July 8th, 2023 at 12:10 am
New Visa | Germany Launches Opportunity Card | Germany New Immigration Law
The German government has passed a law that will give job seekers from outside the EU and many refugees who are already in the country more chances to find work.
Foreign workers in Germany now have an opportunity card. A thrilling free migration visa to Germany for Professionals and their families! We’ll explore this pioneering program.
German parliament reforms skilled work immigration law
The German government established a bill to help refugees and non-EU job seekers find work. To recruit non-EU workers, the Bundestag changed immigration laws.
“This draft law secures prosperity in Germany,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) said on June 23 as she presented the government’s plan in the chamber in the morning, adding that it would only work if bureaucratic obstacles were removed.
“It’s unacceptable that you have to fill in 17 different applications to bring a new care worker into the country,” she added.
The conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the main opposition, supported numerous government policies but opposed lowering foreign worker qualifying rules. CSU member Andrea Lindholz believes lowering German language standards would attract unskilled workers.
Lindholz said the new law will not address bureaucratic obstacles including lengthy overseas consulate procedures.
She also warned against “turning the asylum process into a kind of state-financed job-seeking opportunity in Germany.”
Norbert Kleinwächter of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) called the draft bill “junk country” (Ramschland).
“What you have put together in a 100-page draft law could be summed up in one sentence,” he continued. “Everyone gets in, but no one is thrown out.”
Lamya Kaddor of the Green Party disputed the AfD’s contention that speaking German was essential for working in Germany. “You integrate best when you have to speak German at work—ever noticed?” she taunted right-wing house members. Good news. “We have made important progress competing with other successful immigration countries like the US and Canada,” she said.
The German three-party coalition’s neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) highlighted the new law’s economic benefits. “It’s ridiculous that it’s easier in Germany today to emigrate into the asylum system than the job market,” said FDP’s Konstantin Kuhle. “This law reverses that.”
The new ‘Opportunity Card’
The law’s new “opportunity card” and points system allows foreigners without jobs to work in Germany for a year.
The opportunity card allows probationary and casual work for up to 20 hours a week while searching for a suitable job.
Integrating refugees
Those who have applied for refuge and are waiting for a decision by March 29, 2023, have the right skills and a job offer, and will also be able to join the workforce. This would also make it possible for them to go to trade school.
People who are here on a vacation visa will also notice a change. They won’t have to leave the country first before they can come back to work.
Degrees that are recognized
Having degrees that are accepted in Germany has long been a big problem for people who want to move there.
Skilled immigrants won’t have to get their degrees accepted in Germany in the future if they can show they have at least two years of work experience and a degree that is recognized by the government in their home country. If someone already has a job offer, they can come to Germany and start working while their degree is still being accepted.
Changes to citizenship laws
During the debate in parliament, Martin Rosemann from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, the SPD, looked ahead: “Well-qualified young people from around the world are not exactly lining up to come work in Germany,” he said. “We have to win them over and show them the big picture. This is why we will also change the rule on citizenship.”
The skilled immigration law is part of the government of Scholz’s plan to make it easier for people who are not German to live in the country. A new citizenship law that is currently being written will also make it easier for people to have dual citizenship from countries outside of the EU. This is something that Germany’s big Turkish community will be very happy about.