Does Germany want Aliens to Enter and even Stay Here?

Everybody has his or her special situation, everybody would like to get in as easy and quickly as possible. Do you believe that especially this presentation will even all paths to your permit? Wake up! There is no one clear-cut path to Germany! There will always be more or less red tape to overcome.

Germany’s own workforce is unproportionally losing its young talents due to the aging of the German population in general. Not enough children are being born. These facts give foreign talents a chance. This opportunity does not at all mean that uneducated persons looking for low-scale jobs are welcome to enter the country. This country has its own share of uneducated and these persons are to be placed first. The continuing economic boom in the coming years demands skilled persons for a vast majority of professions. Some federal states expect a shortage of 20,000 or even 200,000 workers in the coming years.

If you seriously want to immigrate to Germany, prepare yourself! Practice patience!! German officials love formalities and painstakingly frown on formal sloppiness like more than two typos on a single page…

Amendment starting 2020

The latest significant amendment to German immigration law went into force March 2020. The central part of the amendment is the so-called “Skilled Workers Act“ along with the “Regular Return Act”. The Federal Government wants 25,000 new skilled workers per year as a result of the Skilled Workers Act coming into force. The overall aim is to reduce the shortage of skilled workers in Germany.

Employment Immigration

The major amendment to immigration law is in employment immigration. The law on the immigration of skilled workers has resulted in a number of changes that open up new prospects for skilled workers from non-EU countries. The distinction between academics and people with vocational qualifications has been abandoned and in future only the uniform term “skilled workers” will be used by law, covering both university graduates and employees with qualified vocational training. Further details will be described in my online FAQ, with specifics listed pertinent to the relevant permit.

In order to meet the increasing need of skilled workers, so-called fast-track proceedings have been implemented into the law (§81a AufenthG). Once in a life time, parliament developed a very good idea to expedite the processing by pulling up front the vetting of an employee to the local immigration office first. The local immigration office itself now becomes the active partner with the employer. Immigration closes a contract with the employer, collects a special processing fee of € 411 per person (also per trailing spouse or children), proactively runs and organizing all the testing. This phase is still "slow motion". Once immigration issues a pre-approval, "quick motion" kicks in. The consulate abroad has relatively short periods to react.

So far to the word of law. Reality is more the opposite! Berlin has only two case deciders designated to the fast-track proceedings. Rostock needs 12 weeks and Frankfurt am Main needs 16 weeks with 1 ½ until they can start fast-track application. Some offices are requesting the employer to apply for the pre-approval from Labor Agency. In other words, immigration is delegating work back to the applicant. What is the issue? Too few case deciders...

Job Seeking Permit

Until this amendment, only academics could enter to hunt for a job. Now also, skilled workers with qualified vocational training have a chance to enter and look for a job or a vocational training place. In this case, it is possible to look for a job in Germany for up to six months. .Caveat, German! If your profession requires German abilities, you also have to demonstrate your command of German. In the event, your profession demands German and you lack it, then you will have to consider applying for a language permit or vocational training.

Business Immigration

The rules and regulations for immigration on grounds of business have not changed a bit. A “golden visa”, as some other countries offer, has never been offered in Germany and is not to be expected. Though the formal requirements have been significantly decreased since 2015, when the previous major amendment was issued, great insecurity still exists because all criteria are at discretion. You can never say “I meet the expectations,” but rather only hope to have done so. If an application to run a self-owned company in Germany was ever turned down then because its business line was around something unwanted or the business plan did not transport the necessity of the applied business. The main concern for any applicant remains to have a business idea that will bring momentum to German economy. Though having investment capital remains important, it comes second after the business idea.

How to Start:

Before entering Germany, you need to know if you need a visa to enter or not. Stop, for a moment please! In order to correctly understand this presentation, you must know two terms form German legalese: “Visum (= visa)” and “Aufenthaltsgenehmigung, -titel (= residence permit, residence title)”. Visa is a permission to remain in Germany for a short-term period while a residence permit (up to six months, never qualifying for permanent residency) is for an indefinite permission, which will qualify for permanent residency. It is just like the difference between “visit” and “stay”.

If you are not from a buddy country , you must have a visa prior to entering Germany! A visa legalizes your entry into and your stay in Germany for up to three months per half year. It is not really intended to be extended any further. You can only get an exception if you are hospitalized, incapable of traveling, or summoned to court or an administrative office. These exceptions are handled very strictly. This time you will have to leave — but next time apply for a national visa if a longer stay is foreseeable and reasonably explainable.

Pursuant to a visa waiver program, citizens of buddy countries may enter without first applying for a visa. Some special buddy country citizens may apply for a residence permit from inside Germany without first having to leave and apply from home. The rules for obtaining and prolonging residency depend exclusively on the reason you are here.

The new law explicitly and actually exclusively names the reasons for a residence permit: