Germany is well on track for receiving skilled workers from around the world despite travel restrictions. On the basis of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, Germany has issued more than 50,000 visas to skilled workers and trainees since it came into force on March 1, 2020. According to previous reports from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, the German diplomatic missions issued almost 30,000 visas to qualified specialists and trainees from third countries despite the pandemic.
The Skilled Workers Immigration Act is part of the legislative package on migration that was passed by the German Assembly in June 2019. It implements the agreement of the governing parties in the coalition agreement. The law was implemented from 1 March 2020 for the new skilled wor visa categories.
Read here complete detailsof new immigration law.
The European Commission gave the go-ahead for building so-called talent partnerships with third countries at a conference on 11.06.2021. In selected partner countries, the aim is to search for skilled workers in a targeted manner and to promote and train talents who can then be employed as skilled workers in the EU. With the talent sponsorships, migration to Europe takes place based on the needs of the EU member states and partner countries.
The EU Commission announced the initiative in its migration and asylum package of September 23, 2020. The talent partnerships will strengthen strategic cooperation with partner countries on all migration issues and make a contribution to sustainable development. The EU Commission will support the talent partnerships financially. The focus will initially be on the neighborhood of the EU, the Western Balkans and Africa. Participation is voluntary for the EU member states and will be project-related.
The action of the law can be supplemented by the commitment of the commission. The talent partnerships with their close ties to the respective partner country can, in perspective, become an additional important means of attracting skilled workers and strengthening training structures in third countries.
The pilot project on regional labor migration from North Africa, which has been running since 2019 (“Towards a Holistic Approach to Labor Migration Governance and Labor Mobility in North Africa), has been launched by the EU and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development ( BMZ) is co-financed, has had very good experiences so far. The project strengthens the competencies of the responsible partner institutions according to their needs. It also supports the preparation and placement of up to 600 skilled workers and trainees in Germany and thus creates employment prospects, especially for the young population.
With the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, qualified skilled workers from non-EU countries can come to Germany in an orderly and expeditious manner. In this way, the law helps to meet the skilled labor needs of the German economy.
Key Points of the new immigration law
Germany’s new immigration law mainly brings the following changes into the old immigration system:
- Suspension of the checks if there are available workers either in Germany or EU countries for the applied job of the foreigners. This will surely help to make the job offer process faster and more vocational and skilled jobs would be open for non-EU workers.
- The previously exercised norm, immigration only for highly skilled ‘Academically Qualified’ persons is to be joined by the vocationally skilled workers. This will help even diploma holders and ones with having professional experience in skilled work to count.
- Under some restrictions, students will be able to come to Germany to attend vocational training courses.
- Permanent residency possible with less time
- Permanent settlement permit for those who have completed a vocational training course in Germany: The new act enables foreigners who have successfully completed a vocational training course in Germany to receive a permanent settlement permit after two years, the same period as applies to graduates.
Examination of the equivalence of qualifications and the examination of working conditions remain a prerequisite for access to the labor market. The law makes the measures for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications more attractive and more practical. In addition, IT specialists with extensive practical experience can also travel to Germany without a formal qualification.
A work contract from a German employer, basic knowledge of the German language, and required qualification (with recognition report from Germany) will be sufficient enough to make the applicants through. Employers will need not provide proof of job availability(“Vorrangprüfung”) from BAMF (Germany’s Federal immigration office) which will make the process more easy and hectic free. One can also apply for this visa even if his profession is not on a shortage occupation list.