munich

Germany has agreed to accept DNA tests as proof of a blood relationship in visa applications. According to government officials, the move is intended to help Kurds from Turkey and Iraq who wish to join relatives granted political asylum in Germany but are often unable to produce documents acceptable to the authorities.

The idea was put to the German foreign ministry by the country's embassy in Ankara, where increasing numbers of Kurds have been applying for visas in recent months. The embassy began accepting DNA tests as proof of relationship last December. Since then, about 25 visa applicants have taken up the option. Applicants can choose whether to present documents or the results of a DNA test.

The test uses saliva samples from the visa applicant and his or her relative in Germany, and is carried out privately at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Münster. Applicants must pay the DM600 (US$332) cost.

Data from the test remain confidential between the institute and the applicant. “We can't find any ethical objection to this procedure,” says Dirk Lanzerat, a biomedical ethicist from the Institute for Ethics in Science in Bonn.