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IMMIGRATION

What Germany’s plans for a points-based system mean for foreigners

To tackle its ever-widening skills gap, Germany wants to encourage talent from aboard to move to the country by introducing a points-based immigration system. Here's what foreigners need to know about the changes.

Published: 31 May 2022 17:23 CEST
Updated: 4 June 2022 10:56 CEST
Immigration office Berlin
People wait outside of an immigration office in Berlin. The current backlog of German citizenship applications already has some eligible applicants waiting for over two years for their German passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Britta Pedersen

What’s a points-based system?

A points-based system is an immigration model where foreigners have to score above a certain threshold of points in order to obtain a residence or work permit in a country. The exact scoring system is set by the government, but can include factors like language skills, family connections to the country, specific qualifications or work-related skills, or the amount of money in your bank account. 

Points-based systems can also be known as “merit-based systems”, because there tends to be a pretty big emphasis on what you can offer a country in terms of education or skills. 

The model was first introduced in Canada way back in 1967 as the country tried to move past a system based on race and nationality to one that favoured language fluency, youth and educational or vocational background. A similar step was taken in Australia just a few years later in 1972 and, since Brexit, the UK has also introduced its own points-based model. 

How does this relate to Germany?

When the new ‘traffic-light’ coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) took office last December, the parties pledged to reform Germany’s immigration system and bring a fresh cohort of workers into the country.

“In addition to the existing immigration law, we will establish a second pillar with the introduction of an opportunity card based on a points system to enable workers to gain controlled access to the German labour market in order to find a job,” the coalition agreement read.

This would apply to third-country nationals who don’t otherwise have the right to live and work in the country. 

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What Germany’s new government means for citizenship and naturalisation

German language course poster

A sign advertising German courses. Language skills can count towards points in a points-based system. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Bernd Wüstneck

FDP migration specialist Dr. Ann-Veruschka Jurisch, who is working on these reforms, says the policy is driven by Germany’s desperate need for workers. 

“The Liberal Party (FDP) is convinced that we need more labour migration,” she told The Local. “We do have a lot of options for coming into Germany as a labour migrant – but it’s a bit complicated – and if you want to come to Germany to search for a job and you don’t come from an EU country, it’s much more difficult.”

That’s why the coalition is aiming to offer a second route for people who don’t have job lined up in Germany, but who otherwise have the skills or talent to find one. 

What will this look like?

The plans for the points-based system are still at an early stage, so the exact criteria haven’t been worked out yet.

What’s clear at this stage, however, is that the points-based option would run parallel to the current model, which generally permits people with a concrete job offer in a skilled profession to come and work in the country. 

“It’s about (people having) a good opportunity to come to Germany when they have either a job offer in sight or a direct job offer,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said in response to parliamentary question in January. 

“Next to that, we want to achieve a further possibility for talent – for qualified men and women whose skills we need in Germany, who still don’t have a work contract but, if given access, could use that opportunity. That’s what we’re talking about with this Canadian points-based system. It shouldn’t replace our current system, but rather improve it.”

In short, that means that people with a job lined up won’t be disadvantaged – but there will be alternative routes for those without them. It also won’t affect the EU blue card scheme. 

READ ALSO: ‘I finally feel at home’: How Germany’s planned changes to citizenship laws affect foreigners

Will people need formal qualifications? 

Probably not – though it will obviously depend on the sector someone works in and their level of experience in their chosen field.

“I personally am convinced that you shouldn’t place too much emphasis on formal qualifications, because it’s very complicated getting your formal qualifications recognised in Germany,” said Jurisch.

“A medical doctor, for example, is one where you can’t say, ‘Okay, you’ve got some experience so we don’t need to see your papers.’ But there are a lot of other jobs which do not have this restriction and they are not formalised but rather based on practical experience.”

Carpenter wood

A carpenter sands down a block of wood in Cologne. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Federico Gambarini

The issue of recognising qualifications is also a problem that the traffic-light coalition has set their sights on solving during their time in office.

At the moment, the process of getting qualifications officially recognised in Germany is done on a state-by-state basis, so somebody who gets their degree recognised in Brandenburg may have to redo the entire process again in Bavaria, for instance.

According to Jurisch, there have already been conversations between the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education on the issue, and Labour Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) has also promised to take steps to solve it.

But, she said, it’s complicated: “I’ve started to dive into this issue, and the more I dive into it, the more complicated it becomes – so there are no silver bullets.” 

