Opening the German job market for skilled professionals
Immigration necessary
As in many other countries, immigration is a hotly debated topic in Germany. While there may appear to be strong opposition to increased immigration, it is widely recognized that migration to Germany is desirable and, in fact, necessary.
German enterprises complain about a lack of skilled professionals; birth rates are low and there is a wide consensus that influx of people is required to keep the social systems functioning.
For these reasons, Germany has taken measures to facilitate the immigration of skilled professionals; it has reshaped the immigration laws to lower the threshold for persons who are interested in starting a new life in Germany. This regards the immigration of persons who want to work as employees as well as the immigration of persons seeking to start a business.
Two forms: Planned immigraton vs. asylum
The following overview regards the ‘regular’ immigration to Germany. Regular is supposed to mean ‘in a planned way’, immigration following a willing decision as opposed to entering Germany to escape political persecution or to obtain protection in a humanitarian crisis. The latter kind of immigration is governed by a different set of rules.
Overview
The rules on regular immigration to Germany may be roughly divided between
- immigration to obtain a qualification
- immigration to work
Immigration to obtain a qualification involves things such as moving to Germany to study, to attend a vocational school but also stays to obtain a certain experience, for example as an Au-pair.
Immigration to work regards the relocation of persons with a specific qualification. Germany has adopted rules to facilitate the immigration of professionals who have a certain skillset which is considered useful for the German labour market. The overarching idea is to attract persons whose skills are needed, which will satisfy the demand for employees and at the same time ensure that people coming to Germany will be able to make a living and sustain themselves.
These rules are accompanied by regarding residence permits of relatives which enable skilled professionals to bring close family members.
Immigration to work
Overview – the three pillars
The rules governing the immigration of skilled professionals may be categorized in three pillars:
- the skilled professionals pillar
- the experience pillar
- the opportunity pillar
The skilled professionals pillar primarily targets persons with an academic or comparable education, who have a job offer in Germany.
The experience pillar mainly concerns people who do not have a formal qualification which is recognised in Germany, but who have a specific professional experience or a formal qualification which is recognised in their country. People falling in this category may enter Germany under this pillar if they have a valid job offer.
The opportunity pillar addresses persons with certain qualifications who do not have a job offer yet. They are enabled to come to Germany to find a job.
The first two pillars – the skilled professionals pillar and the experience pillar – have in common that they require an employment contract or a concrete job offer. People have to secure employment; then they can move to Germany.
The opportunity card opens a path for those professionals who do not have a job in Germany yet. They can come to Germany to find a job if they have certain skills or qualifications.
The skilled professionals pillar
As mentioned, the rules under the ‘skilled professionals pillar’ mainly concern persons with a university degree or a comparable qualification. In addition, it also regards professionals from the internet and telecommunication sector who may not have a formal qualification in this field but sufficient work experience.
A central element of this pillar are the provisions regarding the ‘blue card’. They transform an EU Directive into German law. As early as 2009, the EU had adopted a directive which aimed to attract highly skilled professionals from non-EU member states to the EU. The EU wanted to counter a potential lack of skilled employees on the labour market. The Directive created the ‘blue card’, a special residence permit for highly qualified professionals.
A review of this directive showed that it did not yield the desired results. The EU adopted a new directive (EU Directive 2021/1883), with the express goal to establish a “clear and transparent Union-wide admission system to attract and retain highly qualified workers from third countries and to promote the mobility of those workers”.
Germany amended its rules regarding the issuance of the blue card in line with this directive. In some aspects, it went beyond what is required under EU law.
The main target group for the ‘Blue Card’ are non-EU citizens with a university degree or a higher education which is equivalent to a university degree.
To receive a blue card, professionals must have a contract for a job in Germany; their salary must reach a certain threshold. The Blue Card is tied to the job; it is issued for the purpose of working in the respective position.
Holders of a blue card may also obtain residence permits for spouses or close relatives in certain circumstances. For details, see this article on the blue card.
Experience pillar
The experience pillar offers a pathway to Germany for persons who do not have a qualification or degree which is recognised in Germany, but who have obtained a certain qualification in their own country. As with the skilled professionals pillar, the rules under the experience pillar apply to persons who have a job offer from a German employer.
Under the pertinent rules, a work and residence permit may be issued to foreigner who have gained at least two years of practical experience in the past five years, if they have either
- a qualification which is recognised in their home state and which requires at least two years of qualification
- a university degree which is recognised in their home state
- a qualification obtained abroad which enables them to work in a specific profession in Germany; this must be confirmed by the relevant German authority
An exception applies to jobs in the information and telecommunication sector.
The job offer which the foreign nationals have must offer a salary over a certain threshold. This threshold varies, because it is fixed based on amounts in German social security law. Currently it is around 44.000 €.
As mentioned, this pillar offers an opportunity to come to Germany without a degree which is recognised in Germany.
However, in certain jobs or occupations a degree which is recognized in Germany is required by law. Persons can only work in these professions if they have a specific qualification. This means that persons who seek jobs in one of these professions cannot come to Germany under the aforementioned rules.
In the past, they had to undergo additional training abroad to obtain a qualification recognised in Germany or at least to have their qualification formally recognized.
To avoid this, Germany has introduced a possibility to come to Germany with a view to undergo training or the conduct a procedure for formal recognition of a degree. Foreigners can enter a so called ‘recognition partnership’ with a German enterprise. This makes them eligible for a residence permit to undergo training or to obtain a recognition.
The opportunity pillar
The aforementioned sets of rules require that the person wishing to migrate to Germany already has a job offer. However, finding a job from abroad (or obtaining the recognition of a degree which enables you to find a job in Germany from abroad) may be difficult. For this reason, Germany has introduced the opportunity card. The opportunity card is a special kind of residence permit. It allows foreigners to come to Germany for limited time to find a job or to have their qualification recognized. For details, see this post on the opportunity card.