It鈥檚 no secret that getting a German visa can be a challenge for the average applicant, but what鈥檚 surprising is that even the man behind Netflix鈥檚 global expansion had to struggle through it.
Johannes Reck, the CEO of Berlin-based travel-tech company GetYourGuide, revealed how his company went the extra mile to make the process smoother for its international employees.
In a recent podcast with Harry Stebbings, Mr. Reck shared how he had to step in to help Gaurav Agarwal, formerly with Netflix, secure a German visa after he was appointed CTO of GetYourGuide.
He said, 鈥淲e hired a CTO from Netflix, Gaurav Agarwal, last year. Amazing guy. He was the one who led all of the growth at Netflix. Very successful鈥攈e was at Meta before. Tremendous resume. He鈥檚 Indian.鈥
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Mr Reck further stated that Mr Agarwal had to struggle for six months to get a German Visa despite an impressive career. He said, 鈥淔or him to get a visa to come to Germany after he had signed a job contract鈥攖his guy makes a lot of money鈥攖ook him 6 months.鈥
He explained that Mr Reck had to go to the consulate in San Francisco, and they only take appointments two times a week, and they鈥檝e been booked out for the next six months.
He mentioned that he took the matter into his own hands to get Mr Agarwal鈥檚 visa process moved forward. He contacted Germany鈥檚 foreign office to book an appointment for Mr Agarwal at the consulate in San Francisco to carry out paperwork.
Mr Reck stated, 鈥淚f you make it that hard, it鈥檚 no wonder we don鈥檛 have a tech ecosystem in Europe.鈥
He also disclosed that there is not enough talent in Germany to staff his company, stating that 90 per cent of the employees in Berlin are immigrants, having been brought in from the US and India.