faq
Opportunity card, point system, lane change – and less bureaucracy: Workers from abroad should immigrate more easily and thus get more interested in Germany. What the traffic light plans – and what criticism there is.
the initial situation
There is already a shortage of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers on the labor market in Germany, and demographic developments are exacerbating the problem. Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil fears there will be a gap of seven million workers and skilled workers by 2035. If things continue like this, Germany could soon be poor. Especially since it is not the case that highly qualified and internationally networked people stand in line to be allowed to come to Germany. Young top executives from Asia, Africa or Latin America are more likely to be drawn to the USA or Canada – and not just because of the language.
Germany must become more attractive for skilled workers from non-EU countries, less bureaucratic, more welcoming culture. This should also succeed with the new Skilled Immigration Act, which the traffic light coalition has agreed on and on which the Bundestag is now finally deliberating. The most important components – from point system to lane change. And why there is also criticism of the plans.
What will change with the “Blue Card”?
The “Blue Card EU” (EU Blue Card), which has been established in Germany since 2012, is to remain a central element of the immigration of skilled workers. It is a residence permit for people from non-EU countries who have completed a university degree. Here, however, the previously applicable salary thresholds for taking up work in Germany are to be lowered noticeably – to 43,800 euros gross per year, which would be 3650 euros per month. Previously, the minimum salary limit was 58,400 euros gross.
Holders of such a card should also be able to change employers, family reunification and permanent residence permits in the EU. In addition, according to the draft law, skilled workers should “be able to carry out any qualified employment” – i.e. also outside of their original qualifications. A specialist who is recognized as an office management clerk could be employed as a specialist in the field of logistics, for example. For IT specialists in particular, it is intended that they can also receive an “EU Blue Card” without a university degree if they can prove other qualifications.
What role does Experience?
It should entitle you to enter the country more than before. The prerequisites are at least two years of professional experience and a professional qualification that is state-recognized in the country of origin. The degree does not have to be recognized in Germany. This means a clear simplification. A minimum salary is set. Those who do not reach this salary threshold must have their professional qualifications recognized in Germany. What is new is that the person can already work in Germany while the recognition process is still ongoing – if the employer undertakes to release the worker for a necessary qualification.
For training or study in Germany?
The Ampel parties also want to strengthen educational migration – i.e. the opportunity to come to Germany for vocational training or studies in order to stay permanently. This should happen, for example, by allowing foreign students to work as student trainees in Germany in order to make a living. In addition, the stay to look for a training place is to be made considerably easier by raising the maximum age up to which a residence permit can be issued. The maximum permissible length of stay for a residence permit is to be increased to nine months and employment and trial employment are to be permitted.
How is the point system supposed to work?
For people with at least two years of foreign vocational training or a university degree, an “opportunity card” based on a points system is to be introduced when looking for work. A similar model is used in Canada. Points are awarded for twelve criteria – such as qualification, age and language skills. If you have at least six points, you acquire a “chance card” that entitles you to look for a job in Germany for one year, provided your livelihood is secure. The card should be able to be extended by up to two years if there is an employment contract for qualified employment and the Federal Employment Agency has approved it. The minimum requirements for German language skills have also been lowered from level A2 to A1. The chance card should be available around the first half of 2024.
What’s for him family reunification are valid?
The options for family reunification are being expanded for skilled workers from abroad. Not only the “nuclear family”, i.e. spouse and children, but also the parents and parents-in-law of an immigrant skilled worker should be able to come to Germany.
What options are there for asylum seekers?
Asylum seekers whose procedures are already underway should in future have the opportunity to start vocational training or take on a job. The traffic light parties speak of “changing lanes”: people who are not entitled to asylum status in Germany can stay if they find work. Recognized refugees already have the opportunity to go to work.
However, this “change of lanes” should only be possible retrospectively and not for new asylum seekers, so as not to create “disincentives” for irregular migration. The deadline is March 29, 2023: The “change of lane” is open to people whose asylum procedures were already running at the time. The traffic light was thus responding to criticism from the Union and AfD, who had accused the government factions in the first reading of the Skilled Immigration Act in the Bundestag of lowering the hurdles for immigration and promoting the immigration of “less qualified” people.
What should residence permits change?
