Planned Reform of the German Residence Act Part 1: Employer and Employee Impact

The German Federal Government has been passing changes to the German Residence Act and general reforms of the German immigration system for several years. Due to a shortage of skilled employment in Germany, the government estimates that the country must attract a considerable amount of skilled migrant workers on an annual basis to meet the needs of the German economy.

Thus, the Federal Government describes in the now-passed draft law that the number of vacancies for qualified professionals in the last quarter of 2022 was about 1.98 million. This number is expected to increase over the coming years.

The proposed changes are intended to improve procedural requirements for various visa permit categories within the German Residence Act and to streamline the German immigration process overall. Once the new regulations come into force (currently the proposed reforms have been approved by the German parliament, the Bundestag), this will have an impact on employers in Germany, who will need to adapt to the new requirements for residence permits and additional new regulations.

This blog series will cover the latest, adopted changes to regulations and dissect their effects on four key interest groups: employers and employees, students, permanent residence applicants and those wishing to obtain the new opportunity card (Chancen-Karte).

This installment focuses exclusively on the new developments and changes to residence permits for gainful employment such as the skilled workers permit and EU Blue Card.

Key changes to residence permits for gainful employment

The aim of the reform to the Skilled Workers Immigration Act is to attract third-country nationals to migrate and work in Germany on a long-term basis with a focus on job roles that are currently in a deficit in Germany.

For this purpose, several regulations have been reviewed and proposed amendments have been made, affecting, in particular, the following residence permit categories:

• Professionals with vocational training
• Professionals with academic qualifications
• EU Blue Card
• IT Specialists

Professionals with vocational training and professionals with academic qualifications

Skilled workers with vocational training, as well as skilled workers with academic qualifications, should be granted a residence permit to pursue any qualified employment if the proposed changes are passed.

This opens the regulatory framework of the provision, as previously skilled workers were only allowed to pursue qualified employment (based on their recognized university degree) for which they were suitable based on their educational qualifications.

As per the current regulations, suitability based on qualifications acquired was deemed to exist if there was a connection between the University qualifications acquired and the job role pursued.

The proposed change essentially indicates that a connection between educational qualifications and job roles no longer necessarily needs to exist. In practice, therefore, this regulation provides a new element of clarity, which may well be attractive to skilled workers who do not have the necessary educational qualification but do have vocational training and overall work experience for that specific job role.

Furthermore, it is expected for skilled migrants to be able to obtain a permanent residence permit with fewer requirements when compared to the current regulations. An application should be made possible after the skilled migrant worked in Germany for three years based on their work permit if the remaining conditions are met. The current practice requires the applicant to hold a work permit for a period of four to five years.

EU Blue Card

Fundamental changes of practical relevance are planned for the EU Blue Card residence permit type. The EU Blue Card will initially continue to be issued to skilled workers with recognized university degrees and without the approval of the Federal Employment Agency for the purpose of employment in Germany appropriate to their qualifications.

However, the salary threshold will visibly decrease for all types of Blue Card applications. This will also apply to shortage occupations. A practical new regulation will affect skilled workers with a university degree who obtained their degree no more than three years before applying for the EU Blue Card. Such young professionals will now also be eligible for the EU Blue Card with a consequently lower minimum salary which is currently not the case.

New provisions have also been made for a holder of an EU Blue Card who wishes to change jobs whether within the same employer or with a different one. As per the current regulations those wishing to change jobs would need to submit a request to the German immigration office and wait for a period of several months for the approval to be obtained before being able to commence work under the new job role or employer.

With the proposed changes, individuals who have received their EU Blue Card in less than 12 months and wish to change jobs or employers will generally be able to do so. However, within the first 12 months, the immigration office has the option to suspend the job change for up to 30 days. Within these 30 days, the immigration office can reject the job change if the requirements for the Blue Card are no longer met. The proposed change is expected to lessen the processing time with such approvals for employees and employers.  

In addition, concessionary benefits are to be granted to holders of EU Blue Cards from other European member states wishing to work in Germany. These new regulations should particularly concern options for short-term and long-term mobility and are to relate to facilitated admission for gainful employment in Germany. The German authorities are yet to define the procedural requirements and concessions for this permit category.

IT Specialists

A new regulation will apply to IT specialists. With the approval of the German Federal Employment Agency, the German government plans to issue these individuals with an EU Blue Card for the purpose of employment suitable to their qualifications, provided they meet the relevant minimum salary threshold and have a specific skill set, knowledge and abilities based on at least three years of professional experience in an IT occupation acquired in the last seven years at a level comparable to a university degree or equivalent education program. The acquired knowledge must be necessary for the performance of the employment.

This represents a fundamental change, as previously the issuance of the EU Blue Card was exclusively linked to the possession of a university degree that is recognized by the German authorities in addition to meeting a specific salary threshold.

Going forward

The planned new regulations are intended to create a more attractive immigration environment for third-country nationals looking to immigrate to Germany for work purposes. Based on the proposed reforms it is evident that the German government is focused on relaxing the criteria for obtaining work permit status in Germany for specific categories of employment through recognizing vocational training and relevant work experience versus the current practice of focusing solely on the applicant’s educational qualification. This is certainly a major shift and one that will have an impact on the employer’s ability to attract and retain the necessary talent in Germany.

Need to know more?

Please look out for part two of this blog series coming soon, which will discuss the planned changes to the regulatory framework for student permits, as we expect certain changes to be made to the working days and the counting of these days when processing such applications, which will impact both students and employers in Germany.

For further information and advice on this topic, please contact Senior Associate Ruben Fiedler at [email protected]. This blog was published on July 5, 2023, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes.

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