2005 German visa affair

The visa affair is the name given by the German press to the controversy that arose in early 2005 over a change in the procedure for issuing visas to foreign nationals seeking to enter Germany from non-EU states in Eastern Europe. The Cologne criminal court stated, that the new visa policy put in place in 2000, had dispensed with safeguards against abuses such as illegal immigration and human trafficking in favour of speeding up the issuing process for tourist visas and had led to a massive increase in these practices. The affair prompted the resignation of Minister of State Ludger Volmer of the Green party from his roles in the Bundestag foreign affairs committee and as foreign affairs spokesperson of his party. The claims severely damaged the reputation of his party colleague Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. The allegation was that changes had been made to the previous tougher visa rules, without the correct political procedure.

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