How many workers are needed – and where? 

In order to plug its labour shortages, Germany needs around 400,000 new workers every year, according to the Federal Employment Agency. In 2020, Germany’s net migration was just 200,000 and 150,000 people of working age entered retirement – which means the country is currently falling well short of its targets. 

“We have shortages everywhere,” Jurisch said. “We need 400,000 new workers every year, and these people won’t be born in Germany – or if they are, they won’t grow up for another 20 years.

“We haven’t managed to get more women into the labour market, or they work part time, so I don’t think this will make a big difference, and I don’t think we will close the gap by training people.”

In this sense, it seems that immigration is the only option for filling major staff shortages in almost every profession. 

“Whoever I talk to, be it nurses, nannies, IT workers, industrial workers, teachers, lawyers – everywhere we have a shortage,” Jurisch said.

staff shortages Germany

A sign outside a restaurant informs customers of a closure due to staff shortages. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Stefan Sauer

When will the points-based system be introduced?

Unlike with the plans to reform citizenship, which the SDP-led Interior Ministry wants to achieve by the end of the year, there’s no firm timeline in place for the points-based system.

However, the FDP is fighting for the policy to be given higher priority and would like to introduce the new visa system before the next federal election in 2025. 

“I hope it will be done in this legislative period,” said Jurisch. “I’m pushing to get it a little bit higher up on the agenda.” 

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW: ‘Changing German citizenship laws is a priority’

Member comments

  1. With the introduction of schemes to help people migrate, we need to also provide education and training to existing residents to help close the skills gap, otherwise we risk disenfranchising certain portions of the population, which leads to a rise in anti-immigration politics. You can’t do one without the other, or you’re setting yourself up for a world of problems.

    I myself am an immigrant, and recognise that there’s an opportunity divide that exists currently in german society.

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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

OPINION: After UK and French elections, Germany’s headaches this summer lie at home

With the British and French election results being kind on Germany, the main problems for Berlin this summer will be homegrown, explains Brian Melican.

Published: 8 July 2024 17:01 CEST
OPINION: After UK and French elections, Germany's headaches this summer lie at home

It’s a good job that – in contrast to many in Britain’s outgoing Conservative government – I’m not one for political bets.

If I were, I’d have lost a considerable amount of money over the last seven days. That’s because, for the last 10 years or so, I’ve predicated my predictions on Murphy’s maxim of “If it can go wrong, it will go wrong.” Brexit, Trump, rise of the far right: unlike many others, I never kidded myself that it would somehow all turn out alright in the end.

So last week, my money would have been on an electoral upset in the UK (whose voters can be coy about telling the truth to pollsters) and not on an electoral upset in France (where RN looked odds-on to win big). Also, I would definitely have placed a wager on Germany’s tripartite coalition failing to reach an agreement on next year’s budget – and might have had money riding on the government collapsing as a result.

Yet last Thursday saw Britain’s electorate – and, not unimportantly, its electoral system – hand a thumping majority to a sensible government while keeping the hard-right nutjobs at bay. And on Friday morning, it wasn’t just Britain’s leading centrist politicians standing in front of the cameras with satisfied, if somewhat sleep-deprived smiles. Here in Germany, the heads of the SPD, FDP, and Greens had just pulled an all-nighter, too, to reach a compromise on 2025 spending in time for the breakfast news – and ahead of that evening’s football match between Germany and Spain, as Olaf Scholz underlined with his trademark Cheshire cat grin.

READ ALSO: How Germany’s planned 2025 budget could affect you

“Schlaf wird überschätzt” – ‘Who needs sleep anyway?’ – beamed the Chancellor. And I would imagine he didn’t get much on Sunday night, either. Even after the first exit polls suggested that, contrary to expectations, the far-right Front – pardon – Rassemblement National wasn’t going to emerge victorious from the second round of the French parliamentary elections, I shouldn’t imagine anyone in the Chancellery felt truly comfortable nodding off until it became clear early this morning that the RN had come third.

Catastrophe averted for Berlin

An RN win would have been a major headache for Scholz et al.: President Macron being forced to charge Jordan Bardella with forming a government would have presented Berlin with a challenge of the same order as dealing with President Trump in Washington or Theresa May/Boris Johnson/Liz Truss in London. In fact, it would have potentially been much worse. It is stated RN policy to take France out of the European electricity market, for instance, and this is something it might have attempted early to show doubters that it meant business.

