First month of work of new German visa department yielded positive results :: Charter'97 :: News

The first month of work of the German embassy`s visa department on new premises yielded positive results, German Ambassador Martin Hecker told reporters in Minsk on November 3. According to him, the department`s head, Peter Eck, had served for a long time with a similar office in Moscow. In this regard, the ambassador expressed hope that Mr. Eck`s experience would help improve the operation of the Minsk department.

The ambassador stressed that a country`s visa department is its visiting card and the first step toward one`s familiarization with the country, and that the work of the new visa department is to show that Germany is open to the entire world.” “Nevertheless, the building should meet all modern security requirements considering the threat of terrorism throughout the world,” he said.

Dr. Hecker said that Germany is very interested in cooperating with the Belarusian population at all levels and expressed hope that the new visa department in Minsk would properly perform all its functions.

The news conference was held at number 11 Gazety Pravda Avenue where the department moved on October 3. More space and modernized equipment staff have helped speed up the work of the staff, which was also enlarged, Mr. Eck said, adding that the embassy plans a further staff increase and will traditionally hire additional workers for the summer season.

According to Mr. Eck, the department in Minsk issues the fourth largest number of visas among Germany`s visa departments in the world after the departments in Moscow, Kyiv and Ankara.
He noted that the department has to issue up to 2,000 visas a day during the summer season and sticking visas in passports still remains a manual job.