Berlin Germany was shortlisted. But in the end, the young people from Bangladesh and India whom Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) met in Ottawa decided to live in Canada after all. Because it was easier to apply for a work visa there.
Together with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), Heil traveled across the Atlantic to see what Canada is doing better than Germany as a traditional immigration country. They want to know what the federal government, which intends to adopt its migration law this month, can still learn there.
It’s not just about changing laws and being open to immigration, the German Press Agency quoted the minister as saying. Rather, practical problems in administration must also be solved.
It could be objected that Heil and Faeser did not have to fly thousands of kilometers to do this, but could get information on their own doorstep, at the State Office for Immigration (LEA) in Berlin.
The largest immigration authority in the republic is responsible for around twelve percent of all residence-related decisions in Germany. Its director, Engelhard Mazanke, knows how the immigration of skilled workers could be made easier without changing a single paragraph.
More on the planned immigration reform:
The culture of distrust in immigration policy must end, the head of administration explains in an interview with the Handelsblatt: “In order to identify the 0.1 percent of immigrant specialists who may not have a real employment contract in their pocket or who have committed a crime, we exceed 99.9 percent percent of those interested go through a complex process that means that these people sometimes don’t hear from us for months or years.” And then they just emigrated to Canada, Great Britain or other countries where things are quicker.
But if, for example, Bayer or Siemens had decided on a foreign applicant, then the company could also be trusted, says Mazanke. “Then the immigration authorities and employment agency do not have to check whether everything is in order or whether the salary is appropriate.”
What is going better in Canada
The LEA boss can clearly describe what Canada is doing better. The procedure there is simplified as follows: using the points procedure, those interested in immigrating receive a residence permit for three years, after which there is the option of extending it for two years. Naturalization usually comes after five years.
In Germany, the process is much more complicated. A foreigner who wants to work in Germany applies for a visa at the embassy after often waiting months for an appointment. Depending on the case, the diplomatic mission will involve the immigration authorities or the Federal Employment Agency (BA) or both. If they agree, the embassy issues a visa.
As a rule, however, only for six weeks, criticizes Mazanke. This means that Germany is far from exhausting the European legal framework. Because the visa could also be issued directly for up to one year.
“The immigration system in Germany has never been designed in such a way that it is really attractive.”
(Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments)
At the end of the six weeks, those who want to immigrate have to go back to the foreigners’ registration office, which formally checks the same thing again. An electronic residence card is then ordered from the Federal Printing Office, which can take four to six weeks. And then the immigrant has to go back in order to activate the online function of the card.
“The immigration system in Germany has never been designed in such a way that it is really attractive,” says the Green Party’s domestic and digital politician, Misbah Khan. “We can no longer afford that because we are in global competition for workers.”
>> Read here: Which reforms the federal government is planning in concrete terms for the immigration of skilled workers
According to the key points presented by the federal government, it should take a maximum of three months in future for a foreign specialist to actually hold an applied for visa in their hands. However, this is illusory if the process is not streamlined and more digitized, says Khan.
The Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) takes a similar view: “A major obstacle to targeted labor migration are the complicated and lengthy administrative procedures,” writes the BDA. The political will to make decisive progress at this point is not sufficiently evident in the draft legislation.
Hardly any political will to tackle the administrative procedures decisively
A number of improvements are planned with the planned immigration reform. For example, the number of cases in which missions abroad have to involve the immigration authorities before an employment visa is issued should be significantly reduced. The consent of the BA should also be required less often than in current law.
However, this in turn leads to additional work for the immigration authorities, “since they have to carry out at least a reduced test program for certain employment-related characteristics,” writes the German Association of Towns and Municipalities in its statement on the proposed law.
On the other hand, the drafts for the new immigration law and the associated regulation also leave a lot open. In future, proof of the equivalence of a degree will be dispensed with in many cases if an applicant has a certificate obtained abroad and appropriate professional experience.
>> Read here: Federal government hopes for 50,000 additional workers from abroad per year
However, it is unclear who will be responsible for checking the authenticity of foreign degrees in the future, says Mazanke. “Does the federal agency, the chamber or the immigration authorities do that? The draft law leaves that open.” The Association of Towns and Municipalities makes it clear at this point: “It is impossible for the immigration authorities to examine non-academic professional qualifications on the basis of home law,” he writes in his statement.
In any case, the LEA boss doubts that the planned immigration reform will take effect quickly. Because the hoped-for specialists with their family members are currently encountering an administration in crisis mode. Germany has taken in 1.2 million refugees since the start of the Ukraine war.
In Berlin alone, more than 50,000 residence permits were issued to Ukrainians in one year. “For this reason, specialists sometimes have to wait six months for a free appointment with us,” says Mazanke. “It’s not a welcome culture.”
More: The immigration illusion – why more immigration won’t save us from labor shortages