The result would have been a new energy crisis, potentially spiralling into a run on the Euro, with our government and several others left scrambling to Brussels for a gruelling summer of economic firefighting.

As it turns out, though, Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock might actually get something approaching a – much needed – summer holiday. At the very least, they’ll be able to focus their energies on preparing for what looks to be a difficult autumn while at least the political weather is warm and sunny.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz smiles as he attends a question time on July 3, 2024 at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz smiles as he attends a question time on July 3, 2024 at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin. Photo by RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP

London Calling back

Britain, for a start, is back. Even after Brexit, the UK remains, alongside France and Poland, Germany’s most important European ally – especially as Russia’s relentlessness recalibrates long-term foreign-policy priorities away from economic and towards military matters.

The fact that the UK’s new Foreign Secretary David Lammy was here within 48 hours of taking office underscores that Keir Starmer’s new administration understands this – and that there is now potential to rebuild some bridges torn down by Tory intransigence.

Annalena Baerbock will certainly have been relieved that, after dealing first with Liz Truss in her pre-lettuce incarnation, then James (Not-So) Cleverly, and, most recently, David Cameron (“Honey, I blew up the EU!”), she is once again speaking to a British representative with more than half a brain and something resembling a backbone.

READ ALSO: Inside Germany – Budget drama and what Germans think about UK election

Paris ‘en pause’

In France, meanwhile, Berlin will now be waiting for the dust to settle. This dust being French, it will take its time – after all, it will want to join the rest of the country by going on an extended break between 14th July and 15th August (all the more so given that the Olympics are fast approaching).

And for all the breathless commentary on Monday about political pandemonium in Paris after the shock victory of the Nouveau Front Populaire left-wing alliance, Emmanuel Macron is under no immediate constitutional pressure to task anyone with forming an administration. This leaves Matignon in the capable care-taker hands of Gabriel Attal – and anti-German, anti-capitalist, anti-everything lefty loon Jean-Luc Mélenchon is, for all his bombast, not going to be the replacement.

Forming a government will be complex, but by no means impossible given that two third of French MPs are not extremists: parliamentary mathematics will dictate a confidence and supply agreement of some kind. As ever in Paris, after some performative posturing, the most sensible option will prevail. And first, there will be les Grandes Vacances. Whatever government is then installed à la rentrée in September, it will be one Berlin can do business with.

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

Berlin on a budget

In fact, the only real remaining headache for our government prior to Trump’s inevitable return at the end of the year is, in my estimation, itself.

Yes, the three parties have defied my expectations and the political odds to present a budget compromise, but the agreement is a can of fudge. Yes, I know fudge doesn’t come in cans, so let me explain: that sound you can hear while you read through the coalition’s proposed package is a can being kicked down the road, and that odour is the saccharine smell of sticky political fudge.

Essentially, to get the numbers to work without anyone having to lose face, Scholz, Lindner, and Habeck have used every single accounting trick in the book, from labelling outlay as investment and assuming lower interest with higher growth to repurposing past spending and pushing current outgoings into the fiduciary future.

All of the methods employed are, taken by themselves, perfectly legitimate in the political cut-and-thrust, but there’s a strong chance someone will cry foul.

All the more so since we now have an unexpectedly quiet summer ahead of us and, in politics, the devil makes work for idle hands. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, forced to accept a €1 billion increase in military spending rather than the €6 billion he’d petitioned for, is grumbling, but seems just about on board. It’s not unlikely, though, that one of the SPD ministers who’s come out with a net decrease in resources will, over the next couple of weeks, find themselves – and a willing journalist – with too much time on their hands. And there’s Rolf Mützenich, head of the parliamentary party, who is audibly angry after being kept out of the loop by Olaf Scholz during negotiations.

Then there are FPD loose cannons like Frank Schäffler and Wolfang Kubicki, always happy to make the headlines with uncharitable comments about coalition partners and with never-ending axes to grind about fiscal stability. And while the Greens, chastened by their recent electoral plunge, will probably keep their head below the parapets, their ministries have suffered some of the worst of the cuts: one of them could potentially surprise me – and everyone else – by going maverick.

Yes, after being caught unprepared by good news over the last few days, I’m expecting to be surprised again at some point this summer – probably by something altogether less positive as Murphy’s Law re-asserts itself and our tripartite coalition gets back into its intolerable habit of agreeing on something only to then disagree about it for months afterwards.

While I think that’s the likely outcome, I hope it’s not what happens. After all, I’m not a betting man.

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