The Federal Employment Agency of Germany has announced that they are entering a crisis in terms of a shortage of skilled workers. So the officials have facilitated the immigration of foreign nationals to the country by commencing the Skilled Workers Immigration Act in early 2020. The new rule was meant to facilitate and ease the immigration of skilled workers to the country.
Everything was going well, but with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, isolation, and lockdown, the program was stopped. Germany’s population did not grow in 2020, and the immigration of skilled workers to the country dropped by 3 percent.
Germany’s government and the Federal Employment Agency strongly believe that they need 400.000 new immigrants a very year to tackle the shortage of skilled workers. There are three ways ahead of the government. The first is to train nonskilled workers and encourage them to do skilled work. The second is to encourage part-time women to work full time or more. The last one, which is the most logical and effective one, is to attract more immigrants to the country.
What are the German officials going to do?
The German authorities are convinced that bringing new immigrants to the country is the best way to solve the issue. So they are determined to implement the new Skilled Immigration Act. It will ease the immigration of skilled workers from non-EU countries to Germany. The process will eliminate the obstacles for the foreign workers.
At the moment, 1.2 million Covid vaccines are left with the government, which means that a large group of people has not received the Covid-19 vaccines. It could worsen the health issues of the country and cause a new shortage of skilled workers.
The following are some of the changes the government wants to implement to address the issue:
Changing the definition of skilled worker
Up to now, the definition of a skilled worker for German immigration officials were the people who have had a university degree. But under the new rules, the individuals who have completed the vocational training are also eligible.
No limit on employment opportunities
The non-EU skilled workers who had vocational qualifications were allowed to work in fields and occupations that had shortages of workers. But after the new act, the skilled workers who have a vocational certificate can work in any job or occupation in Germany.
No check on local skilled worker
If you have looked for a job in a foreign country, you definitely know LMIA. It’s a certificate that a Canadian employer needs to receive from the immigration officials to bring the skilled worker to Canada. Germany had a similar certificate named “priority check.” The employers had to inform the Federal Employment Agency that there is no employee in Germany or EU to fill the employment opportunity, but now the Priority check is not necessary.
What do skilled workers need for the new German Immigration Act?
The following items are required for the new immigration act in Germany if you are a skilled worker:
- Contract of employment between employee and employer.
- A vocational training program for at least two years or an equivalent
- Five years of work experience disqualify IT experts from having a qualification
- Experienced professionals can apply for job seeker visas.
- At least B1 German language proficiency.
- Ten hours of apprenticeship per week.
- Earning at least 3,685 EUR for applicants 45 and older.