The Residence Act has so far stipulated that entry into Germany must always be carried out with a visa for a specific purpose. This means that, for example, someone who has entered the country on a tourist visa and is offered a job in Germany at short notice first has to leave the country and apply for a new, purpose-adapted visa. In the future, this should no longer be necessary, and the visa should be able to be changed accordingly during the stay in Germany.
What will become of the Western Balkans regime?
In a supplementary regulation, the Western Balkans regulation, which is limited to the end of 2023, will be extended. On this basis, employers in Germany have so far been able to recruit 25,000 workers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The quota will be increased to 50,000. The regulation is considered a successful model that has brought many qualified workers to Germany.
For the first time, an immigration quota for unqualified workers from countries other than the Western Balkans who can provide proof of a job in Germany is planned. A figure of 30,000 is under discussion – this must be determined by the BA as required. You may do any activity that is subject to social security contributions for eight months within a year if the employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement and bears all of the travel expenses. In addition, access to the labor market for foreign nursing assistants below the level of skilled workers is to be created. It is hoped that around 1,200 additional nurses will be added.
What does the economy say about the plans?
According to an analysis by the Federal Employment Agency, there is a shortage of skilled workers in every sixth profession. Accordingly, there was a bottleneck in 200 of the approximately 1,200 professions assessed last year. According to the analysis, the nursing professions, professional drivers, medical specialists, construction professions, childcare, automotive engineering and IT professions are affected. Compared to the previous year, hotel or catering services, metal construction and bus drivers have been added in 2022.
Accordingly, companies in Germany currently see the lack of skilled workers as one of the greatest risks for their business. This is the result of an economic survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) at the end of May. “In view of the aging of society, the lack of qualified workers will remain one of the main structural challenges for companies in the future,” said DIHK economic expert Ilja Nothnagel.
In principle, employers’ associations rate the reform positively. This is how the President of the Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry North Rhine-Westphalia welcomed the daily topics“that the hurdles were lowered during qualification”.
But there is also criticism. The President of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH), Jörg Dittrich, continues to believe that immigration law is too bureaucratic. The path of an immigrant is still “paved with too many difficulties and potholes” for immigrants to take it on the scale hoped for.
The general manager of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry, Felix Pakleppa, was also critical. “For the immigration of non-European skilled workers, the only thing that counts is the existence of formal qualifications,” he said. Those who want to immigrate with professional experience are still blocked from access to the labor market.
Is the opposition behind the traffic light plans?
No. The head of the Union faction currently does not consider the draft for a law on the immigration of skilled workers to be approved. “Of course, the way it is on the table today can only lead to rejection,” said the parliamentary manager of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU), on Tuesday. The regulations planned by the SPD, Greens and FDP are completely wrong in terms of content and would trigger additional migration to Germany. The traffic light coalition is doing everything to ensure that migration to Germany becomes possible in a disorderly and uncontrolled manner, criticized Frei. Therefore, abstention is not required in the vote in the Bundestag.
The deputy chairman of the Union faction, Andrea Lindholz, criticized the extended possibilities for a “lane change”. This mixes “legal and illegal immigration”. “The central changes do not affect skilled workers, but low-skilled workers and asylum seekers without a need for protection,” said the CSU politician. The Union is also bothered by the fact that it should also be possible for someone who has entered Germany on a tourist visa to subsequently switch to employment migration – a so-called change of purpose.
The AfD criticized the planned point system. It was “pointless,” said the first parliamentary director of the AfD parliamentary group, Bernd Baumann. A points system is useless if there are open borders. “Nobody has to get in via the points system, they can just come in across the borders.” The project is eyewash.
In the first reading of the draft law, the Left Party pointed out that the labor shortage was particularly great in the low-wage sector. So there is already a need for reform at home.
What’s next?
The draft law is to be finally discussed in the Bundestag this Friday. At the request of the SPD, there is a roll-call vote. This “offers the chance for all factions to commit to modern immigration law,” said SPD domestic politician Sebastian Hartmann. The Union parliamentary group and the Left Party have announced that they each want to submit a motion for a resolution on the draft law.
According to its draft law, the government hopes that the new immigration rules will generate around 75,000 additional workers each year.
(Source: dpa, AFP, Reuters)