German Immigration Act
The road is clear
By Gunter Hofmann
For the first time, Germany has passed a law
regulating immigration. It will open up the labour market for highly qualified foreign
experts, students and scientists, modernize integration policy and improve the law on
asylum. The Immigration Act, which will come into force at the beginning of 2005,
officially recognizes for the first time that Germany is an immigration country and
establishes integration as a statutory task. Its aim is to serve the interests of both
Germany and immigrants at the same time.
The discussions on a modern immigration law
for Germany had dragged on for four and a half years. On July 1, 2004, the German
Bundestag (Germany’s national parliament) at last approved the outcome, which will
regulate migration in future. The Immigration Act was passed with only four votes against;
the Bundesrat (the upper house of parliament that represents the Länder or federal
states) also approved the new law a few days later.
The new Immigration Act, which will become
law on January 1, 2005, is thus based on a broad political consensus. And this consensus
came about because, contrary to the original plan and the suggestions of a commission set
up in 2000, immigration will now not be actively expanded, but regulated and strictly
limited. On the other hand, the right of asylum will be improved and efforts to integrate
foreigners markedly stepped up. Since the Federal Government had already reformed the law
on citizenship, this means that the overall legal situation of foreign citizens living in
the Federal Republic of Germany has now been overhauled.
The Immigration Act would promote
"social peace," said Federal Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily. It was
therefore a good thing that the law had found such a broad majority. The realization that
Germany was an immigration country was now generally accepted: "I believe we are
taking an important step by positioning Germany in a globalized world where Germany cannot
afford to cut itself off, but must open its doors and windows."
One of the most important effects of the new
Immigration Act is that the German labour market will be opened up for highly-qualified
foreigners – e.g. scientists and computer specialists – more than was the case
under the previous Green Card regulation for IT specialists. If they meet certain
requirements, foreigners can be granted an unlimited residence permit from the outset and
settle in Germany.
New career opportunities
A self-employed person intending to invest at
least a million euros or create at least ten jobs in Germany can also count on support as
an "immigrant." Another area in which the law is becoming more open is by making
it more tempting for foreign academics to study in Germany: they will be allowed to stay
in the country for at least a year after graduation to work or look for work. Depending on
the country’s needs, it will also be easier for qualified university graduates to
apply for German citizenship.
For these three categories of people –
scientists, students and the self-employed – immigration requirements are being
appreciably relaxed. In general, however, the ban on recruiting migrant workers, which has
been in place since 1973, will remain in place. These limitations on worker migration have
been criticized as insufficient by business leaders; in view of the dramatic decline in
the number of children being born, they expect a marked shortage of specialists and young
scientists in Germany in the not-too-distant future. However, with over four million
Germans unemployed, both the governing coalition and the opposition felt that the public,
who are also voters after all, would not accept any further opening. And without the
agreement of the opposition, the Immigration Act could not have passed the Bundesrat,
where the opposition have a majority.
Improved right of asylum
The churches in particular have expressed
their satisfaction over the fact that, in future, asylum-seekers who are threatened
because of their gender (for example by genital mutilation) or are persecuted by non-state
groups will now be recognized as refugees. This has not been the case up to now.
Asylum-seekers who cannot be deported, for example because there is a war in their home
country, can now already be given a temporary residence permit during the first year; this
will markedly improve their status, since this regulation will supersede the previous
"semi-asylum" status. The main practical difference is that they will be allowed
to work.
The regulations on children joining their
mother or father will remain more or less unchanged. Children up to the age of eighteen
may join their families if their parents have been granted asylum or are refugees
according to Geneva Convention; they must, however, learn German. Government and
opposition agreed on an integration policy that entitles immigrants to language and
integration courses – it also applies to foreigners who have already been living here
for a long time. These courses will be compulsory, not voluntary.
Questions of security and counterterrorism
also had an influence in Germany on the discussion about whether the new law will
sufficiently promote immigration – and hence whether the republic’s identity as
an "immigration country" will therefore change. According to the compromise
package, foreigners who are classified as "dangerous" can be deported on the
basis of a new "deportation order" issued by the highest Land or federal
authorities. The legal basis for this will be a "danger forecast." The
controversial security detention for suspects who cannot be deported, was left out of the
law in the end. It will become easier to deport "preachers of hatred" who incite
others to commit acts of terror or threaten minorities. The need to weigh up between
security interests and the principles of liberalism was solved in a similar way in the
controversy over the automatic inquiry to the intelligence service (Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution): despite the objection that foreigners should not be
treated with distrust on principle, the immigration authorities are to ask the
intelligence service for information on all potential immigrants. This is also a
consequence of September 11th, 2001, which overshadows every immigration debate –
also in Germany and in Europe as a whole.
The journalist is political editor at the
Berlin office of the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit"; July 26, 2004
(Courtesy: Embassy of Germany,
Deutschland Magazine) |
