Germany’s new “Opportunity Card” will allow non-EU countries to come to Germany without a job offer through a points-based immigration system. This visa program will commence on 1 June 2024. The potential applicants can from this date apply for the opportunity card.
If a candidate can show that he has a degree or qualification recognized officially from Germany, they can directly apply for the opportunity card without proving the requirements of the points-based system. If you want to acquire further information about recognition of qualification in Germany, please access the information here.
Why did Germany introduce the Opportunity Card?
Despite the Skilled Immigration Act that came into force in March 2020, there is a shortage of more than 500,000 skilled workers in Germany. Whether in industry, care, or crafts: the shortage is becoming more and more serious. Germany, to attract more skilled workers from abroad, revised its immigration law. One component of the new immigration reforms is called the “Opportunity Card”.
What is an Opportunity Card?
The opportunity card has been designed for the skilled workers from the non-EU countries. Interested applicants from 1 June 2024 can apply for the visa without a job offer. Experienced professionals without an employment contract are therefore allowed to enter Germany to look for a job under conditions:
- they have a vocational qualification of at least 2 years or a university degree,
- they have German or English language proficiency (extra points available for higher scores)
- they can support themselves in Germany by showing a bank account with the available amount for the living cost or an offer of a part-time job from Germany.
The opportunity card has been established on the points-based system. One has to acquire 6 points out of 11 to be qualified for the visa.
Opportunity Card points calculator
Basic Requirements
Applicants need to show sufficient knowledge of German at level A1 or English knowledge at level B2. Furthermore at least two years of professional training by the rules of the country of origin.
Applicants must also have sufficient financial resources. This could be proven for example, with the help of an employment contract for a part-time job.
4 Points (Professional Qualification)
Applicants can get 4 points for partial recognition of foreign professional qualifications or permission to practice a regulated profession (e.g. educator, nurse, or engineer).
3 Points (Work Experience + Training or German Language)
There have been set aside 3 points for:
- five years of professional experience (in the last seven years) in the trained profession alongside the previous two years of professional training by the rules of the country of origin,
- One can also get these 3 points for good German language skills at language level CEFR B2.
2 Points for Less work experience + Vocational training or Age or German language
- 2 points are awarded for two years of professional experience with previous vocational training (in the last five years),
- German language at CEFR level B1 can also be awarded with two points.
1 Point for Age or previous stays in Germany
- Applicants are awarded 1 point who are not older than 40 years of age,
- for a previous stay in Germany (at least six months, stay as a tourist does not count).
1 Point for Language Proficiency/Training/Applying with a spouse
- proficiency in German at CEFR level A2,
- 1 point can also be awarded for very good knowledge of English CEFR C1,
- training in shortage professions, or
- if you apply for the Opportunity Card together with your spouse.
Why does Germany need non-EU professional workers?
In a survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, which represents the interests of several million companies in industry, trade, and services, 56 percent of companies complain about a lack of employees. This is one of the biggest business risks.
The Federal Employment Agency currently lists bottlenecks in 148 professions. A further 122 professions are under observation. In Germany, there have never been so many vacancies as in the first quarter of 2022. A survey by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) in Nuremberg revealed a total of 1.74 million vacancies nationwide for the period from January to March 2022. This is the highest value since measurements began in 1989.
Around 400,000 immigrants from so-called third countries outside the European Union would have to come to Germany every year to counteract this shortage in the labor market. The so-called Blue Card EU has enabled academic professionals to come to Germany since 2012. The Skilled Immigration Act (FEG) also includes non-academic professions.
For many companies, the shortage of skilled workers is now one of the greatest business risks. In the early summer of 2022, around 56 percent of the companies in the business survey of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) expressed the fear of not being able to find enough qualified personnel in the next twelve months. Source
According to the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research, bottlenecks are emerging in numerous professions: These include handicrafts, construction trades, metal and mechanical engineering, nursing and other health care professions, educators, and, as before, IT professions.
The immigration of skilled workers with already recognized qualifications should also be made easier. The so-called “chance card” should also make it possible to work in a non-specialist profession in the future, as long as you have a professional qualification recognized in Germany.
How much immigration does Germany need?
In Germany, demographic development is already causing a noticeable shortage of workers. In the next 15 years, the baby boomer generation will retire. According to the Federal Statistical Office, by 2036 12.9 million people will have reached retirement age. This corresponds to almost 30 percent of the workforce in 2021. The younger age groups cannot replace them. Source
By 2026, an estimated 240,000 more jobs will have to be filled than workers will be available, according to a skilled labor monitoring program for the Ministry of Labour. The Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB) considers net immigration of at least 400,000 people per year to be necessary for the long term. Since numerous people also emigrate from Germany every year, this would mean that there would have to be 1.5 to 1.6 million newcomers.
Possible hurdles for Professionals Willing to come to Germany
According to some experts, more people from third countries will come to Germany via the planned opportunity map. “The system is far too complicated, to check whether someone meets the required criteria, an extensive bureaucracy must be set up. Such a system could act as a deterrent to potential workers. If an annual quota is also set, this will create further uncertainty abroad.
Secondly, it seems incomprehensible why, for example, the age limit is set at a maximum of 35 years. It is also believed that the requirement to learn German before looking for a job is exaggerated. This is because, in a startup, it can be quite sufficient if someone speaks English.
The Skilled Immigration Act already offers skilled workers with vocational training the opportunity to enter Germany and look for a job there for up to six months. The prerequisite for this is, among other things, that the foreign qualification is recognized as “equivalent” in Germany. But this is often lacking in practice. Germany is too fixated on formal certificates and trusts too little in the ability of employers to find suitable applicants.
According to information provided by the employers’ associations, it is difficult to have knowledge acquired abroad recognized if it was not acquired through formal education but through practical learning in the work process. It also becomes problematic if there is no German reference occupation that the competent recognition bodies can use as a standard of comparison. In a position paper, the employers propose that, as an alternative to formal recognition, “relevant work experience” in a qualified job can be “uncomplicatedly” proven by a job reference. Source