Department Seminar: Emanuel Deutschmann

Title: A Time Penalty for the Poor? Visa Appointment Wait Times in Global Comparison

Speaker: Emanuel Deutschmann, Europa-Universität Flensburg and Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute (emanuel.deutschmann@uni-flensburg.de)

Abstract:

The regulation of access to international mobility plays an important role in creating and maintaining global inequalities, with consequences for people’s life chances worldwide. Past research has e.g., shown that the varying “power of passports,” visa waiver agreements, and costs for visas create a situation where citizens of rich countries are privileged and others are systematically excluded. An under-researched issue is the time spent applying for visas, which can be an important additional burden. In this project—which is joint work with Niklas Harder and Alexandra Orlova (Dezim), Lorenzo Gabrielli (European Commission JRC) and Ettore Recchi (EUI)—we systematically analyze how long one has to wait to get an appointment for a visa, depending on one’s country of origin. We focus on German embassies and consulates worldwide. Using computational methods, we collect data on the closest available date for the different locations and various types of short- and long-term visa. In the talk, our methods are described, preliminary findings are presented, and potential consequences for the persistence of global inequalities are discussed.