According to a court decision, a doner kebab shop is not a specialty restaurant. For a chef from Turkey, the verdict means that he cannot work as planned in a Munich self-service restaurant. This was announced by the Berlin administrative court on Wednesday.

It thus confirmed a decision by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Izmir. The authority had not issued the chef a visa for long-term entry to Germany and argued that self-service snack bars are not specialty restaurants. (Ref.: VG 14 K 139.19 V)

The Turkish chef did not accept this decision and complained - unsuccessfully. According to the court, the establishment is not a restaurant where food is served and guests stay for a certain amount of time. Rather, food would be prepared and sold in the fast food restaurant "in front of a typical kebab skewer" at a sales counter.

The judgment is not final. The chef can try to obtain another examination by the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court. The Berlin courts are responsible for all visa procedures because the Federal Foreign Office is based in the capital.