The German Embassy in Islamabad has announced that the volume of student visa applications for the winter semester has far surpassed their capacity, therefore, they will likely be able to process only the “most deserving” ones.

The statement was made on Monday in response to a Dawn.com query regarding the matter.

In numerous identical emails sent to Dawn.com over the past weeks, students complained of facing delays in securing visa interview appointments at the German Embassy in Islamabad despite being granted admission to universities.

The emails claimed that the appointment system for study visas had been opened on May 21 for students admitted for the winter semester. However, no appointment had been scheduled for applying through the “normal track” and only “fast-track applicants” seemed to be receiving attention, the students lamented.

Two such students detailed the costly process and the difficulties they faced to Dawn.com.

“Regrettably, during the current academic year, it will therefore most likely only be possible to process the visa applications of the most deserving students, generally those who have been granted a public scholarship and those with the best school or undergraduate results,” the embassy’s communications sections said on Monday.

The embassy acknowledged that there was “huge interest” shown by Pakistani students to study in Germany.

It added that as a result, the number of applications for German visas “currently greatly exceeds the embassy’s resources”.

Noting that the number of visas processed at the German Embassy in Islamabad was “constantly increasing”, the embassy said it was looking into improvements that could be made to address the limitation.

“We hope to improve the situation further in the upcoming academic years,” the embassy affirmed.

‘Wasted expenses’

Speaking to Dawn.com, former National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) student Hamza Amjad said he had invested a substantial amount of money in applying for a visa, including nearly €500 — approximately Rs150,000 — for the summer intake, 2024.

He added that his blocked account in Germany had €11,208 — approximately Rs3.4 million — that remain frozen and could only be accessed upon his arrival in the country.

“Expenses for accommodation booking and a semester ticket were also wasted as I could not join the university due to these appointment issues,” Amjad said.

Abdullah Yasin, a former student of Bahria University Islamabad, told Dawn.com that he had applied to multiple German universities right after his graduation in 2022 and got admitted.

However, Yasin added, that his admissions kept on being cancelled because of issues with the visa appointments.

While the former Nust student has obtained an admission letter from the Technical University in Ilmenau, it seems he would have to wait for another semester.

Yasin further said he spent approximately Rs300,000 on the process, adding that his International English Language Testing System (Ielts) test would go to waste given its two-year validity.

The issue of a lack of appointments scheduled by the German Embassy in Pakistan for visa applications is not new.

According to a statement issued in May by the embassy, it had not fulfilled all appointment requests for the summer semester either “due to the enormous interest of potential students” which “far exceeded the capacities of the embassy”.

The embassy had said that due to the high demand for student visas, applicants in the sub-categories of Bachelor’s and Master’s students holding an unconditional direct admission letter from a German university could expect a longer waiting time for an appointment at the embassy.

It had highlighted that holders of scholarships and PhD students would be prioritised.

Another exclusive online registration category catering to students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 or above would also be prioritised, the embassy had said.