On Friday, June 23, 2023, the members of the German Bundestag (the German parliament) adopted a federal government draft law on the further development of skilled worker immigration.
With the votes of the traffic light parliamentary groups, the Skilled Immigration Act is passed – before that, there is a lot going on in the Bundestag. From practice comes the reminder not only to change laws but also to speed up the visa process. Another new law is intended to improve training and further education.
Among other things, what is new in the draft law is the so-called opportunity card based on a points system. The criteria for which there are points include language skills, professional experience, age, and connection to Germany. In the future, IT specialists should also be able to come without a university degree, provided they can demonstrate certain qualifications. It should also be easier for asylum seekers who entered the country before March 29, 2023, who are working or have the prospect of a qualified job.
With the draft law, the existing salary thresholds for regular and bottleneck occupations would be noticeably lowered using the leeway offered by the corresponding EU directive. In addition, a low minimum salary threshold will be created for job starters with an academic degree, which will make it easier for those starting out to work. In the future, an EU Blue Card will also be issued to persons entitled to international protection who have received their protection status in Germany or another EU member state. Changes of employer would be simplified for holders of such a card, and regulations for exercising short- and long-term intra-EU mobility in Germany would also be created for holders of an EU Blue Card that was issued in another EU member state. In addition, family reunification with holders of an EU Blue Card and obtaining a permit for permanent residence will be made easier.
The change has also been held for those here on a tourist visa. They will not be required to first leave the country, before returning in an employment context.
What are the main features of the new German immigration law?
1- Blue Card to be made easy
According to the federal government, what is new is that IT specialists can in future receive an EU Blue Card if they do not have a university degree, “but can demonstrate certain non-formal qualifications”. According to the draft, these regulations are intended to increase the attractiveness of Germany for particularly qualified third-country nationals.
2- Educational migration
By making studying in Germany more attractive, educational migration should be strengthened. Here, the securing of livelihood is made easier by expanded opportunities for secondary employment during study visits. In addition, the possibility is being created to apply the maximum employment times under the social law regulations for so-called working students in terms of residence law in order to remain within the permitted framework of permissible sideline activities during the course of study, writes the federal government.
3- Residence permit for qualification recognition
According to the draft, the introduction of a new residence permit for a recognition partnership should make it more attractive for pre-qualified third-country nationals to obtain a degree recognized in Germany. In addition, the recognition procedure – as previously only possible within the framework of mediation agreements – can only be started in Germany.
4- Job opportunity card
A job opportunity card based on a points system is to be introduced for people with a foreign professional qualification of at least two years or a university degree. The selection criteria should include language skills, professional experience, age, and connection to Germany. The opportunity card offers opportunities for trial work or part-time employment. “The change to residence permits for gainful employment or educational purposes is guaranteed,” writes the government. The opportunity card will also permit casual work for up to 20 hours a week while looking for a qualified job, as well as probationary employment.
In addition, among other things, the possibility of extending the opportunity card by up to two years is provided if the foreigner has an employment contract or a binding job offer for qualified employment in Germany and the Federal Employment Agency agrees.
The opportunity card” and its associated points system, allow foreigners who don’t yet have a job lined up to come to Germany for a year to find employment. A prerequisite for receiving a card will be a vocational qualification or university degree.
The cards will be awarded to those who fulfill a certain number of conditions, for which they will be awarded points: These could be German and/or English language skills, existing ties to Germany, and the potential of accompanying life partners or spouses on the German labor market.
5- Family reunion for parents
Furthermore, in the future, it should also be possible for the parents of a skilled worker to be granted a residence permit for family reunification. The same applies to the skilled worker’s parents-in-law if their spouse resides permanently in Germany.
6- Residence permit for asylum seekers
Asylum seekers who entered the country before March 29, 2023, and who, among other things, have the appropriate qualifications and a job offer or who are already in a corresponding employment relationship should be able to end their asylum procedure by withdrawing their application and apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker without first leaving and entering the country to have gone through the visa process.
7- No degree or qualification recognition required
Someone who already has a job offer can already come to Germany and start working while their degree is still being recognized. On the other hand, in the future, skilled immigrants will no longer have to have their degrees recognized in Germany if they can show they have at least two years of professional experience and a degree that is state-recognized in their country of origin.
Germany wants immigrants from India
Parallel to the passage of the Skilled Immigration Act in the Bundestag, the FDP parliamentary group has started an advertising campaign in India’s metropolis New Delhi. As a spokeswoman said, the parliamentary group sent a motorcycle rickshaw equipped with an advertising board in FDP colors to the Indian capital on Friday, on which they informed about new opportunities for IT specialists and other specialists in Germany. The text, written in English and bearing the German heading “Guten Tag!”, states that it has never been easier for qualified workers to obtain a work visa for Germany.
The success of immigration law
According to the draft, the principle of the Skilled Immigration Act of 2020 – qualification- and needs-oriented immigration into the labor market – has proven its worth. Building on this, the future immigration of skilled workers should be based on three pillars: the skilled worker’s pillar, the experience pillar, and the potential pillar. The pillar of skilled workers remains the central element of immigration. As before, it includes the EU Blue Card for foreign university graduates and the national residence permit for foreign skilled workers with a German degree or a degree recognized in Germany. Whoever has such a degree should be able to do any qualified job in the future.
Statements of government officials on new immigration law
Germany is getting “the most modern immigration law in the world,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) at the beginning of the debate. “This is a good day for the Federal Republic of Germany,” she said.
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) said that not only “a few academics” were needed, but also professionally qualified people. “We need workers and skilled workers in trade, crafts, in the field of social service professions, and in the field of industrial production,” said the minister. It is therefore important to address domestic potential – as well as qualified immigration.
With the law, however, migration will also be better controlled and sorted. It is important to reduce irregular migration and strengthen legal immigration. “It is in our interest,” said the minister.
What does an immigration expert say about it?
Immigration expert Umer Rasib from Germany commented on this new immigration law change as a milestone for Germany’s new modern status. He said the new changes will not only help skilled workers settle easily in Germany but also to promote the country as a new skilled worker hub.
He also said that German offices will have to overcome issues of unending bureaucratic work. The embassies of German around the world especially in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have long awaiting visa application appointment systems which defy the ongoing efforts of the country to attract new immigrants. The barriers to the German language should also be reduced by opening up internationalism in the country in public places and in government and private offices.
More and more English websites should be introduced such as https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/ to help non-EU applicants easily apply for jobs. Germany will have to compete with the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada which are also desperately trying to recruit more and more skilled workers from around the world by making the immigration process easier.