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New German Immigration Act
22nd October 2002
Following the recent German elections, which was won by the governing SPD-Greens
coalition of Chancellor Schröder, it now seems certain that the new German
immigration act will come into force on 1 January 2003 as planned. We include
some brief details of the new act below:
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Graduates of German Universities will be
allowed to remain in the country while looking for a job for up to one year
after graduation.
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A new immigration scheme will be introduced
for people near the top of their profession, who will be able to apply for
permanent residency immediately. This new category will cover scientists or
highly specialized scientific personnel, and certain highly skilled
employees. Those who are “highly skilled employees” will need to have a
job offer with a salary level of at least two times the level where they
would pay the maximum contribution for health insurance as required under
German law. At the current time applicants with annual salaries above 79,200
Euros would qualify as “highly skilled employees”.
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There will be a compulsory course for new
immigrants to give them an introduction to the German language, history and
culture, and the German Constitution.
The German Interior Ministry has confirmed that the above changes will come
into force on new year’s day. The only major exception is article 20 of the
new immigration act, which will bring in a points-based immigration scheme
similar to those of other countries such as Australia and Canada. Interior
Minister Schily has announced that the points-based immigration scheme will not
be implemented any sooner than around 2010.
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