Grace Ochieng (not her real name) began the visa application process a year ago to come study in Germany. "And then the insanity with the visa started," she told DW. She already spoke German, but that did not help the 26-year-old Kenyan navigate the maze of German bureaucracy. Despite holding a scholarship for her studies in international relations, a confirmed student job and a thick folder full of documents, it took two months to get the necessary visa. "It should not be this way. It took an enormous toll on me and the start of my studies. Because of the visa process, some people don't make it here," she said. Ochieng's friend, meanwhile, ran into even bigger hurdles: her visa for a semester abroad got stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire until half of that semester was already gone — and with it, the chance to study in Germany. "It's not so much the visa process that is so exhausting," Ochieng told DW. "It's mostly the communication. When you call the German Embassy, they don't answer. When you write emails, they don't reply. You're constantly holding your breath because you never know if they are going to say 'yes' or 'no.'"