issued visa on behalf of Schengen partners without resident missions in Ghana, such as when the Danish Mission issued visas on behalf of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland and France for Austria.

The release said the current fee of 35 euros for the processing of visa applications had proved not to be sufficient any more to cover the ever-increasing administrative cost of the issuance of such visas.It added that the problem would be aggravated further with the future introduction of the collection of the visa applicant�s biometrics data (fingerprints, among others).

The release explained that those measures were expected to put an additional financial burden on the Schengen partners� foreign missions for personnel, advance computer systems and other necessary changes to their respective visa sections.

It said, however, that the visa fees might be waived for the following groups of visa applicants, irrespective of their nationality:Children below the age of six years, pupils, students only when applying for student or education-related purposes, teachers who accompany pupils or students on educational journeys or training purposes and scientists who pursue specific research projects in one or more Schengen partner states.
Source:Graphic