A time penalty for the Global South? Inequalities in visa appointment wait times at German embassies and consulates worldwide

Visas are a key tool for states to regulate incoming mobility from abroad, which can have ramifications for the establishment and perpetuation of global inequalities. In this article, we systematically analyze visa appointment wait times in German embassies and consulates worldwide. Using computational methods, we collect—and publish—fine-grained longitudinal data on the closest available appointment dates for various visa types, covering a total of 16,182 visa appointment requests. Our analysis reveals strong and systematic variance: the poorer the country a diplomatic mission is based in, the longer the wait time and the lower the chances of finding an available appointment (which ranges from almost 0 to 100 percent). We also argue that Germany's system is quite opaque compared to other established immigration countries such as the U.S. These core findings raise important questions in light of current debates about global justice, legal pathways to migration, and efforts to attract foreign talent.