German government "Green Card" program to be extended
Jul 23, 2003
The German government's "Green Card" program for IT specialists is to be extended until a new immigration law goes into effect. After that highly qualified foreigners in all sectors are to be able to work in Germany if there are not enough specialists available on the domestic labor market to fill the positions in question.
The "Green Card" program introduced by the German government in the spring of 2001 is to be extended until the end of 2004. This was decided by the German cabinet on July 9.
The German "Green Card" program was introduced on the basis of a "Regulation on Work Permits for Highly Qualified Foreign Specialists in the Information and Communications Technologies" at a time when the IT sector was suffering from a shortage of qualified personnel. The program was to have expired on July 31.
Thus far around 15,000 computer specialists have been given a "Green Card", most of them from India and Eastern Europe. The fact that the "Green Card" program has been so successful has resulted in plans being made for its replacement in the form of a generalized regulation in the now revised Immigration Act. In the future foreign specialists are to be allowed to work in all areas of expertise in Germany if there is no one available on the domestic labor market to fill the jobs in question.
As a result of criticism expressed by the Federal Constitutional Court with regard to the voting procedure that led to the passage of the Immigration Act it will take a while before the new law can go into effect. This will probably not be until some time next year. Given the economic importance of the information and communications technologies this period of time is to be bridged by extending the "Green Card" program until then. At the same time the government wants to emphasize that this is not part of a paradigm change. Germany simply needs highly qualified immigrants.
The "Green Card" program introduced by the German government in the spring of 2001 is to be extended until the end of 2004. This was decided by the German cabinet on July 9.
The German "Green Card" program was introduced on the basis of a "Regulation on Work Permits for Highly Qualified Foreign Specialists in the Information and Communications Technologies" at a time when the IT sector was suffering from a shortage of qualified personnel. The program was to have expired on July 31.
Thus far around 15,000 computer specialists have been given a "Green Card", most of them from India and Eastern Europe. The fact that the "Green Card" program has been so successful has resulted in plans being made for its replacement in the form of a generalized regulation in the now revised Immigration Act. In the future foreign specialists are to be allowed to work in all areas of expertise in Germany if there is no one available on the domestic labor market to fill the jobs in question.
As a result of criticism expressed by the Federal Constitutional Court with regard to the voting procedure that led to the passage of the Immigration Act it will take a while before the new law can go into effect. This will probably not be until some time next year. Given the economic importance of the information and communications technologies this period of time is to be bridged by extending the "Green Card" program until then. At the same time the government wants to emphasize that this is not part of a paradigm change. Germany simply needs highly qualified immigrants.