Following the court ruling: the federal authorities are required to issue visas for Afghan women
In a landmark decision, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg has ruled that the German government must issue entry visas to Afghans who were promised admission under the federal humanitarian admission program. The ruling, made on July 7, 2023, comes after the Administrative Court of Berlin initially decided that the federal government had legally committed itself to admission through valid, non-withdrawable admission decisions.
The case involves a teaching assistant and her 13 family members who are waiting for visas in Pakistan. The federal government had appealed the Administrative Court's decision, but it has since withdrawn the appeal, making the court decision final and binding. This means that Afghans who have received commitments of admission must now be immediately processed and granted visas to enter Germany.
The dispute concerns the federal admission program for particularly endangered Afghans, a group that includes former local forces and those considered to be in grave danger. The Afghans waiting for admission are undergoing a screening process in Pakistan.
The German embassy in Kabul has been closed since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in August 2021, making the processing of visa applications more challenging. Recently, Pakistani authorities have detained and transferred over 100 of the Afghans waiting for admission to a deportation center, adding to the urgency of the situation.
However, the federal government retains the right to terminate the admission program itself and refrain from making any new admission promises going forward. But it must honor all existing commitments that were previously made under the program.
Thousands of vulnerable Afghans—more than 2,000 people—are currently waiting in Pakistan with admission permits from various pathways including the federal admission program, local staff programs, and special humanitarian lists. It remains unclear if these others will receive visas without filing lawsuits similar to the family whose case led to the court ruling.
ARD had previously reported on this dispute, highlighting the plight of these individuals and the complexities of the situation. The identity of the individuals involved in the case has been clarified, and no security concerns were identified.
With this ruling, Germany is legally obligated to issue visas to Afghans who were promised admission under the federal humanitarian admission program. Thousands of Afghans remain in limbo, awaiting visas with no clear timeline. The Higher Administrative Court's suspension has been lifted, and the case now sets a precedent for future similar cases.
The Higher Administrative Court's ruling on July 7, 2023, regarding the processing of visas for Afghans under the federal humanitarian admission program is a significant development in policy-and-legislation and general-news. Thousands of Afghans are still waiting in Pakistan for their visas, and it remains unclear if they will receive them without filing lawsuits, highlighting the ongoing complexities in politics. The court ruling sets a precedent for future similar cases, emphasizing the need for the federal government to honor all existing commitments made under the program.
